.280 or .270: close decision

[DennisCA]

I might be late in the game but I just wanted to say this:


(bought in the mid-80's)
Winchester Model 70 in .270 (w/3X9 Burris Scope)

Shot animals in all kinds of weather from the east coast to the west coast - at all ranges; from a few yards to 300 +

If I do my job - the rifle does it's job. I've only lost one deer because I rushed the shot when I didn't have to.

[advocatusdiaboli]

I see:

reasonable objective size
not unreasonable magnification level
low profile turrets
only 15 oz

reads like a fine hunting scope as far as I can see. Keep a 100 yard zero, target shoot all day long all spring and summer long. Fall hits, turn the dial to 3 MOA up and go hunt. How do you go wrong?

edit: found the problem. No gold ring

Yeah. For some reason, VX-R tactical scopes don't have the gold ring—probably because "blacked-out" is "tacti-cool". The VX-R Gold Ring 3-9x40 doesn't have the .1 Mil turrets to match the reticle nicely called out and readable and the VX*R Patrol has the same life-time warranty as the scopes with Gold Rings. I think I'm good ;-)

And target shoot I will—a lot—in the shooting positions I expect in the field. One correction: Leopold TMR is a mil reticle and the turrets are detented to click in .1 mil increments. 1 mil is 3.36 MOA, so I think I click up 9 clicks for about 3 inches at 100 yards.

[Whiterabbit]

I was just making a joke about the gold ring.

For what it is worth, I paid to have leupold add a CDS dial to my hunting rifle. It is low profile and out of the way. IMO a good investment.

[advocatusdiaboli]

I was just making a joke about the gold ring.

For what it is worth, I paid to have leupold add a CDS dial to my hunting rifle. It is low profile and out of the way. IMO a good investment.

I know, I was funnin' ya back. It took me a while but I blundered my way into making a good choice. Looking forward to getting it out of jail in 9 days.

And thanks to you and the others for the advice. A new rifle and Peruta in the same week. I never thought firearms owners would see such a renaissance in Kalifornia. Maybe the tide really is turning...one can hope.

[LynnJr]

The 270 killed the 280 just the facts of life. I love the 270 but if I were to get another it would be a 280 Ackley just for the cool factor!

The 270 has been around since 1925 and the 280 came out in 1957
so the 270 didn't kill anything.

As to his wanting a hunting round that changes nothing.Custom bullets work well on big game because they are made with thin J4 jackets and accuracy is what matters.The custom bullets have better BC so they shoot flatter and don't scrub velocity like all the anemic 270 bullets do.If your a reloader there is no comparison at all and if he wants longrange as part of his goal you will never see a 270 used for that purpose but you will see plenty of 280's.

As to being able to buy brass everywhere who cares about that? I buy 100-1000 pieces it shows up in the mail and it doesn't vanish into thin air.If you don't have brass on demand you shouldn't be hunting in the first place

The 270 shoots a 130 very well but when you add 30 grains of bullet weight you can no longer push them very fast.2800 fps yes 3000 fps no way in a short barreled hunting rifle.

Enthusiasm aside lets stick to the facts and leave out the emotion.

[toby]

The 270 has been around since 1925 and the 280 came out in 1957
so the 270 didn't kill anything.

As to his wanting a hunting round that changes nothing.Custom bullets work well on big game because they are made with thin J4 jackets and accuracy is what matters.The custom bullets have better BC so they shoot flatter and don't scrub velocity like all the anemic 270 bullets do.If your a reloader there is no comparison at all and if he wants longrange as part of his goal you will never see a 270 used for that purpose but you will see plenty of 280's.

As to being able to buy brass everywhere who cares about that? I buy 100-1000 pieces it shows up in the mail and it doesn't vanish into thin air.If you don't have brass on demand you shouldn't be hunting in the first place

The 270 shoots a 130 very well but when you add 30 grains of bullet weight you can no longer push them very fast.2800 fps yes 3000 fps no way in a short barreled hunting rifle.

Enthusiasm aside lets stick to the facts and leave out the emotion.

