.270 or .308

[sureshot]

For coyotes, deer, moose, and bear. What would be a good choice out of the .270 and .308

 

[Sheepdog1968]

I would say the 308 is better suited for the larger game.

 

[interlock]

both are excellant. i think it would come down to your personal preference with the length of the action.

 

[unwise11]

.308

 

[Kachok]

Own both, shoot both, love both, the longer distance you are going to be shooting the more advantage the 270 has, while in realistic ranges (less then 200 yd) I perfer the 308, but since I discoverd my T3 Stainless 6.5x55 it goes with me over 90% of the time, that rifle is PERFECT For truly big game with either of these calibers you should invest in some premium bullets especaly when dangerious game is involved, Partition, Trophy Bonded Bear Claw, TSX, Accubond, or ultra bonded corelock is the cheapest insurence you could ever buy.

 

[kludge]

Flip a coin.

 

[heeler]

I used a .270 for many years and only for deer hunting.
A .270 in that role is great and is truely a flat shooting rifle.
That said I prefer a .308 because I prefer short action light carbine style hunting rifles,especially for walk hunting.
So since moose and bear have come up then I personally would be more comfortable with the .308.

 

[Art Eatman]

heeler's comment about the weight of the rifle is probably more of a difference than the comparison of the cartridges. Both cartridges have excellent records on big game. Pretty much equal, IMO...

 

[T.R.]

This photo shows my Remington carbine in .308 and dandy mule deer taken at approx. 175 yards. A single 150 grain bullet dropped him immediately!

Both cartridges have the flat trajectory, power and accuracy to topple big game out to about 325 yards or so. In my opinion, vast majority of hunters should not shoot beyond 150 yards because lack of serious practice using make shift field positions for long distance shooting.

308 is ideal for short actions and 20 inch barrel.

In contrast, 270 is a long action cartridge. Barrel length of 22 inches or greater is ideal.

Both cartridges have approx same recoil.

TR

 

[Kachok]

I don't totaly agree with that, I think the .270 likes 24" barrels much better then 22". I have owned both and the 24" gets about an extra 60fps and seems to get a bit more complete powder burn, your milage will very with different handloads though. Either way the 308 is better for compact rifles

 

[CoRoMo]

For coyotes, deer, moose, and bear. What would be a good choice out of the .270 and .308?

Yes, that is true.

 

[Blue Brick]

+1 308

 

[sureshot]

So a browning xbolt .308 with a 22" or 23" barrel wouldn't be bad

 

[CoRoMo]

bad?

To the coyotes, deer, moose, and bear... it would be horrible.

 

[Captcurt]

Take the one that you like.

Proper bullet selection, weight and placement means far more than caliber.

 

[Kachok]

Totaly agree with that. Putting the right bullet right where it needs to be is 100x more important then weather it is a .27 or .30 cal. I don't think you could ever go wrong with a Browning anything especaly a .308. The fit and finnish is top of the food chain good and accuracy is always above par. If you don't have the dough for a $954.82 Stainless Stalker .......DROOL you can do what I did and get a Tikka which is also top notch in everything. I got my Stainless T3 6.5x55 for $408 and it feels just as good as any Browning. Accuracy is better then 99.9% of us can ever shoot off the sandbags myself included.

 

[sureshot]

CoRoMo are you trying some sarcasm?
Kachok well I am thinking more along the lines of a composit stalker.

 

[d2wing]

Why not get the daddy of both, the 30-06? Between the two I'd go with the .308 because it is available as short action, more target style rifles are in that caliber, lot's of cheap surplus ammo and it's maybe more effective on larger game. For just coyotes the .270 would be fine but either cartridge will do the job. Both have a strong following.

 

[Kachok]

Composite stalker is great too, only problem is those beautyful lines are blured by all the black. + they are still expensive, totaly worth it but expensive. The X-Bolt really is a work of art, I think it is a HUGE step up from the A-Bolt in terms of egronomics and style. The ultra modern guns are catching on. Short bolt throws, slim stocks, rearward ballence, feather weight, and rounded edges make a rifle feel more mature to me.

 

[rozziboy18]

stick to the 3's

winchester,ruger,browning

308,270,30'06

if it cant be done with a combo of the above, it dosent need to be done!

 

[ssmlr3]

Another one to the mix

I have 270, 308, 450 bushmaster, 338 win mag and now a 338 federal. I have had 356 win. I just bought a DPMS 338L w/18" barrel and muzzel brake. I did alot of reloads to get an expensive 270 wing rifle down to about .5" groups at 100yds. I worked hard at that. Today I sighted my DPMS 338 Federal in. It is brand new. After every shot for 9 i cleaned the barrel.then evry three rounds and cleaned. On 17,18,19 I shot this 3 shot group at a 100 yards. 8000', 50 degrees and sunny. .567" group with Federals 200 gr sp. i was also resighting my 270 after a new scope was added. (270 is from 1983) i still need some work with the 270 to get it dialed in. The recoil from the 270 i noticed but with that 338 Federal in an semi-auto was nothing. the gun is 7.9 pounds with a 16oz scope. Nice mix of weight and power. I did alot or reading on the Federal 338 before I bought it. There is alot of negative and pooh pooh about it. BUT I considered more than just normal velocity and energy like OMG, point blank range, weight of gun, range to be used and animals to be killed. Yes it is not a long range gun for big game thus 338 win mag. it is a mid range killer. Not to say my 308 M1A is not but the extra bullet size is very nice. I killed a 6x6 bull elk weight close to 800lb with it in 09 at 230 yards. One shot and down, took 1/4 of the heart. Dont let just the numbers of energy and velocity rule the day. Another thing to think about is how good do you really shoot? sure the gun may shot sub 1 moa but can you with a high heart rate from humping up a mountain. All these people shooting long ranges during hunting is just scary. Talk to any guide and they will tell you egos or talk dont kill game.

 

[Kachok]

replace Ruger with tikka/sako and I agree. The 77 Hawkeye is sub standard in it's price class, Tikka has a better action, better trigger, better stainless, better synthetic stocks, better egronomics, and most importantly better accuracy that they back up with a sub-moa promise. All for hundreds less then the 77 Hawkeye, not really a contest at all. Now throw the old Ruger No1 in the contest and you have a fight on your hands.

 

[ChefJeff1]

270, 150 grain nosler partition. Works great for me.

 

[CoRoMo]

CoRoMo are you trying some sarcasm?

Nope. I'm trying to answer your questions.

 

[charlie echo]

308.

Wider avail' of the 308 ammo' (and platforms, such as the Match Grade M1a or the LRB M14SA) means better practice sessions for the time and money.