With so many options available to deer hunters these days the choices are overwhelming to know what fits your situation. One of the biggest mistakes I made growing up in whitetail country was to not take a couple of my paychecks and buy a .270 Winchester rifle for deer hunting, Long range seems to be the pivotal focus lately and with so many long range rounds being available to whitetail hunters across the country, Most Hunters want proven accuracy complimented with a little reach out and touch capability. The 270 Winchester offers this Intamtley.
Old Reliable
The .270 Winchester is a rifle cartridge developed by Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1923 and unveiled in 1925 as a chambering for their bolt-action Model 54. The cartridge is a necked-down .30-03 Government Round. and is the same length as the .280 Remington, both of which are longer than the .30-06 Springfield. The .270, .280, and .30-06 were all derived from the .30-03 parent case. The .270 Winchester uses a .270 inch (6.86 mm) bore diameter and a .277 inch (7.04 mm) bullet diameter. Over the years I’ve used the 270 in many different hunting situations, harvesting many whitetails. The .270 is enough gun, and even better today than in other times because we have better more accurate bullets. The .270 worked fine on the longest shot I’ve ever made on a buck, 305 yds., with a classic load consisting of a Hornady 130-gr. bullet. It worked equally well within 100 yard shots also.
Flat Shooter
The 270 Winchester bullet grains vary from 130 to 150 grains and muzzle velocitys from 3,060 to 3,200 feet per second, along with muzzle energy at 2,702 and 2,995 ft lbs for commercial 130-grain loads, the .270 has plenty of knock down power at ranges out to 500 yards. The 150-grain commercial loads deliver very high muzzle velocity of about 3,000 feet per second and 2,998 foot-pounds of energy wrapped in every cartridge. It is definitely enough gun to use on any big game that is found in North America, With Flat shooting from 100 yards out to 500 yards this round has taken elk, moose, pronghorn and deer at ranges of 500 yards or a little more, by many hunters across North America.
The .270 Winchester is not the perfect fix all caliber for every hunting situation; there is no caliber that is ideal for every hunting situation. However, because of the wide variety of game the .270 Winchester can adequately handle at reasonably longer ranges out to 500 yards, its flat trajectory, accuracy and tolerable recoil, it has found its way into many gun safes and pleased many hunters who can place their bullets accurately and don’t believe they need a hard-recoiling big bore for any big game animal in North America.
