270 win or 270 wsm?
- Thread starter rytheguy
- Start date
The WSM version only gives 200-300 fps more velocity, so there's not really a lot of difference between the two, other than if you shoot factory ammo only, the WSM is going to cost more. I bought a 270 WSM when the first came out because I wanted something new and a bit different, but if I already owned a 270 WIN, there would be no point in buying a WSM. The WIN version is probably more practical, and will certainly kill a larger animal like a moose or elk.
canadaman30
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Far from the City
If you dont reload than check out the price and availability of factory ammunition, easy decision IMO.....270win
Tabacco Brook
Regular
- Location
- Nova Scotia
^^^^This^^^^
and the short fat broad shouldered case of the short mag may not cycle, (feeding issues), as well as the long narrow standard 270win case.
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Bigfoot 870
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Nova Scotia
They are very similar performers. Simply for ammo availability and price, I'd say .270 Win.
Currently I've got 2 .270 Wins, 1 .270 WSM and a .270 Weatherby. They are all deer (sized) guns, but I can't noticing that the stubby little Wissum has a lot more in common with the Weatherby than the Win. Factory ammo is more expensive than the Win, but handloads only take 3 cents worth of powder to go 300 fps faster. I'll buy all the speed I can get for a penny a hundred.
Mighty Peace
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Land of the Mighty Peace
A Sako A7ss pkg rifle deal in a 270 or 270WSM would be sweet. Me I say 270WSM, only b/c I have it. It was to be my smaller caliber as I have a 300WM since like 1993. Great performer with 140gr Accubonds on deer, elk moose.
Easier to find ammo in the 270 Win in smaller communities if needed in a pinch over the WSM.
Easier to find ammo in the 270 Win in smaller communities if needed in a pinch over the WSM.
However, this comes at a price.
- A standard .270 does just fine with a 22-inch barrel, while the WSM requires 24 inches.
- Barrel life in the WSM is shorter, although this is not much of a factor in a hunting rifle.
- The WSM kicks harder and makes more noise.
- The .270 WSM, like all short magnums, often presents feeding problems, while the standard .270 slithers into the chamber like a rattler into a prairie dog hole. (WSSMs do not feed at all that I’ve been able to see.)
- WSM ammo is more expensive than standard .270, and is not as readily available.
- Rifles chambered for the WSM are not as easy to re-sell as standard .270s.
- The velocity increase of the .270 WSM does not kill anything any deader than the slower round; it does, however create a great mess if you use it at less than 250 yards where the bullets have a chance to slow down.
- The .270 WSM does make hitting easier at long range, but you will do as well or better with a good rangefinder and a range-compensating reticle teamed with a standard .270.
- The .270 WSM. I believe is the best of the short magnums. But I wouldn’t choose it over the standard .270 which is one of the great hunting rounds of all time, all things considered.
Huntdon
- A standard .270 does just fine with a 22-inch barrel, while the WSM requires 24 inches.
- Barrel life in the WSM is shorter, although this is not much of a factor in a hunting rifle.
- The WSM kicks harder and makes more noise.
- The .270 WSM, like all short magnums, often presents feeding problems, while the standard .270 slithers into the chamber like a rattler into a prairie dog hole. (WSSMs do not feed at all that I’ve been able to see.)
- WSM ammo is more expensive than standard .270, and is not as readily available.
- Rifles chambered for the WSM are not as easy to re-sell as standard .270s.
- The velocity increase of the .270 WSM does not kill anything any deader than the slower round; it does, however create a great mess if you use it at less than 250 yards where the bullets have a chance to slow down.
- The .270 WSM does make hitting easier at long range, but you will do as well or better with a good rangefinder and a range-compensating reticle teamed with a standard .270.
- The .270 WSM. I believe is the best of the short magnums. But I wouldn’t choose it over the standard .270 which is one of the great hunting rounds of all time, all things considered.
Huntdon
It is all preference really. If you are like most hunters/shooters, you will shoot less than a full box of ammo per year from your hunting rifle. I own 2 - 270WSMs personally. I purchased a fair bit of ammo for it a while back. Both are great calibers! 
Mumbles Marble Mouth
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Lower Mainland
Winchester is trying their best to push the WSM but people aren't buying it. Open up a hunting magazine to see review after review of the WSM's or top 10 best hunting cartridges and you won't even see the 30/06, .308, or .270win in that list. Not even the 30-30 or .303 British. Its all WSM, RUM, and WSSM. I pretty much hate reading hunting magazines now because of that. Its like reading a motocross magazine and all the reviews they have are on big, ugly, heavy, 650cc dual sport bikes. A real disappointment. I realize they just want to innovate or perhaps get people to spend more money on ammunition, what ever their intent is. But how is it innovating to produce a cartridge that has performance that is very similar with added recoil, more expensive ammunition, less magazine capacity, shorter barrel life, and supposedly has feeding issues. The negatives far out weight the positives. I live in BC though. If you're from the flat lands you probably would want something that can drop a deer from 500 - 1000 meters away rather than just 100 meters and the WSM does have a little of an edge over the .270winchester.
