.270 vs .280....which do you prefer?

Dogleg said:
A lot of people put words in JOC's mouth after he died. Nobody dared while he was alive.
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Nope, but actually reading is so hard...........

savagefan said:
30-06 beats 'em both, Jack O' connor said so.
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Sure he did:rolleyes:. I actually have every J O'C book written and published including Horse and Buggy West. I think I have every issue of OL that he wrote in. I also have a Letter written to Mr. Ralph about their up and coming Brown Bear hunt on OL letterhead with a full PS paragraph in J O'C's handwriting with his signature. You don't want to know what these are worth, but it was a fine gift from the wife.
Never in any article or book does Jack say the 30-06 is a better cartridge. He does say it is more versatile. But hey, keep repeating what the intranet tells ya, cause it gots to be true, huh?;)
 
You cant go wrong with either calibers both are pretty much identical .With the 280 you can shoot heavier bullets but ammo is more common for the 270, really whatever you decide on you will be satisfied
 
I've shot a number of Mule Deer and Whitetails with handloads in both ctgs. Neither I nor the deer could tell the difference. I prefer a 130gr bullet in the .270 and a 139/140gr in the .280. I think I still prefer the 7x57 Mauser with 139/140 gr bullets as a deer ctg.
 
rem338win said:
Nope, but actually reading is so hard...........



Sure he did:rolleyes:. I actually have every J O'C book written and published including Horse and Buggy West. I think I have every issue of OL that he wrote in. I also have a Letter written to Mr. Ralph about their up and coming Brown Bear hunt on OL letterhead with a full PS paragraph in J O'C's handwriting with his signature. You don't want to know what these are worth, but it was a fine gift from the wife.
Never in any article or book does Jack say the 30-06 is a better cartridge. He does say it is more versatile. But hey, keep repeating what the intranet tells ya, cause it gots to be true, huh?;)
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Ooops, silly me, I forgot the :rolleyes:, nice moan though.
 
purple said:
I've shot a number of Mule Deer and Whitetails with handloads in both ctgs. Neither I nor the deer could tell the difference. I prefer a 130gr bullet in the .270 and a 139/140gr in the .280. I think I still prefer the 7x57 Mauser with 139/140 gr bullets as a deer ctg.
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I was waiting for 7x57 vote, too bad this wonderful cartridge is under rated.:)
 
Gatehouse said:
Handloader? 280

Factory ammo user? .270

Simple as that.
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I have to disagree a bit here. I've never had a problem finding factory ammo, and some of it shoots MOA. Mind you, when I first started using mine, I'd lay in a stock of it, say 3 or 4 boxes at a time.
I wouldn't let being a non-handloader sway me from a .280 if that was what I wanted.

I have to add, the 7X57 is in no way an under-rated cartridge. Its followers are devout, and anyone who knows anything about it rates it very high indeed. What it is, is "under-represented", or possibly "less popular than it deserves to be."
 
I have a 270 an have shot everything with it....even moose. Only difference may be 270 ammo would be easier to find in some out of the way place whereas 280 ammo might be tough.....but essentially they are the same cartridge
 
For me it came down to getting a deal on the 280 in a Steyr pro hunter as the dealer thought he would have a harder time selling it as opposed to the 270 beside it, anyways I have never regreted taking it off his hands.
 
Kilo Charlie said:
I have to disagree a bit here. I've never had a problem finding factory ammo, and some of it shoots MOA. Mind you, when I first started using mine, I'd lay in a stock of it, say 3 or 4 boxes at a time.
I wouldn't let being a non-handloader sway me from a .280 if that was what I wanted.

I"
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I barely look at factory ammo, but I'd certainly accept that .280 ammo isn't difficult to come by at any gun store. I was more making the point that there is an incredible array of factory .270 ammo offerings, and if you were wanted maximum selection, the .270 would be the better choice.:)

If someone is one of those types that believes it's important to be able to buy ammo in small town hardware stores because you tend to forget to bring your ammo, then the .270 also gets the nod.:)
 
Federal alone lists 6 different loads for the .280, including soft points, partitions, TSX, trophy bonded, and ballistic tips.
If you can't get it done with one of those, the .270 won't help...

The ability to buy ammo at a rural hardware store, certainly does not make a cartridge better than another one...
 
You asked "which do you prefer?"

My choice and preference was a 280 I purchased earlier this year
my two reasons;
1). bullet weights can be greater or equal to the 270 (ballistics are roughly the same between the two, so in my mind the 280 has a slighter edge over the 270 because of additional bullet weight selection)

2). has minimum bore diameter size (7mm diameter with 175g bullet) for L.E.H. hunt of Bison in BC (if I am lucky enough to win a draw)

edit 06/29/09 9:52pm
I rechecked the LEH regs after reading Gatehouse's response and yep he's right, it doesn't say anything about bore size, just minimum bullet weight 175g and energy @ 100 meters
 
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Well there you go!

However, wasn't the factory .280 ammo loaded to lower pressures that the .270? Not that a 100FPS velocity loss will make bullets bounce off deer:)
 
B.Ruddick said:
You asked "which do you prefer?"

My choice and preference was a 280 I purchased earlier this year
my two reasons;
1). bullet weights can be greater or equal to the 270 (ballistics are roughly the same between the two, so in my mind the 280 has a slighter edge over the 270 because of additional bullet weight selection)

2). has minimum bore diameter size (7mm diameter with 175g bullet) for L.E.H. hunt of Bison in BC (if I am lucky enough to win a draw)
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I don't think they specify bore diameter in the bison regs. Just energy and bullet weight requirements. Kinda aBS regulation, but there you go...:p
 
Gatehouse said:
Well there you go!

However, wasn't the factory .280 ammo loaded to lower pressures that the .270? Not that a 100FPS velocity loss will make bullets bounce off deer:)
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Yes from what I've read the 280 was developed and loaded to lower pressures by remington because they were worried that their early semi rifles wouldn't stand up to higher pressures of the 270.
 
Boomer said:
The .280 beats both the '06 and the .270 said Townsend Whelen. But he also said if you already had a .270 or a .30/06 it wasn't worth switching.

This writing by Whelen is so typical of the old writers. They advised you on what they thought would be best for you, and not what would be best for selling new rifles that may, or may not be, a hair better.
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