.270 Winchester Cartridge Review | Outdoor Life

Of the a whole bunch of business metallic cartridges launched, the .270 Winchester is considered one of few which have maintained a century-long tenure of recognition. As a teen, I bear in mind listening to my first actual cartridge debate on the native gun retailer counter—a few hunters hashing out the deserves of the .270 Winchester versus these of the .30/06 Springfield. That was after each had been round for over 75 years!

That the .270 Winchester has remained considered one of America’s hottest massive sport cartridges for 100 years lends credit score to its effectiveness within the area. It was a sweetheart of hard-hunting gun writers like Jack O’Connor, and favored for its flat trajectory and delicate recoil. Although it was usually underestimated, the cartridge rivals the efficiency of some standard magnums. There are methods that trendy cartridges have been improved, however the .270 Winchester can nonetheless maintain its personal. Right here’s every little thing you want to learn about this traditional massive sport cartridge. 

.270 Winchester Specs

• Guardian Case: .30/06 Springfield
• Bullet Diameter: .277 inches
• Max Cartridge Total Size: 3.340 inches
• Case Size: 2.540 inches
• Bullet Weights: 100 to 175 grains
• 12 months Developed: 1923 (Launched in 1925)

The .270 Winchester Was a Wildcat

A positive recipe for business success of a cartridge in america is for the navy to undertake it. The .30/06 Springfield, .308 Winchester, and 5.56mm NATO are all good examples of this. The .270 Winchester is derived from the .30/06 case, however it was by no means a navy cartridge. It was designed in 1923 and offered by Winchester in 1925 because the .270 W.C.F. 

The cartridge is just a necked-down .30/06 with a lengthened neck and shoulder. Dimensions to the bottom of the shoulder are similar, and among the similar powders are appropriate for each cartridges. The introduction of the .250-3000 Savage for the model 99 in 1915, which was additionally a spinoff of the .30/06 case, was celebrated by hunters who acknowledged the worth of a cartridge that was light-recoiling and had a flat trajectory. Its declare to fame was breaking 3,000 feet-per-second with an 87-grain bullet. It was rapidly snatched up by market hunters like Frank Glaser in Alaska—who used his to kill many Dall sheep and not less than one cranky grizzly bear. 

The .270 W.C.F. produced much more spectacular velocities whereas firing heavier 130-grain bullets. Sporting optics had been nonetheless of their infancy, and a cartridge that didn’t current a rainbow-like flight path was lightning in a bottle. It’s no shock that writers like Col. Townsend Whelen took a direct shine to it. He later stated the next concerning the .270 Winchester:  “I believe it’s our greatest American massive sport cartridge within the palms of a rifleman who can avail himself of its flat trajectory and wonderful accuracy.”

The O’Connor Contact

There isn’t any individual or entity extra generally related to the .270 Winchester than long-time OL taking pictures editor Jack O’Connor. Hell, even Winchester itself is an ancillary participant within the story of the .270 in comparison with Jack. Any dialog concerning the .270 with out O’Connor — or about O’Connor with out mentioning the .270 — would appear amiss. 

Even supposing the legendary gun writer shot and wrote about each new cartridge and searching rifle that hit the marketplace for over 30 years, he gravitated to the .270 Winchester usually, and is credited broadly for its long-lived success.

As he talked about in a few of his writings on .25-caliber cartridges just like the .257 Roberts, O’Connor fancied the .270 Winchester for its forgiving trajectory and decrease recoil than what the .30/06 and heavier cartridges produced. He used his .270s throughout the west and the world, searching every little thing from groundhogs to elk to African sport  to mountain sheep with them. His tales, as a lot as his profitable use of the cartridge, gave his readers an emotional connection to the .270 Winchester to match its merit-based attraction.

The Beloved .270 Winchester Had Its Haters Too

As a result of the .270 has been a staple for longer than nearly all of us have been alive, it’s straightforward to imagine that it was at all times accepted. Occasions change however folks don’t, and the .270 Winchester is an fascinating instance of that. In the present day, many individuals wish to besmirch the 6.5 Creedmoor, however even 30 years after it was launched, the .270 Winchester was nonetheless accused of being under-powered.

Within the November, 1954 concern of Out of doors Life, O’Connor penned a column titled The Controversial .270. In it, he describes detractors’ gripes in opposition to the .270, then makes a powerful case for the cartridge primarily based on its attributes.Included amongst his reward:

“Due to this flat trajectory, excessive velocity, good accuracy, and delicate recoil, the .270 is the simplest normal cartridge to make well-placed hits on sport with, at lengthy and unsure ranges, that I’ve ever used.”

He goes on to explain how the .270 Winchester is, on the hitting finish, a little bit of a magnum in itself, with the flexibility to hold with a number of magnum cartridges of the day, and concludes:

“The .270 isn’t any rhino cartridge, in all probability not a good selection to cease charging African lions or Alaska brown bears. However for a flat-shooting, light-kicking, hard-wounding cartridge for any soft-skinned sport within the open, from an antelope 400 yards away throughout the plains of Wyoming to a marmot-digging grizzly in a Yukon basin above timberline, the usual run-of-the-mill .270 is tough to beat. When anybody assures me that the .270 isn’t even a great mule-deer rifle and that .270 bullets bounce off of elk. I can’t assist however marvel how a lot sport he has shot with .270 rifles, what form, and the place. “

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Is the .270 Winchester Nonetheless Related within the 2020s?

I consider that a lot of what hunters and shooters wish to argue about in relation to rifles and cartridges quantities to misunderstanding slightly than well-reasoned variations. If we’re going to ask whether or not a cartridge is related, or if one is healthier than one other we have to first outline the target, and the standards by which we’re making our resolution. By what metrics are we ascertaining one thing higher or worse? Contemplating the relevance of a cartridge just like the .270 is comparable. 

Is the .270 Winchester nonetheless an efficient massive sport cartridge? Completely. The truth is, with trendy parts, it’s a bit more practical than it was in O’Connor’s time. On a efficiency metric foundation (i.e. velocity, power, and trajectory) the .270 Winchester can nonetheless cling with typical manufacturing unit loadings of many standard magnums, and Browning is now barreling some X-Bolt rifles with 1-in-7.5-inch-twist barrels to deal with the longer 165- and 175-grain bullets. It’s nonetheless an undeniably fantastic big-game cartridge.

Right here’s an instance of how the .270 Winchester stacks up in opposition to another widespread cartridges utilizing the identical bullet design in commonly-used bullet weights:

.270 Winchester Accuracy

Within the trendy period, a draw back of the .270 Winchester is that it’s not probably the most inherently correct cartridge. There are actually correct .270 Winchester rifles on the market, however a rifle chambered in .270 is just not more likely to be as correct as the identical mannequin of rifle chambered in 6.5 PRC or 6.5 Creedmoor. Right here’s a take a look at a few .270 Winchester rifles I’ve examined lately.

Weatherby Mark V Hunter in .270 Winchester

Winchester Mannequin 70 Featherweight (Push-Feed)

What May Make the .270 Winchester Out of date? 

The matter of the .270’s relevance depends upon what we think about related. If we’re speaking concerning the cartridge’s capabilities to kill sport successfully at any vary the common hunter is more likely to shoot from, it’s completely related. The .270 shall by no means turn out to be out of date then? Not so quick. 

As time rolls on, hunters which might be shopping for or constructing new big-game rifles now aren’t more likely to hold flocking to the outdated traditional. That’s not as a result of it doesn’t work, however as a result of there are more-refined choices obtainable. For many years after the .270 got here to market, it was the flattest-shooting normal big-game cartridge you would get. Nowadays, sizzling, soiled velocity isn’t as essential because it as soon as was—due to the vary finder. Moderately than relying on a lightweight bullet and flat trajectory for unknown distances, we will concentrate on bullets that maintain onto their velocity and buck the wind higher. In the end these bullets are extra forgiving, shoot flatter, and cling onto extra power, at longer distances.

Cartridge Design Has Modified the Sport

As present taking pictures editor John B. Snow is keen on stating, no one right now would ever design the .270 Winchester as it’s. The ideas of modern cartridge design, that almost all new introductions are following lately, give us cartridges which may not blow the socks off the oldies by way of uncooked velocity, however they propel bullets extra effectively, are designed for longer, low-drag bullets, and conform to chamber designs that produce higher inherent accuracy. Cartridges just like the 6.5 PRC, 7mm PRC, and 6.8 Western embrace the traits which might be good and spectacular concerning the .270 Winchester, delicate recoil and good trajectories, they simply execute it higher and extra effectively. 

For instance, the 6.5 PRC can propel a 143-grain, ultra-slippery ELD-X bullet quicker than the .270 Winchester can shoot an analogous 140- or 145-grain tablet, and alongside a extra forgiving flight path. The quick, steep-shouldered cartridges sometimes produce nice accuracy in manufacturing unit rifles with manufacturing unit ammo too. Sadly, the identical can’t be stated for the common .270. Although it was correct for its day, and a few .270 rifles are fairly correct, the common off-the-shelf rifle chambered in .270 Winchester received’t be as correct as the common 6.5 PRC or 6.5 Creedmoor. A very good illustration of that is the Weatherby Mark V Hunter .270 I examined final yr. It’s a premium-quality rifle, and out of 34 recorded 5-shot teams, the highest 10 averaged 1.2 inches. That’s good, however we often check rifles in 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5 PRC that common below an inch. Requirements have modified.

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Professionals of Selecting the .270 Winchester

• Gentle recoil
• Nice velocity and trajectory
• Frequent parts
• Ammo is traditionally broadly obtainable

Cons of Selecting the .270 Winchester

• Mediocre common accuracy
• Restricted bullet weights — most .270’s solely deal with as much as 150-grain bullets
• Not “best-in-class” in any class anymore

FAQ

The Way forward for the .270 Winchester

Although I’ve little question that the .270 Winchester will rightly march on, I’m not the man that’s going to cost by means of hell and cannon shot, purely for the folly of conserving the colours aloft. The .270 has seen its glory days, and it’s the cartridge’s—and Jack O’Connor’s—legacy that may stay most spectacular. The .270 Winchester was a outstanding cartridge for its time, and it could possibly kill critters simply as lifeless 100 years later. Nonetheless efficient, hunters that exit of their manner to decide on the .270 right now are in all probability doing it for nostalgia’s sake as a lot as efficiency. There’s not a rattling factor unsuitable with that.

I don’t see a bountiful future for the .270 Winchester’s subsequent hundred years, however it’s a cartridge that’s been underestimated earlier than. On this case, it could heat my coronary heart to be unsuitable.