Just got a 270!

My Savage Axis XP in .243 came in yesterday from WSS, who got this going fairly quick, ordered on Oct 20, Shipped 21, arrived 29. CanPost kept it a couple of extra days in Calgary, just because.

Nice gun overall. I can compare to Savage 10TR and Remington 783:

Not struck on the stock, fore end is very flimsy and off center (almost touching barrel on left), the grip is thin, butt pad is OK. Stock will get the job done, but might be a candidate for upgrade in the future.

Bolt, receiver look good, bolt is fairly smooth, 10TR is smoother as is the 783. Seems to use a long action even though it is not necessary for .308 family of cartridges. I did not expect this. The 783 and the Marlin X7 size their actions to the cartridge (Short or Long). I guess this is a cost savings (maybe less tooling?). I guess I can live with moving the bolt an extra 1/2 inch...

Magazine is a short action model though, and seems to work. The lips are metal, standard Savage. I do not like the release clip though. It is plastic, molded with the mag body. Looks like a candidate for breaking off. The 10TR has the release on the action (or is it the stock?) and everything is metal. The 783 has a metal release as well, but the body is plastic. Of the three, the Savage is the least desirable, but it does work.

Barrel is not bad. The 783 has a heavier barrel profile which is nice.

Trigger is just OK. Has some creep (slightly more than the 783) and a little heavy for my liking. Looking at it, I think it is possible to turn it into an adjustable trigger fairly easily... have to research that one...

Scope is useable, but no miracle work going on with this 'freebie'. Older style eyepiece adjustment (irrelevant, no need to fast adjustment, it's set and forget for me anyway), no AO, rings are very basic. Glass looks OK, but I do not know how it will handle moist/foggy conditions. Again, will get the job done for the average deer hunter. I'll probably move it to a bush gun at some point. This one will need a longer range, MOA/Mil reticule scope.

Needed a good cleaning, tore it down and got the cosmoline-like grease off of everything. Even the barrel surface was covered in it. I could not see it, but lots came off when handling or wiping it. For those wondering, I would not take this from the store/post office to the range without at least cleaning the bore first. And don't clean it in the post office parking lot ;)

So, overall it's a nice rifle for under $300 all in, shipped to my door. The 783, is probably an equal value if you have the extra $100 to spend (adjustable trigger, slightly better stock/butt pad, slightly heavier barrel).

Hoping to get out to the range with it this weekend.
 
relic38 said:
My Savage Axis XP in .243 came in yesterday from WSS, who got this going fairly quick, ordered on Oct 20, Shipped 21, arrived 29. CanPost kept it a couple of extra days in Calgary, just because.

Nice gun overall. I can compare to Savage 10TR and Remington 783:

Not struck on the stock, fore end is very flimsy and off center (almost touching barrel on left), the grip is thin, butt pad is OK. Stock will get the job done, but might be a candidate for upgrade in the future.

Bolt, receiver look good, bolt is fairly smooth, 10TR is smoother as is the 783. Seems to use a long action even though it is not necessary for .308 family of cartridges. I did not expect this. The 783 and the Marlin X7 size their actions to the cartridge (Short or Long). I guess this is a cost savings (maybe less tooling?). I guess I can live with moving the bolt an extra 1/2 inch...

Magazine is a short action model though, and seems to work. The lips are metal, standard Savage. I do not like the release clip though. It is plastic, molded with the mag body. Looks like a candidate for breaking off. The 10TR has the release on the action (or is it the stock?) and everything is metal. The 783 has a metal release as well, but the body is plastic. Of the three, the Savage is the least desirable, but it does work.

Barrel is not bad. The 783 has a heavier barrel profile which is nice.

Trigger is just OK. Has some creep (slightly more than the 783) and a little heavy for my liking. Looking at it, I think it is possible to turn it into an adjustable trigger fairly easily... have to research that one...

Scope is useable, but no miracle work going on with this 'freebie'. Older style eyepiece adjustment (irrelevant, no need to fast adjustment, it's set and forget for me anyway), no AO, rings are very basic. Glass looks OK, but I do not know how it will handle moist/foggy conditions. Again, will get the job done for the average deer hunter. I'll probably move it to a bush gun at some point. This one will need a longer range, MOA/Mil reticule scope.

Needed a good cleaning, tore it down and got the cosmoline-like grease off of everything. Even the barrel surface was covered in it. I could not see it, but lots came off when handling or wiping it. For those wondering, I would not take this from the store/post office to the range without at least cleaning the bore first. And don't clean it in the post office parking lot ;)

So, overall it's a nice rifle for under $300 all in, shipped to my door. The 783, is probably an equal value if you have the extra $100 to spend (adjustable trigger, slightly better stock/butt pad, slightly heavier barrel).

Hoping to get out to the range with it this weekend.
Click to expand...


Indeed the actions are all one length, which as you expect is a cost savings measure. This was one factor that made me lean towards the 270 as opposed to the 7mm-08.(If the space is there, I might as well use it)

Magazines come in two varieties - short action and long. The magazine clip DOES seem pretty cheap, but in all the reviews I've read of the gun nobody has actually said it broke on them. I guess time will tell on that one...

Had the rifle out for a few hours target shooting in the rain, with the sun coming out just before we packed up, and no issues with the scope. Im sure I'll want something better in the future, but for a first-year hunter its exactly what I need - simple and straight forward.

Stock/butt pad are less than ideal, but with how nice Boyd's stocks are, I'd probably want one for any gun I buy for less than $1000. Besides, having something thats unique is nice. I think that'll help recoil two-fold, because not only can I get a better quality recoil pad on a Boyds stock, but it'll also weigh more.

