Anyone using the .270 WSM for varmints?

fugawi

fugawi

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
31   0   0
Location
Winnipeg, Manitoba
My most accurate rifle with the longest reach is my Tikka T3 Lite in .270 WSM.

That said since I now do most of my hunting in heavy brush armed with levers, the Tikka has been relegated to 'safe queen' status.

Wanting to get it into play and not having a suitable varmint rifle, I thought about the T3 in this role. Anyone have any proven reloading data? I have .277 110 gr V Max and 115 gr Match King projectiles.
 
It will kill them pretty quick...

Never used a .270 Win or WSM, but I have one coyote stand where I use a 7mm-08 with 120 BT's... and from 300-400 yards, it lays them down gently with very little pelt damage.
 
hoytcanon said:
It will kill them pretty quick...

Never used a .270 Win or WSM, but I have one coyote stand where I use a 7mm-08 with 120 BT's... and from 300-400 yards, it lays them down gently with very little pelt damage.
Click to expand...

Yes, The .270 WSM is a souped up .270 Win. I have no trouble taking deer at distance with 130/150 gr BT projectiles. I've chrono'd 2900-3200 fps at the muzzle depending on powder and bullet.

It will be flat and should buck the wind. I'm a bit concerned that I might blow a yote up if too close.
 
I load a 270 win down and use 110 vmax and 49 gr varget. It's not that impressive on paper only 2850 ish fps but it destroys coyotes. Expect 3-4" exit holes if under 100 yards. The faster they go the more violent they upset. Best of luck
 
Dogleg said:
I've killed quite a few coyotes with my .270 WSM and its normal deer load of 130 grain ballistic tips and a pile of 7828. saving hides isn't in the cards.
Click to expand...

brybenn said:
I load a 270 win down and use 110 vmax and 49 gr varget. It's not that impressive on paper only 2850 ish fps but it destroys coyotes. Expect 3-4" exit holes if under 100 yards. The faster they go the more violent they upset. Best of luck
Click to expand...

I haven't shot yotes as I felt I didn't have a suitable gun/scope combo (now shooting levers mostly in heavy cover as opposed to my T3 in more open terrain).

I use 7828 and WMR with my 130/150s. I want to to try 110-115 gr bullets and not use deer rounds on varmints and blow them to kingdom come. Hornady suggests H4350 for best accuracy with the VMAX but it will push 3000+ fps.

Wondering if that will still be too much and result in pelt wastage. I suppose time will tell. Maybe someone will have a less destructive load.

Thanks guys.
 
Last edited:
Hodgdon's site and every loading manual are full of proven data. You'll have to work up the load for your rifle though. Wouldn't go with light varmint bullets myself, unless I was hide hunting coyotes.
Your rifle has a 1 in 10 twist according to Tikka. The light bullets may not stabilize well.
A V-Max is made to expand rapidly upon impact. Equals big holes in hides.
The Matchkings would do nicely. There's a 135 grain Matchking too. Match bullets are designed to make holes and not expand.
 
fugawi said:
I use 7828 and WMR with my 130/150s. I want to to try 110-115 gr bullets and not use deer rounds on varmints and blow them to kingdom come. Hornady suggests H4350 for best accuracy with the VMAX but it will push 3000+ fps.

Wondering if that will still be too much and result in pelt wastage. I suppose time will tell. Maybe someone will have a less destructive load.

Thanks guys.
Click to expand...

The opposite is going to be true. A varmint bullet is designed with a very thin copper jacket, made for rapid expansion and most likely fragmentation upon impact of a thin skinned small animal. They do what they are designed to do...devastating kills on small game. A more quality bullet designed for deer hunting has a thicker jacket and will have controlled expansion, therefore it won't blow them up quite as much
 
StevieK said:
The opposite is going to be true. A varmint bullet is designed with a very thin copper jacket, made for rapid expansion and most likely fragmentation upon impact of a thin skinned small animal. They do what they are designed to do...devastating kills on small game. A more quality bullet designed for deer hunting has a thicker jacket and will have controlled expansion, therefore it won't blow them up quite as much
Click to expand...

I agree with your point... as I said above our 7mm-08's with 120 BT's and a standard deer load does very little damage to hides, as attested by the dozen or so coyotes we have shot with that load.

One thing many forget to take into consideration is the mass of the bullet when talking about frangible varmint bullets... a 40-58 grain VM travelling in excess of 3000 fps at impact will enter and explode into very small pieces, which individually retain too little energy to exit... thus saving the hide. However, the same bullet design with a 100-120 grain bullet travelling sub 2500 fps at impact will come apart, but not violently so, and the fragments will have sufficient mass to exit and will do massive hide damage... this is why with larger calibers, it is better to use bullets designed for big game, and will stay together with little expansion and thus result in two smallish holes. It works perfectly with the load I stated above.

Just because it is called a "varmint" bullet does not mean it will function as you would suspect a varmint bullet should.
 
Given what's been said, saving the pelts might just not be in the cards with either 110 or 130 gr bullets. There's not much point in loading lighter bullets and rezeroing my scope if all I'm going to have is kill shots.

Might as well leave it as is.
 
One thing I've noticed is fur buyers have a completely different idea of what a big hole is than deer hunters. Lethal injection is a huge hole to a buyer.

Here's a 130 grain TSX out of a .270 Weatherby. Granted, its a bit faster but not that much.

 
Dogleg said:
One thing I've noticed is fur buyers have a completely different idea of what a big hole is than deer hunters. Lethal injection is a huge hole to a buyer...
Click to expand...
Fur buyers are more concerned with "where" the hole is, rather than the size, strictly speaking... but yes, you are correct in your observation in the differing opinions of hunter and buyers... trappers fall somewhere in between the two on that scale.
 
My Fako loves the 150gr BST's. The few coyotes I've shot with it weren't too bad.....but I wasn't too concerned about the pelt. No matter where you hit them they only go about a foot......straight down.
 
Dogleg said:
One thing I've noticed is fur buyers have a completely different idea of what a big hole is than deer hunters. Lethal injection is a huge hole to a buyer.

Here's a 130 grain TSX out of a .270 Weatherby. Granted, its a bit faster but not that much.

Click to expand...

Devistating. If nothing else,;) it definately falls within the 'Bang Flop' category
 
OK I'm new to varmint shooting and...

Not having a dedicated varmint rifle right now and wanting to cull some of the coyote and wolf population to reduce their predation on deer here in MB,

plus owning a Tikka T3 which is my most accurate rifle and has the most suitable scope for long range shooting mounted,

and since the T3 has basically been a safe queen since I decided to switch my hunting style and area to ones more suited to using lever action guns...

I was hoping to minimize pelt damage by going to a lighter 'varmint' bullet and maybe make a little extra cash.

From Hornady's Reloading Guide, 7th edition:

The polymer tip and construction of their VMAX bullets is designed to create "very dramatic fragmentation", the 110 gr VMAX for is an "excellent choice" for varmints and recommends a fast burning powder (H4350) for best accuracy.

But if the results are going to be the same as if I smacked coyotes down with a 130 gr BT which is my go to deer round - I might as well leave my T3 set up the way it is and not bother working up new loads with the 110/115 gr projectiles. And have to re-zero my scope. Leaving it as is will still let me shoot deer if I decide to hunt more open spaces and also take out any wolves or coyotes if opportunity arises.

I think my reasoning is sound here. Doesn't seem to be any advantage in going to a lighter bullet. If anything the heavier bullet will stabilize and buck wind better.

Unless I'm missing something... If I am please point it out. Thx
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom