.270 vs. 7mm Rem Mag vs. longer range calibers?

Or at a gun counter in the prairies

I’ve got a bunch of Lil Gun and nothing to put it in, I bet I could get a real flat shooting load with a case full of that stuff...

Nothing kills the 7mm love fest faster than a chronograph
 
Greetings and welcome dark knight, good question and you will find lots of helpful council here. In that vein I'll add mine.

The quest for the perfect cartridge is overrated. Most modern bottleneck cartridges have fairly similar ballistics and hitting power; and the flat shooting myth is sometimes played up a little on line.

Some of my observations from 45 years of big game hunting and in no particular order:
1. After a muzzle velocity of around 2800fps the faster cartridges tend to bloodshot more meat.
2. Shot placement trumps a ballistics chart every time.
3. Start with a milder recoiling cartridge and then if you want to try other cartridges do so after you have your shooting mechanics nailed down.
4. A straight 3-9 or 4 power fixed scope is plenty for almost all hunting applications. I have gone up the big scope path and my current highest power scope is a 2.5 to 10 power. Buy the best glass you can afford with a minimum target of what you paid for the rifle you should spend on your scope. A ballistic reticle greatly helps past 300 yards, mine are in MOA but mil rads work well too.
5. A stainless steel and synthetic rifle configuration requires less care and attention in the middle of a 1 or 2 week hunt in the wet and cold.
6. As one poster accurately pointed out the twist rate of your barrel does matter, to greatly generalize - faster is better. Example: for a 3006 9 or 10 is better than 12 or 16.
7. Shoot one weight of bullet. Shoot cheapies like Federal Blue box at the range and use a better quality bullet for hunting.
8. Shoot your rifle a lot off a bench at the range until YOU KNOW where the bullet is going at any given range.
9. Once you know how the bullet flies and drops start shooting the same ranges from different positions. I can honestly say shooting off a rest is far easier than standing with the rifle held to your shoulder.
10. Do read up on how to place your finger on the trigger, how to breath, and how to pull the trigger.
11. Do zero your rifle for 200 yards. It will be about an inch high at 100 and far less drop at 3 and 4 hundred.
12. The verbiage around this cartridge being more "flat shooting" than this one is generally a waste of time for modern bottleneck cartridges. IIRC a 270 with a 150grn Partition sighted to zero at 200 drops to about 8 at 300 and 22 at 400. A 7mmrm with a 160grn partition sighted to zero at 200 drops about 7" at 300 and 20 at 400. A 280 rem with a 150 grn nosler partition zeroed at 200 drops about 7 at 300 and 21 at 400. A 3006 with a 180 grn nosler partition zeroed at 200 drops about 9 at 300 and 24 at 400. Not a lot of difference.
13. Learn to reload, it makes practicing a lot cheaper.
14. Keep your rifle light but not too light.
15. Buy a slip on recoil pad for the range.
16. The debate between CRF and pushfeed bolt actions is not worth thinking about for any reason.

I started out shooting a bolt action 3006 with a Leupold 4x scope. I raised my family on deer, moose, elk, and bear. FWIW I never shot anything past about 300 yards until I started shooting my 338wm. I have cleanly and with one shot taken one whitetail at 500 and one at 550 - but that is very unusual. The vast majority of all my kill shots have been at less than 200 yards.

Shoulder and fire as many different rifles as you can to find what fits you best. For me it is the Sako "hunter" style.

Cartridges I would council you to try would be: 6.5x55 swede, 270win, 280 rem, 3006, there are of course many others but for starting out, having mild recoil, good ballistics and good killing power these are all a great place to start.
 
conor_90 said:
Or at a gun counter in the prairies

I’ve got a bunch of Lil Gun and nothing to put it in, I bet I could get a real flat shooting load with a case full of that stuff...

Nothing kills the 7mm love fest faster than a chronograph
Click to expand...

Yea, that’s it.

afTkfNo.jpg
 
I have a variety of choices from slow and stable for long range (308), general purpose (270Win/30-06), heavy and magnum for any range (7RM/300WM), and fast and flat for anything (270Win/270WSM/7RM). I always go back to my 270s. My 270WSM is my overall fav, but I like the low recoil, amazing accuracy, low cost of ammo, and drop any big game animal in North America appeal of my Plain Jane 270Win.
 
^ reasonable good advice, I for one am outraged

16. The debate between CRF and pushfeed bolt actions is not worth thinking about for any reason.
Click to expand...

:stirthepot2:

Something to be said for going from 9.5lb scoped 7mm with a 26 inch barrel to a 22 inch 7lb 270...


Chuck I should be clear, I’m talking factory loads here. Don’t think anyone is jamming 71 grains of powder into those
 
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conor_90 said:
^ reasonable good advice, I for one am outraged



:stirthepot2:

Something to be said for going from 9.5lb scoped 7mm with a 26 inch barrel to a 22 inch 7lb 270...


Chuck I should be clear, I’m talking factory loads here. Don’t think anyone is jamming 71 grains of powder into those
Click to expand...

Just for reference, the 7MM Rem Mag that shot the group above is 7lbs 13ozs scoped, holds four down, and wears a 24” barrel. Oh, and is CRF. :)
 
Yes, I get that the bullet drop happens, my point is that out to 400yds the drop on the 7mm along with the energy on impact is such, that you don’t need to worry about anything. I figure that my drop is about 14-15” at 400( not that I want to shoot that far usually), so on a typical mule deer the chest is 22-24”. At 400 All you need to do is put cross hairs near top of back on front shoulder and you are good to go if you have solid rest and wind is reasonable.No calculating required, no adjusting scope turrets, no wondering if your bullet is going to hit hard enough.Point is at the longest ranges the 7mm makes a difference. I like to shoot at no longer then 200yds, but have taken a 4 point buck at 500yds with the 7mm.It dropped dead on the spot and I had held my cross hair on the hair edge of his back above his shoulder...
 
I realize what your saying and if you know your trajectory that’s a great way to go. I was just Wondering what type of ammunition you’re using out of curiosity.
 
The 270 will have 1600 ft-lbs of energy at 400 yds with a 140 gr bullet at 3000 fps and will be 18-19" low at that range. The bullet will be travelling at over 2200 fps at the same range. Plenty for mule deer! Of coarse the 7mm will have an advantage at longer ranges but the 270 can be had in a lighter rifle with less recoil. It would be more important to know the exact range and be capable of putting the bullet in the correct spot, when the time comes. I bet you wouldn't be able to tell the difference in game shot with a 270, 280, 30-06 or 7mm rem. jmo
 
you are good to go from 100 yds to 400 just by putting the crosshairs on
Click to expand...


See it’s just a matter of “ where you put the crosshairs on”

My 223 shoots flat out to 500 on steel pigs when sighted at 150, just put the 2 moa dot on top of the piggie....
 
Shooting out to 400 yards with a 200 yard zero is pretty easy from a steady rest. Its when you get past 400 that things drop off quick. A 7mm rem will drop roughly 37-40" at 500 yards, and that's not even counting for wind deflection yet.
 
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