.270 Small game loads for pack-in hunt

I used to get a free goat out of the newspaper. You can saddle them up pretty easy to carry their own bbq sauce with some burlap sacks and twine.

Its interesting, you can also put, say a 85gr or so bullet in it, if the shot ball doesn't meet accuracy.It would be fun to play around with.

I've been hunting elk on public land for years. Brother, every year I think it'd be a good idea to hunt small game or even take my fly rod out there with me & let me tell you when the boots hit the ground I've never once thought it was a good idea to stop elk hunting to do anything else that week. Elk hunting requires more than 100% of your focus & energy, and you only get around one week a year to do it. You can hunt small game & fish far, far more often. Just one man's experience.

That said, don't take two loads. You'll have the wrong one in the pipe when seconds count & they won't sight the same anyway. If you're going to shoot a rabbit with a 270 any elk bullet will just pencil through it. If it doesn't, then it's not an elk bullet.

The .270 is more versatile that most people give it credit for. If you look at the load data they use a bullet as light as 90gr. A 90gr bullet loaded to just over 3,000 fps will take any small game for dinner you see. Keep the 150gr loads for the larger game.

Here's a hint, give 50.0gr IMR 4064 under a 90gr Sierra bullet a try and see how you like them. You can go much higher but I see no reason to unless you are on a dogtown hunt.

Yea? Actually a 150 gr. bullet will also take any small game for dinner.

How much weight is a little PT22 going to add to your gear if it is on your side?

Not that I see anything wrong with building squid loads but make sure that they look different enough that you don't get them confused. I also wouldn't use lead & jacketed at the same time. Lead in the barrel will change your POI.

Grumulkin said:

Yea? Actually a 150 gr. bullet will also take any small game for dinner.

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Do you think the 150 gr is enough for one shot kills on small game or would you need a follow up shot?

Might be a good time to learn how to set a snare (if you don't already).

kingmt said:

Not that I see anything wrong with building squid loads but make sure that they look different enough that you don't get them confused. I also wouldn't use lead & jacketed at the same time. Lead in the barrel will change your POI.

Click to expand...

Actually, if your goal is to have calamari, I'd pack some hooks and a little fishing line and give it a try. That wouldn't add much weight.

Let us know how you do.

Just a side note, it sounds like you will be in some beautiful country. If you take any photos please post them when you get back, good luck...

i have no experience with the .270, but i have done exactly what you are asking with the 30-30. i used very light charges of red dot (3.5gr if memory serves) and a 135gr lead bullet from missouri bullet. accuracy was actually pretty good. i would feel pretty confident with a 25 yard shot at a squirrel. the only problem was that the POI was way low as compared to my full power loads so i had to use kentucky windage for each shot. velocity was just a bit over 820fps and it was no louder than a .22lr. i have wanted to repeat this experiment with a heavier bullet (165gr or 173gr) to see if i can raise the POI but have yet to get around to it.

hookem3119,
I don't have any experience with reduced loads in the .270, but I have had reasonably good luck shooting .300" #1 Buckshot out of a variety of .308 to .312 barreled rifles.

Even though the .300" ball is too small to properly engage the rifling, they seem to pick up enough spin to stabilize just by "skidding" over the lands. Since #2 Buckshot is nominally .270" you might be able to use it unsized in your .270.

I load the #1 Buckshot by lubing heavily with liquid Alox and then seating into a fired, unsized case charged with a magnum primer and no powder. Depending on how tight the neck in your chamber is, you might need to pinch the case neck in a bit to hold the shot firmly in place.

Even without powder these loads will group well enough in most of my 30 caliber rifles to reliably take rabbits out to about 75 feet or so. These loads are very quiet and can hardly be heard from 75 yards away. If I want more power, I add up to 3 grains of Red Dot in a .308 Winchester case, any more powder and they start to lead the bore badly after just a few shots.

I used to put a 3/8ths inch square piece of Dacron above the powder to hold it in place, but I stopped doing it because it didn't give any better accuracy than simply pointing the rifle straight up in the air to settle the powder in the rear of the case before taking a shot.

I wish you luck in getting any of these reduced loads to shoot to the same point of aim as your full power loads, but stranger things have happened! The only way you'll know is by shooting them in your rifle.

kingmt made a good point about POI shift. Although these loads are unlikely to lead your barrel, the Alox left in the bore might shift your POI, Again testing in your rifle will be the only way to find out.
Take care,
Swampman

Take the advice of sticking to a single gun and a single load. Any big game bullet designed for elk is going to poke a nice round hole through a smaller critter without even thinking about expanding. Coupled with the fact that you could screw up and pop a Boone and Crocket elk with a mouse fart load...

I can't see how multiple ammunition types in the same caliber are a good idea.