Right now, I'd say recoil is a bit more than my 303 British, but my enfield weighs like 9lbs while the Axis is only 7.5lbs. With a heavier stock and a better recoil pad, my 95-pound wife will be able to shoot it no problem methinks.

The one thing I didn't like so much was how hard it can be to load the magazine while it is still in the rifle. The opening is not very big, and I found when trying to load the magazine my rounds would land between one feed lip and the back side of the action. I guess Im just used to my enfield and SKS that have wide-open actions (they of course are both designed to be loaded with the magazine in place.) Not really a problem, per say, but something that I noticed at any rate. When hunting it would be loaded with a full magazine anyways.
 
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A hunting buddy of mine uses only a 270 on everything. He only shoots the 130, because it shoots flat and groups very well.

It is a very destructive round on deer. A 150 might be a bit less so.

On moose I used to think a 150 would be a better choice, but boiler room shots with the 130 are spectacular quick kills.

Conclusion: Try 130 and 150 and use whichever shoots best.
 
Ganderite said:
A hunting buddy of mine uses only a 270 on everything. He only shoots the 130, because it shoots flat and groups very well.

It is a very destructive round on deer. A 150 might be a bit less so.

On moose I used to think a 150 would be a better choice, but boiler room shots with the 130 are spectacular quick kills.

Conclusion: Try 130 and 150 and use whichever shoots best.
Click to expand...

So far Im thinking I want two loads - a cheap 130 grain bullet for target/deer purposes,(sierras maybe?) and a quality 140-grain bullet (TSX if they'll group nice enough) for the bigger stuff. I figure with todays quality bullets, I'd rather keep the speed of a 140 over the bit of extra weight a 150 would offer, and the gun is only 1:10 twist so it might not stabilize the 150 TSXs anyways. Although the 160 partitions make me wonder - I bet they'd be perfect for bears and hogs.... The 180 woodleighs dont impress me though, my 303 tosses 180s at almost the same velocity, so I'd rather just use that.

Step one is the deer load though... Maybe I'll order a lee loader off Amazon tonight... and go check Wholesale sports for bullets...
 
130 gr Win Blue Box ... Did the Job on my bear last year....Actually it cause more damaged than I expected....

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Suther said:
So far Im thinking I want two loads - a cheap 130 grain bullet for target/deer purposes,(sierras maybe?) and a quality 140-grain bullet (TSX if they'll group nice enough) for the bigger stuff. I figure with todays quality bullets, I'd rather keep the speed of a 140 over the bit of extra weight a 150 would offer, and the gun is only 1:10 twist so it might not stabilize the 150 TSXs anyways. Although the 160 partitions make me wonder - I bet they'd be perfect for bears and hogs.... The 180 woodleighs dont impress me though, my 303 tosses 180s at almost the same velocity, so I'd rather just use that.

Step one is the deer load though... Maybe I'll order a lee loader off Amazon tonight... and go check Wholesale sports for bullets...
Click to expand...

If your rifle has a 1:10 twist. the 180 gr Woodleighs aren't the best choice anyway as the twist is marginal for that length of bullet. But to compare the .270/180 with a .311/180 due to a similar velocity misses the point. The Woodleigh, despite being a round nose will shoot reasonably flat at 2500 fps, striking the target 10" low at 300 yards with a 200 yard zero, and and it's terminal performance on heavy game belies it's diameter. A .303 bullet would have to weight 228 grs to have a similar sectional density, and the typical 180 gr RN factory load, drops the bullet more than a foot at 300 yards with a 200 yard zero. At one time the old timers considered the ideal impact velocity of an expanding bullet on heavy game to be about 2400 fps. At 2400 fps, expansion was maximized without bullet failure, wound volumes were large, and penetration was very deep. Consider the bullet wights and velocities which gained reputations for fast humane kills; the 160 gr 6.5s, 175 gr 7mms, and the 220 gr .30s all had muzzle velocities in the range of about 2500 fps and all were reliable killers on large African, Asiatic, and North American game. But for those long, high sectional density bullets to perform well they have to be spun faster than a 1:10 will spin a .270/180, or they will precess (yaw) on impact, and the rotational velocity will not be sufficient to overcome the precession in tissue, even if it does slowly overcome the initial precession which occurs when the bullet exits the muzzle of the rifle into open air. As a bullet in precession passes through tissue, the frontal section of the bullet rather than expanding in a flat mushroom, expands at an angle which mirrors the degree of yaw encountered, compromising both straight line penetration and wound volume, possibly resulting wounded and lost game, depending on the degree of precession.
 
I had my Axis in .243 out last week. Finally got a chance to report back. Sighted in with 11 rounds and shot this 4-round group at 120 yds (top hole is one of the sighting rounds). Not too bad. Didn't have a 25 yd range to start at, so just took a chance at 120.. shot low and left, almost off the paper. after 10 more rounds I got it where I wanted it and I'm happy with this one:
Federal PowerShok 100gn SP
Savage_Axis_243_Stock_120yds.jpg

Gonna have to do it over again with the new scope, but it was fun testing it out. Cheers!
 
Knowing c-fbmi's affinity for the 270 and Savage Arms he was very polite and modest in his commentary. In the debate between Jack O'Conner and Elmer Keith you just joined the O'Conner camp. I trust the 270 and the new Savage will give you years of entertainment.
 
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Don't see many disadvantages to a 6.8 x 63 mm mid-way between the 6.5 x 55 mm and 7.62 x 63 mm.


  • Moderate recoil, 7.62 x 67 mm ballistics without knocking you out from under your hat,
  • enough bullet weight to hit anything from deer to moose very solidly,
  • enough velocity to make those Barnes bullets work really well,
  • barrel life is not quite 7.62 x 63mm, but still better than 6.2 x 52 mm...


What's not to like?
 
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