For a shooter I don't know just getting into, I say pick the one that is available in the gun you want right now. Both of them are very capable of the goals you have outlined, and lets face it most folks only fire what it takes to zero a load and then only fire enough shots to confirm zero hasn't shifted, the cost of ammo isn't going to be too prohibitive for a box or so a year. If the WSM is the choice you make then taking up reloading may be an additional interest for you, and if you are interested in consistently shooting longish distances reloading is the way to go anyway to achieve real consistency and maximum potential.
The .270 WCF is the standard cartridge in this caliber and has been the 1920's and for very good reason, it does it job, and has become "vanilla" because of this. Its also one of my personal favorites, its an easy shooting cartridge that, like many, is still as capable or more so today than it was in the early 1900's. I'd hunt most things in all of Canada with one and 130 grain ttsx or Nosler partitions and not feel terribly undergunned.
The .270 WCF is the standard cartridge in this caliber and has been the 1920's and for very good reason, it does it job, and has become "vanilla" because of this. Its also one of my personal favorites, its an easy shooting cartridge that, like many, is still as capable or more so today than it was in the early 1900's. I'd hunt most things in all of Canada with one and 130 grain ttsx or Nosler partitions and not feel terribly undergunned.
- Location
- Rockland, ON
I have both. Normally, one will be left at camp while I hunt with the other. I have the 270 Win up for sale on EE. Over time I've come to prefer the 270 WSM over the 270 Win because of the better performance it offers, mainly in terms of energy delivered to the target. For moose hunting my rule of thumb is to have +/- 2000 ft lbs of energy at the POI. With the same factory ammo in the same situation, either in the 130 or 150 gr bullets, the 270 WSM will deliver more energy at the POI than will the 270 Win. In some premium ammo's I can expect just over 1900 ft lbs of energy at 400 yards with the 270 WSM, whereas I expect the 270 Win to deliver under 1700 ft lbs at the same distance. If I had an opportunity to take a 400 yard shot on a moose and had 150 grain XP3 chambered, I would do so with confidence with the 270 WSM. Conversely, I wouldn't try the same shot with the 270 Win. and likely wouldn't go much beyond 300 yards.
The 270 WSM has a couple of other factors that are better than the 270 Win, some of them are marginally better but better none the less. The 270 WSM has a faster MV than the 270 Win which gives greater energy as well as less drop over the same ranges. Also, a 270 WSM will be a lighter rifle than the same model in 270 Win. The weight difference may be only oz's, but I find those ozees sure add up during a long day of hunting.
The 270 WSM I have, an A Bolt, has never failed to cycle properly from one round to the next. I hunt with premium, factory ammunition and practice with the standard, factory ammunition. Ammunition for the 270 WSM, in both grades, is more expensive than the same ammunition for the 270 Win but not so much so that it has turned me away from shooting it. I've never had a problem buying ammunition for either of them. A couple of times neither caliber, of the type I wanted, was available. The 270 WSM does have more felt recoil than does the 270 Win but it is nowhere near an uncomfortable threshold.
I think they are both great hunting rifles. Picking one over the other is a personal kind of thing. If you can arrange it, try and shoot one of each before you decide on one.
Do NOT get either one, they are both abominations to the shooting/hunting world...........buy a 7-08 or 7X57 or 280 Rem or7mm RM (this is the best choice actually).......or a 6.5X55 or a 260 Rem or a 264 WM......anything is better than a rifle using a .277 dia bullet..........
Do NOT get either one, they are both abominations to the shooting/hunting world...........buy a 7-08 or 7X57 or 280 Rem or7mm RM (this is the best choice actually).......or a 6.5X55 or a 260 Rem or a 264 WM......anything is better than a rifle using a .277 dia bullet..........
Bad hair day or did somebody crap in your corn flakes this morning?
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I'm a big fan of .270win.
And, although you didn't ask. You may want to consider a .308 or 30/06?
That said if wager my .270win against them any day of the week... but the .30cal heavier bullet weights can be appealing when hunting heavier game like moose.
And, although you didn't ask. You may want to consider a .308 or 30/06?
That said if wager my .270win against them any day of the week... but the .30cal heavier bullet weights can be appealing when hunting heavier game like moose.
