Share your experience with 270 WSM

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mshootnit

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I am just breaking in a Kimber 8400 270 WSM. I think its a pretty decent unit so far. Shoots about 1.25" groups with factory ammo. I just reloaded some 130 gr. Sierra game kings sitting in front of 64.5 grains of RL 19. I don't know what kind of velocity I am going to get but I hope its more than the factory listed 3250 fps. for 130 gr. (no chrono may never know)
I would be most curious to hear your experience with this cartridge in the field.
 
I have had a Kimber Montana 270 WSM since they came out. It's a good shooting rifle, light of weight and the safety works better than those on the M70's.

I have fused with it over the years putting shims in the bedding and polishing its crown. Of late I favor VLD bullets for the fun of it.
 
I am loading the 140 Hunting VLD's in the 270 WSM.

The other day I shot 150 Sierras and 150 SST's from it and they did well.

Why do you ask how they feed? They are just like any other bullet.
 
270 WSM is a great little gun, shoots every bit as flat as a 257 Weatherby and hits as hard as a 7mm Rem mag all in an efficient little short action package with sub 30-06 level recoil. Mine is a Savage 11 and I have been pleased as punch with it, factory 130gr Ballistic Tips shoot 3/4" and my handloads are a hair under that. My only gripe is that like the 7mm Rem mag it is just too darn fast for close up shots, but I have several other rifles for hunting the brush anyway so I guess that should not bother me. Three deer down from mine thus far, no tracking involved, no follow up shot needed, you cannot really ask much more from your gun then that.
 
I got mine in 2002 , it was a New Haven Produced Ultimate Shadow Classic Stainless . I Marine Tex bedded it and tuned the trigger to a wonder 3 pound pull. That year I took a couple deer with it using the Winchester 130 grain Silvertip load load as I remember. Then I got an Oregon elk with it using Federal 150 grain Nosler partitionsin 2004 and an Antelope in 2005 with the 130s again. The gun has a Leupold 3-9 VariX3 in Deadnutz one piece mounts (I used Burris mounts until 2005) and went with me to South Africa in 2006 for 3 weeks and I used it and the 150 grain Federal factory Nosler Partition loads to take everything up thru Gemsbok with one shot !
It returned and is my " Western deer rifle" , it has noteably more steam to it than my boyhood .270 Winchester (that I still have!) which was my go to deer rifle until the turn of the century. I does not seem to have much more recoil for some odd reason and is certainly a lighter kicker than a 7mm Rem mag. it is similar to a .264 Win mag but somewhat quieter. I am sure it kills well out past the 400 yards I've killed with it, but that is my hunting limit.
These days I have reloaded ammo for it and have settled on Barnes Tripleshock tipped bullets as we are in a lead free ammo zone!:rolleyes:
 
If you reload you REALLY need to spend $100 for a chronograph. If for no other reason than your own safety. The only way to know for sure if you are approaching a dangerous load is with a chronograph. If you are relying on traditional pressure signs such as flat primers and sticky extraction you are already way over a max load with your rifle before those show up.

Tracking velocity is far more accurate. I've had loads with some rifles go 100 fps over the listed max velocity when I was 2 grains under a max load. This is an over pressure load in that rifle and might be perfectly safe and 100 fps slower in another rifle.

Start low, and work up tracking velocity. Velocity is also an indicator of pressure. When you start getting close to the max velocity for that load, you are also getting close to the max pressure for that load. The amount of powder is not important and could change depending on individual rifles and even the brand of brass you are using.

Buying a chronograph will be the best $100 you spend if you reload.
 
jmr40 I appreciate the advice what brand of chrono do you recommend?

Thanks for sharing the experiences! I enjoyed reading them, and learning about the bullet selection. Also that marine text 70 ss sounds like a cool rifle for sure! so does the Savage!
Mine is a kimber hoping to find a load it likes, that will perform as well. We are in open country so longer shots can be pretty normal that's why I like this round or the idea of it anyway!

Thanks again!
 
I have two boys and I have been thinking about getting a couple rifles to give them for life to best suit their needs in America. You know what? I am REALLY leaning toward 270 WSM for both of them. The way I look at it, they can go 85-110 gr for coyotes or vermin all the way up to 150 or 160 for large North American game. Or they can go with a stout 130 load (not too hot) for a great all around performer on plains game. Plus it's in a short action rifle which should be great to carry and shoot. :cool:
 
The only caution I will give to the 270 WSM is that like all small caliber magnums it is very overbore so it is not likely to see any more then 4k rounds before the barrel needs to be swapped out, but for the average hunter that will last many many years.
 
