.270 lower recoil hunting rounds (6.5x55 territory)

[stevo911_]

Well, you have had a lot of advice, varying to what I would say runs the gauntlet from excellent to terrible, with the worst being to virtually ruin your 270 by putting a muzzle brake on it. (My opinion.)
Best advice started with Ganderite, starting loads with 130 grain bullet. I agree with those who said that any 130 grain c & c bullet would be fine, and the accuracy will be good to excellent.
Bruce

Yeah, i'm definitely not putting a muzzle brake on it.

I've been chatting with a few guys who both seem to be using similar loadings using 110gr projectiles (accubonds and ttsx). Flat and fast, low recoil, and apparently surprisingly effective on deer, so I'm going to explore those options as well as a 130gr projectile and see what works. Now to amass are the requisite suppllies to start loading :\

 

[Lead hammer]

I have great accuracy with my 270 using 130gr. Hornady SST's, at 3075fps with 59 grains of RL22, Also 130gr. Barnes XLC, with 60 grains of RL22. My little A-bolt kicks pretty hard lol. I had started a 110 v max load for fun, but never had time to really give it a good go.

130 SST's are a bit sketchy at this speed, lost one buck from a blown up bullet, (200 yards ) should be good for long range though.

 

[rudar]

I wouldn't use them for hunting, but 14 grains of trailboss with a 130 grain bullet gave me around 1400fps and OK groups at 50 yards. I figure that way I can shoot twice as many rounds from field positions before deciding it's time to pack up and head home, for which I don't need the most accurate load in the world.

 

[horseman2]

Accuracy Load: RE-22/ 56.7grs. 3000fps/ 2597ft. lbs.
Hunting Load: RE-22/ 58.2grs. 3100fps/ 2774ft. lbs.

This information is extracted from the Sierra manual for the 270 using the 130 grain bullet.

The load can be reduced to 2600 fps which will result in less recoil. Additionally, a lighter bullet can be used as Melcom suggested using the 110 grain Barnes. It will function fine as long as you impact velocity is over 2000 fps. Sierra suggests their energy using the 110 grain load at 3100 fps would reduce the energy by 250 ft. lbs. and that should reduce felt recoil. The velocity could be reduced to 2800 fps to reduce the felt recoil even further.

 

[magz]

www.hodgdon.com/PDF/H4895 Reduced Rifle Loads.pdf

Have a look at this... This is the guidance I used for some awesome soft rounds for new shooters to try my rifle with once they want to step up from a 22.
Started at 60% of the recommended loads with H4895 and 100 grain sierras and worked up. Oddly, the lightest loads were the most accurate and were less dirty then I expected. I'd recommend this with whatever bullets you want to use.

I would say though, it's not really suitable for hunting, just for ultra light recoil paper punching.

 

[g-manz35]

www.hodgdon.com/PDF/H4895 Reduced Rifle Loads.pdf

Have a look at this... This is the guidance I used for some awesome soft rounds for new shooters to try my rifle with once they want to step up from a 22.
Started at 60% of the recommended loads with H4895 and 100 grain sierras and worked up. Oddly, the lightest loads were the most accurate and were less dirty then I expected. I'd recommend this with whatever bullets you want to use.

I would say though, it's not really suitable for hunting, just for ultra light recoil paper punching.

This is also a good idea if you want to use you rifle for alternate uses like shooting beavers or shooting coyotes in close quarters and want to keep the noise and recoil down. I loaded some up for my buddies 243 and they work great. you can then load up from there to whatever speed you want.

 

[jethunter]

www.hodgdon.com/PDF/H4895%20Reduced%20Rifle%20Loads.pdf

Have a look at this... This is the guidance I used for some awesome soft rounds for new shooters to try my rifle with once they want to step up from a 22.
Started at 60% of the recommended loads with H4895 and 100 grain sierras and worked up. Oddly, the lightest loads were the most accurate and were less dirty then I expected. I'd recommend this with whatever bullets you want to use.

I would say though, it's not really suitable for hunting, just for ultra light recoil paper punching.

You might be surprised what a 100 gr bullet at lower velocity can do - I wouldn't write it off as a hunting load, although the 130 gr is a better choice if the shooter can tolerate it.

At lower velocities the bullets penetrate deeper because of less expansion and better weight retention. I loaded 120 gr Sierra prohunters @ 2450 mv in a 7mm08 for my kids when they started hunting, and was surprised to see that little bullet penetrate like a premium bullet. The Sierra Prohunter is a decent bullet for nonmag velocities and reduced velocity/low recoil hunting loads. They won't break the bank for practising either.

A 100-120 gr bullet at 2200-2400 fps mv is still a force to be reckoned with.