New Rifle, 308 vs 270

[Up2Early]

Hunting Delta deer and hogs, fields and timber. All shots <300yds. They look similar for ballistics, accuracy,etc. Some say recoil is less on the 308 (minor concern). It might come down to cartridge availability. Everywhere I go, they have like 3 boxes of 308 and 50-11 boxes of 270.

I have a 6.5x55 Swede, a 7mm-08, and a 30-06.

Thoughts?

[cagoodwn]

Do you reload?

[quackerkiller]

If you reload, there are a whole lot more bullet choices for a 30 caliber lead verses a .277..... That's the reason I bought a 300 wsm instead of a 270 wsm...... I have owned a .270 win and a .308..... I loved both of them..... If you get a .270, I recommend a bullet that expands fast like a ballistic tip, and I would shoot the 150 grain! I shot some 130 ballistic tips, 150 hornady ballistics, and 150 fusion's in mine....... The hornady loads performed the best.......I didn't keep the gun long so I didn't get in to reloading for it....... As far as a .308 goes, I have killed alot of deer with my ol blr lever action! 150 Winchester power point rarely lets them walk away! I've dropped deer out to 265 yds with it and it did great! The .270 I had was a weatherby vanguard, and I could shoot coke cans off the sandbags out to 500 yds!

[Up2Early]

I don't reload so I will be running factoy ammo.

[deltadukman]

I have shot a .270 my whole life. That being said, I would go with the .308. You can get alot more load choices and heavier bullets. Most .270's are 140 grain bullets. Also, I think if you wanted to stretch it out, the .308 will shoot longer more accurately. I love my .270 but I am looking to build a long range gun out of a .308. The majority of long ranger shooters and tactical snipers use .308's.

[cagoodwn]

[bmanning3]

[pondman]

Up2Early,

.308 is harder to find now because it is a NATO round. Give it a few more months and there should be plenty on the shelves. Last year this time you could not find any. Now you can find it almost everywhere provided you are not picky about what you shoot.

Pond

[cwink]

308, for the reasons mentioned above, plus I like short action rounds.

[LawDawg]

having killed dozens of deer with both, here are my observations (generally of course)

.270 - deer dont bleed too much and run further
.308 - deer bleed more and don't go as far.

now that's shooting a ballistic tip on both of them. but comparing apples to apples as far as bullet type goes, I'd pick a .308.

[Dutch Dog]

308, way WAY more bullet options and proven accuracy over the years.

[khound22]

You've already got a .30-06 which has VERY similar ballistics as a .308. The .308 is a highly accurate cartridge because of bullets available with high ballistic coefficients in .30 cal, which are also available in the .30-06. A .270 is a necked down .30-06. It is faster,has flatter trajectory, and carries more energy down range with any of the common bullet weights (see below), than a .308. The .308 has been a great bench rest/long range rifle for many years, and still is, so nobody can trash talk a .308. However, the .270 is legendary for flat shooting and long range deer killing. I would vote for the .270 vs .308 for deer hunting, but as we all know, the most important factor in killing deer quickly is shot placement and bullet selection, you do that and it doesn't matter what you shoot them with.




Cartridge V/E @MuzzleV/E @100 ydsV/E @200 ydsV/E @300 yds

.270 Win. (130PP+) 3150/2865 2881/2396 2628/1993 2388/1646
.270 Win. (140BT) 2950/2705 2751/2352 2560/2038 2378/1757

.308 Win. (150PSP) 2820/2648 2488/2061 2179/1581 1893/1193
.308 Win. (165BT) 2700/2672 2613/2314 2333/1995 2161/1711
.308 Win. (180PSP) 2620/2743 2393/2288 2178/1896 1974/1557

[cwink]

[Blackduck]

You have a swede, a short action .284 any 30-06. I wouldn't get anything you mentioned. Get a 257 Roberts. Or a magnum of some flavor. That swede is a awesome round. As far as come cans on a sandbags.......

[Dux Be Us]

Between the two .308

What's wrong with 30-06...love that round, and available everywhere. Shorter shots...get ya one of them " primitive" rifles...love my .444 for multi tasking. My .270 shoots straight enough at paper way out thar, but, doesn't transfer the kind of energy I like in meat...hence the .444