308 Winchester or 270?

Some great common sense on the specific subject Ardent.

I'd like to try the 135 gr. .308 Cutting Edge bullet you mentioned in a different thread. Looks like an interesting one.


Ardent said:
Not accurate in any of the claims there. .270 handily outperforms 7mm-08, and .308 actually outperforms 7mm-08 at all hunting ranges, albeit marginally, at matched bullet weights. The incremental BC advantage of the 7mm isn’t enough to overcome the .30’s greater expansion ratio / efficiency.

Glad to OP is discussing sensible and easy to feed options. If it was me, if I saw myself principally shooting targets I’d get the .308, principally hunting, the .270. Both are the same price to feed, similar recoil, the .270 is a bit easier to work with in the field and slightly more effective if you hunt out west.
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350 Mag said:
308.

Why anyone would choose a 270 over 280 or 30-06 still amazes me?
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The 270win out sold the 280rem, the 270wsm out sold the 7mm wsm and the 270 weatherby out sold the 7mm weatherby so why are you amazed. 140 and 150gr bullets in 277 have a slight edge on the 7mm 140 and 150gr bullets. I love 7mm as well, I have a few, the only advantage I see with 7mm is 175 gr bullets for big game, thats it.
 
I’ve owned both. I don’t think one is hands down any better than the other? They both work well and both are more than capable for killing big game species up to and including moose which happens to be the size of species we have available to hunt in Canada. I don’t think the animals can tell if you used a 308 or a 270? I killed a deer a few years ago with a 348 and he wasn’t any more dead than he would have been had I used a 308 or 270. Dead is dead. I currently have a 270. Why? I don’t know? I just kind of like it. It’s versatile and ammo can be had for the same price as 308 too.
 
pete dobinson said:
The 270win out sold the 280rem, the 270wsm out sold the 7mm wsm and the 270 weatherby out sold the 7mm weatherby so why are you amazed. 140 and 150gr bullets in 277 have a slight edge on the 7mm 140 and 150gr bullets. I love 7mm as well, I have a few, the only advantage I see with 7mm is 175 gr bullets for big game, thats it.
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Splitting hairs. .284 vs .277

.30 cal will always be superior in knockdown power to ..277.

308 is cheaper to shoot and had in more rifles.
 
Ardent said:
The difference between .277 and .308 is three sheets of nice paper. There is zip for difference in “knock down” to be accounted for in the comparative bore diameters. Having guided many of both the edge in bang flops most certainly goes to the .270, speed kills.
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Couldn't agree more, having shot a large pile of creatures with a .308 and a small mountain more with a .270. The .270 definitely gets the nod when shooting at distance. Yeah, I know, a .308 can kill critters way out there. But with many conventional style and weight hunting bullets, reliable expansion starts becoming unreliable expansion as the yards stretch out past 350 yards. Take a 165 grain spitzer launched at 2700 fps ... it drops to around 2000 fps at about 325 yards. Depending on the bullet, we're already too slow for predictable results. By 400 yards, it's anybody's guess as to how the bullet is going to behave upon impact. And as for 400 yard shots in any case ... those are always easier to make work when dealing with less bullet drop and less wind drift thanks to a bullet launched at considerably faster velocity.

The above notwithstanding, there's an awful lot to be said for a rifle that kills with authority out to 300 yards and exhibits comparatively long barrel life. Far too much is made about cartridge choice as the answer, when the truth is what matters most is shooting practice. A .308 is generally cheaper to shoot, and the barrel will last a good while longer than a .270. So if one is planning to bring skill to the game rather than just the "right" cartridge ... well, a .308 and a bunch of practice ammo ain't a bad choice.
 
350 Mag said:
Splitting hairs. .284 vs .277

.30 cal will always be superior in knockdown power to ..277.

308 is cheaper to shoot and had in more rifles.
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Compare a 270 win 140 gr bullet to a 308 win 165 gr bullet and you will see the 270 has a 300-400 fps velocity advantage. It has more down range energy than the 308 win.
 
One could look at all the math and numbers attached to each caliber cartrage of assorted configurations, that will perform slightly better at this while that one performs better than that.

I use the simple idea of the 3 categories of cartrages.

Always wrong choosing this route of course.

243 / 6mm category, I kind of attach a few of the slower and faster 6mm & 6.5's to this line up. They are fairly close in down field trajectory.

The standard 7mm to 30 cal,,, of course there are the Magnums in this caliber that are at the top of the scale.

Then the 338 to 408's,,, most of these are power houses.

So 3 categories, with different this and that to offer, along with hours, days, weeks, months, years, along with a life time of sorting things out. I just buy a caliber, cartrage and rifle to suit my needs.

A some what chunky rifle with a middle of the road case that pushes X caliber bullet to where I want it to go.

A cartrage/ caliber for general plinking, target shooting at the national level, and that can be used for hunting season when it comes along.

Not the best of the best,,, not the worst either.
Something that covers all my shooting needs.

I'm slowly getting up there in years, the new ultimate this and that sparks my interest,,, but I can seem to get by with all the old irons I have on the go.

Hopefully the iron and my self fade away together in years to come.

The 270 & 308 winny, along with a hand full of other cartrages will suit your needs until one decides it's time to change up the game plan.

Funny thing is that I'm back to where I stared after 40+ years.

Simple standard cartrage & caliber that works along side of my needs.

That's what really counts in the book of good times

Don
 
.270 for me. Coming from 1000's of rounds put down range with a .303 L-E, I'm just handier and more comfortable with a long action. I own an aught 6 already, so when time came to upgrade to a more modern hunting rifle and a different cartrige, I opted for a Howa 1500 in .270 Win. It has been an excellent performer for me.
 
Personal preference is the 270. Shoots flat and you can kill anything within 400 yards. If you're going after bigger game invest in good bullets and you're set. Cant really go wrong with either one.
 
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