I bought my 270 WSM to be my "long range rifle" before the hunting season began last year. I wound up only taking one shot on a deer with that rifle last year, and it was at about 35 yds. :rolleyes:

The deer piled up in less than 40 yds, but upon inspection of the deer I realized that the light Speer bullet must have started coming apart immediately after it hit a rib on entry. The entrance wound was 2.5 - 3 inches in diameter, and while the lung on the near side of the deer was destroyed, only a few bullet fragments penetrated into the far lung. It seemed pretty obvious to me that the impact velocity (probably ~3100 fps) was too much for the standard Speer Bullet, so I'm switching over to 140 gr Accubonds this year.

The load I used last year for my 270 WSM was a 130 gr Speer Hot-Core over 67 gr of RL19, lit off by WLRM primers. My chronograph (a cheap F1 Chrony) indicated that this load was in the 3250 - 3270 fps range. I would guess that your 64.5 gr loads are running quite a bit under your 3250 target. For me, the use of magnum primers made a huge difference in velocity, when I moved up to magnum primers (and obviously worked my load back up) I was getting 200 fps more than I had with normal WLR.

If it's available, Accurate Arms Magpro is supposedly THE powder for this cartridge. In my area Magpro is very difficult to find, so I'm planning on using RL22 with my Accubond loads.
 
^ Yeah that is what I am talking about being "too fast" for close up hunting, I have 130s pushing 3,400fps if they hit anything inside 150yd POOF. With the WSM you either have to back it down for woods hunting, load heavier or use bonded bullets.
 
I got my A-Bolt 270WSM use at a Gander Mtn a couple years ago. The metal and bore looks new, but being a Browning with one of those golssy stocks, the stock looks crappy cause it had a bunch of dings and a couple scratches. Made it cost only $350 for me though. I love the gun now. Shoots .5moa with TSX and A-3100 powder all day long. IMO 4k rounds is much more than 95% of hunters will shoot, so no worries there. The recoil is almost pleasant. Im not recoil sensitive or a junkie, but this round seems to be the perfect middle and I would have my GF or any teens shoot it with confidence. Even if you load it down a tad and only are getting .270win velocities, dont worry about it. It still has advantage of being shorter and the recoil seems less to me. I think it is a very good choice for and all around gun.
 
Premium bullets and you do NOT have to "back down" or worry about blow up at close range BS. A HUNT is worth a premium bullet isn't it :rolleyes:. A Nosler Partition may blow the nose,as it will creating a nasty wound BUT you will have complete penetration. All the new Bonded bullets don't fail as will not the Failsafe line . I haven't seen a Barnes copper fail , even at 3500 fps impacts, but I have heard they can. Just saying use Premium bonded or H mantle designs and it will be all good on any hunt with the .270 WSM.:cool:
 
TSX can sure fail, but when an all copper bullet fails it is a totaly different animal. The peddles blow off like large pieces of fragmentation and the remaining core is still solid copper hence does not vaporize it keeps plowing forward almost certainly passing through the animal, as far as failures go that does not sound half bad :D
 
I have read (second hand knowledge) that you can get the 140 gr bullets to almost the same speed as the 130's in this cartridge
 
Kachok

Kachok,

You wrote above:

"TSX can sure fail, but when an all copper bullet fails it is a totaly different animal. The peddles blow off like large pieces of fragmentation and the remaining core is still solid copper hence does not vaporize it keeps plowing forward almost certainly passing through the animal, as far as failures go that does not sound half bad "

Gunwriter John Barness tested the X type bullets and found they are the slowest killers of deer.

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-199115.html
 
Savage99 said:
Kachok,

You wrote above:

"TSX can sure fail, but when an all copper bullet fails it is a totaly different animal. The peddles blow off like large pieces of fragmentation and the remaining core is still solid copper hence does not vaporize it keeps plowing forward almost certainly passing through the animal, as far as failures go that does not sound half bad "

Gunwriter John Barness tested the X type bullets and found they are the slowest killers of deer.

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-199115.html
Click to expand...
There is a guy on another forum I frequent that has been using the 70 grain TSX in his 223 to shoot big pigs. He has been getting fantastic expansion, penetration and weight retention out of it.

Also the thread you linked is 6 years old. If there was a problem with the TSX at that time I think it's been fixed. I have never heard of someone having a problem with the terminal ballistics of those rounds.
 
Have known many people who use TSX and TTSX, they claim to kill plenty quick, that said I am sticking to my SSTs, BTs, and SGKs, they are just as deadly if not more so and cost half as much.
 
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