Is there a better light recoiling, do it all cartridge...

Both the British and American (they may have been looking over the Brits shoulders) militaries determined that 15 ft lbs of recoil was the limit that everyone fit for service could tolerate. I doubt it is an accident that both the 303 British and the 7.62 NATO are very close to that for recoil.
 
You could make that case. Big game rifles can be classed as Light, Medium and Heavy sort of like half-ton, 1 ton and 3 ton trucks. If you have them all, the appropriate tool for the job doesn't take a lot of thought. If you doubt your light rifles suitability, you'll just reach for the medium sooner.


Very well put, in a minimum of words. I like too take just a bit more rifle than i need for anything i would encounter.

Last while i have been hunting Southern BC. Lots of pressure, no real need for anything with "stopping" power. Any large "G" Bear is probably named and collared. My 30-06 is a excellent walking rifle and has tons of power. When predator hunting, my 25-06 during deer season and the 22-250 after. The quarter bore is overkill for howl puppies, but good for deer. In a area like the Peace, with opportunistic Bears my larger calibers go moose hunting, not because i need them for moose.

One good hit to ethically take the animals you encounter, at the ranges you will see them at. If the tool in your hand will not do that, send for the larger hammer.
 
So the question is " Is the .270 the best at doing .270 things with .270 recoil?". Then I suppose the answer is yes.

If the question is "is the .270 the best at doing anything a light rifle could legally be on with manageable recoil?" Then the answer is no. And that's coming from a guy who likes .270s.
 
Last edited:
Strange how 6.5X55 are a known moose harvesting calibre and yet how some dismiss the 270 as a legit moose cartridge.

I'd hazard to guess the manditory hunter qualifications for Moose hunting in Scandinavia weeds out the just buy a cannon and shoot'em in the neck type hunters that wander the woods in our country.

Btw...Methinks the 6.5x55 is a great cartridge.
 
I'd hazard to guess the manditory hunter qualifications for Moose hunting in Scandinavia weeds out the just buy a cannon and shoot'em in the neck type hunters that wander the woods in our country.

Btw...Methinks the 6.5x55 is a great cartridge.
I'm sure it is a great cartridge as I hear praise from their owners, never owned one but I've never heard anybad about them what so ever. Me loves my 270
 
Strange how 6.5X55 are a known moose harvesting calibre and yet how some dismiss the 270 as a legit moose cartridge.

Agreed -- 6.5x55 is a very nice round and probably all most people need when loaded properly - it is accurate and effective ... but there is nothing it can do that a .270W cant ... except be tougher to find ammo for at the local hardware store
 
Many do here too, its a very popular cartridge. Id wager there are more 270s used in Saskatchewan than 30-06s. I've killed several moose and elk with one myself, and besides that anything that diverts people from .243s is fine with me.

The question wasn't whether it worked, because its been working just fine since two years before the Model A Ford was built. The question is whether it is the best, or is it best for the recoil? Its not a question that can be answered easily but I'd still go with no. I don't even think its the best .270 never mind the best light rifle. I've got those ones too.
 
Many do here too, its a very popular cartridge. Id wager there are more 270s used in Saskatchewan than 30-06s. I've killed several moose and elk with one myself, and besides that anything that diverts people from .243s is fine with me.

The question wasn't whether it worked, because its been working just fine since two years before the Model A Ford was built. The question is whether it is the best, or is it best for the recoil? Its not a question that can be answered easily but I'd still go with no. I don't even think its the best .270 never mind the best light rifle. I've got those ones too.

Well I think it is. :)

With these new light bullets - as in my original post - it can be loaded to mimic the .243, and without having to use 18% case capacity. It can also be loaded to be very similar to the .257 Wby, but using less powder. And then it can step it up with a premium 150gr at +2900 fps. That is a very wide spectrum and it is in a cartridge that pretty much anyone can handle.

As I mentioned, I have owned many of the alternatives listed - 6.5x55, 7mm-08, .308 etc - and while they all have their merits, none of them can match the following:

85gr TSX @ 3900fps
95gr TTSX @ 3700fps
100gr or 110gr Accubond @ 3500fps
110gr TSX @ 3500fps
130gr ___ @ +3100 fps
150gr ___ @ +2900 fps
160gr Part. @ +2800 fps

I think c-fmbi's suggestion of the .264 WM is the closest.

And yes, there are fine examples of larger cartridges that will work an arguably wider range - the .300 Wby immediately comes to mind - but we are talking significantly more recoil than the average hunter wants to deal with. With the .270 even the heavier bullets at max loads are manageable for most people - not including an ultra-lightweight with no recoil pad. And realistically, you really aren't giving too much up when you use the 150's on moose and elk - especially at the normal ranges these animals are shot at.
 
The .264 will be close, I've got one of those too and get 3300 fps with 120 Nosler Ballistic tips with a load that isn't even max by Hodgdons data. The .270 Win is out-270ed by a couple of other .270s. The WSM and Weatherby will handily out-run the Win with any bullet weight, and I have trouble seeing how someone could shoot one and not the others. I've got both of those too, the WSM in a Kimber Montana which will do until an ultra-lightweight comes along.Its sort of fun to shoot, I actually marvel how much performance that little thing kicks out. My girls call it the helium gun, and giggle like the school girls they are. *note to self; must ask what's so funny.

The .270 Win is a sentimental favorite and I have a couple of the FN manufactured M70s. One's a featherweight with a grade 11 wood upgrade and the other is a Cabellas 50th featherweight Supergrade. Interestingly, one makes 3100 fps with 130s and the other is only doing 2890 with the same max load. 130 SST and 60 grains of H4831. That's not bad, but isn't the 3500 that the Weatherby kicks out, and the close to 3300 the WSM does. Real velocities, not book.

I did load up some 110 TTSXs in the .270 Win just recently, probably thinking along the same lines you are. They shot so lousy in both rifles that there wasn't any use chronographing the loads so I'll likely never know if they will out .257 the Weatherby.

Playing with cartridges is fun, and cheaper than drugs. My favorite for the most for the least is the STW, which while not kicking much will stomp all over the 25s, 264s, 270s then just for fun go over and pick fights with the .300 Mags too. Not that theres anything wrong with the 300s, they just seem to be too much of a good thing for many shooters. The STW is the one that put me out of the .270 business for a couple decades.
 
I never had an STW - I've got a Voere Titan II in 7mmRM that is itching to be rechambered. It has the room for an STW, but the "book" says the 7 Wby is pretty darned close to it's equal - maybe it's just the freebore. Or I'll just put a new .308" barrel of some sort on it.

Are you going to try the lighter (85 or 95gr) TSX in your .270?
 
6.5x55
hopped up on staroids that will work fine
140 grain sst or amax
running 3000 fps had hitting little pin hole

cheers
 
I never had an STW - I've got a Voere Titan II in 7mmRM that is itching to be rechambered. It has the room for an STW, but the "book" says the 7 Wby is pretty darned close to it's equal - maybe it's just the freebore. Or I'll just put a new .308" barrel of some sort on it.

Are you going to try the lighter (85 or 95gr) TSX in your .270?

Its mostly because of the free-bore, which makes the accuracy a little tougher to obtain.

I doubt that I'll even bother with the lighter bullets in the .270 win. The 110 TTSX was a whim, I had perfectly fine results just staying with 130s in the .270.

How long is the mag-box on the Voere?
 
Back
Top Bottom