The 270 killed the sales of the 280 because at the time the 280 offered no real advantage with available powders and bullets, you may want to check sales data on 280's in those years reason it faded away so many people already owned a 270 or a 30-06 then the 7mm mag came about so who wanted a 280 at all? little did they know, as for sticking to facts most hunting rifles sport 22"-24"-26" barrels hardly short at all. Oh but your a paper shooter If I remember.

[TMB 1]

The 270 killed the sales of the 280 because at the time the 280 offered no real advantage with available powders and bullets, you may want to check sales data on 280's in those years reason it faded away so many people already owned a 270 or a 30-06 then the 7mm mag came about so who wanted a 280 at all? little did they know, as for sticking to facts most hunting rifles sport 22"-24"-26" barrels hardly short at all. Oh but your a paper shooter If I remember.

I don't think it had to do with powder & bullets available at the time. It had more to do with the Remington 740 not being able to handle full power loads so Remington didn't load it to its full potential. The 270 being around 32 year earlier & Grandpas rifle of choice, plus the 7mm Rem Mag coming out five year after it didn't help it either though.

[advocatusdiaboli]

The 270 shoots a 130 very well but when you add 30 grains of bullet weight you can no longer push them very fast.2800 fps yes 3000 fps no way in a short barreled hunting rifle.

I would have rather bought a .280 but I didn't like the browning X-bolt and that was all I could find in left hand. So I compromised on a .270 Tikka T3 and I'll have to stick with 130 and 140 grain bullets which are enough for hunting up to and including elk. Maybe one day I'll get a .280 and it will likely have to be custom or high-end. I really liked the idea of a .284 battery with a .280 and a 7mm-08, but just couldn't find the rifles in left hand.

[advocatusdiaboli]

I don't think it had to do with powder & bullets available at the time. It had more to do with the Remington 740 not being able to handle full power loads so Remington didn't load it to its full potential. The 270 being around 32 year earlier & Grandpas rifle of choice, plus the 7mm Rem Mag coming out five year after it didn't help it either though.

True. I recall reading Remington under-loaded the 280 and renamed it 7mm Express (or something) so it would work in their semi-autos and that reduced acceptance substantially as it really hurt it's potential over .270.

[rm1911]

I've always been intrigued by the 7-08. In fact I've really been intrigued by the 6.5-08 and I've seriously considered rebarreling my 30-06 in 6.5-06 of buying a custom. The 6.5 (I have a swede Mauser) bullets are even better BC and SD numbers.

Or just buy another 6.5x55!!

[cantcme]

I'm going to get a 220 or 221 or whatever it takes

[Garandimal]

Update: put a down payment on a Tikka T3 .270 ...

Good choice.

150 gr./2800 fps mice-to-moose out to 400 yards.

Sight it 3" high at 100 yards and get ~:

100 +3"
200 +3"
300 -4"
400 -18"
500 -40"

Which will give you:

- A point-blank hold to 300 yards.
- A top-of-back hold from 300-350 yards.
- A daylight over top-of-back hold from 350 out to 500 yards.

a Rifleman's round.




GR

[LynnJr]

advocatusdiaboli
You'll be fine with the 270 it just isn't a longrange (+500 yards) round and it had nothing at all to do with the 280's lack of sales.
Custom rifles offer many nice features but a left handed Remington 700 re-barreled in 280 would make a dandy little rifle.

I do shoot paper but I also hunt every chance I get.I don't worry about looks so a well rusted/pitted/used/abused 700 most wouldn't look twice at gets the nod with me as the barrel and trigger are going in the garbage can anyway.You can blast the action and have it matte blued very cheaply or simply paint it with one of the various products out there today.

Here is a picture of a action I bought in Reno for $200

https://www.dragoman.4t.com

[Hunt]

I think of rifle cartridges in terms of range, imo anything under 300 yards does not need the long action 06 case. 7-08, .260, .308 can do it all with less recoil and less powder within usual hunting ranges. Next step up would be in my opinion, long range hunting, beyond 300 yards and that is a different set of considerations. If I were to get into long range hunting I would step up to a magnum cartridge.

[ElToro]

I can never find 7mm Remington express ammo. Just get a 30 gov and be done.