270 accuracy baseline

[mattri]

Thanks to all who replied to the earlier posts re .270 accuracy.

This is my hunting round: 150grn Hornady SST over 41grns Vrgt in fireformed Win brass. This is by no means a comp ready combo but the deer don't know that.

This is again, a baseline.

I'd like to see what a 130 or lighter bullet will do with other powders and some better prepped brass.

Any and all suggestions welome, Matt.

 

[Bob Kingsbury]

Would think you may be better served with 4350 or 4831, maybe RE-19
41 grains of Varget allows quite a bit of airspace in the shell. I would
doub't that optimum performance can be had with it.

 

[mattri]

Thanks for the reply, that's exactly the kind of information I'm looking for. I'm new to this and appreciate all the help I can get.

The next load I want to try is a 130gr with 55grns of 4831, think that will do better?

 

[Stephen Perry]

Matt Great .270 Accuracy

My rough measurement is about .8 for your shots which is the 3/4" group size I see from really accurate hunting rifle. This will give you a chance for a shot at 300 yd on anything bigger than a frog. Really Matt there are big game guns and mouse killers you have the former gun.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR

 

[murphy]

To mattri.

Have always had good results with Winchester 760 ball powder and 130g bullets in my 270, but not SST,s. My Marlin MR7 shoots them all over the paper but likes most other shapes and brands. If you are chasing accuracy try some 90g Sierra varmint pills as the shoot very well, and will show you a side of your 270 that a lot of people don't know about. Just one other small piece of advice: When developing loads, always start with a very clean barrel that is free of copper and nitro fouling. Loads developed on a dirty barrel may only shoot when the barrel has that particular level of fouling. By keeping it clean you always have the same base line to work from.

 

[mattri]

Thanks for the great suggestions I really appreciate the help.

Have really enjoyed trying to squeeze what I can out of an old hunting rifle. It will never be a br gun and I understand that.

I'd really like to break .5 at 100, I think it's a reasonable goal, and with what I learn from this I'd like to explore the 270's potential in a more dedicated rifle.

With the Holidays upon us money and time are a little tight but I hope to get some new loads worked up by the end of the year. Thanks again, Matt.

 

[Rustystud]

Kimber 8400 in 270

About 3 years ago I gave my son a Kimber 8400 in 270.

Jack O'Conners favorite load with exception of the Scirocco bullets.

Winchester brass, Federal 210M, 60 grains H-4831 with Swift Scirocco.

Right out of the box sub .5 moa. and 3219 fps no pressure problems.

He has taken about 25 deer since.

Nat Lambeth

 

[ForneyRider]

130gr SST and Nosler BT are great with R22 for 3100fps or more. Although, I give the edge to Nosler. I use 55-58gr of R22, but the max is 60-61gr in some references.

Also try the Accubond and Interbond. Accubond has been accurate in several calibers for me, even beating my best SMK load for 8x57.

Also try IMR 4350 and 4831. I strictly use R22, but if I wanted a change, I'd try the IMR powders. Plus you can get 8lb cannister, whereas the Reloder powder comes in 5lbs. Important when filling those cases.

I favor the Winchester brass over the Remington brass that I have been using. The necks were pretty bad on some Remington primed factory brass I picked up.

 

[Clark]

130 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip moly 3.34" 2885 fps
0.9" 5 shot group at 100 yards.
Zero at 200 yards
1871 fps at 500 yards with 8.32 moa correction
Killed (8) mule deer all between 329 and 510 yards

Win pre64 M70 action
22" PacNor lightweight taper barrel
Bordon Rimrock stock
Weaver Aluminum scope mounts
Medium Aluminum 4 screw rings
Leupold 2x7x33 scope
Stoney point knob
Harris HBLS 8.5" - 12.5" type S bipod
Butler Creek stretchy sling
Butler Creek objective cover
Dvorak instruments soft eye cover
_____________________
8.9 pounds unloaded

 

[Stephen Perry]

Nat

Do you set your .270 barrels back if notice more than usual throat erosion.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR

 

[okbob51]

I use a pre-64 Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in .270 as my "go to" hunting rifle. I have several other capable deer rifles but I always reach for that 270 when I need a rifle I can depend on. I'm not sure how many deer I've felled with that gun, easily over 50, and probably a few more from it's previous owner. Here is my load: 57 grains of IMR 4831, 130 Sierra Flatbase (1830), Fed. 210 primer, in Winchester brass. It is at maximum in the Hodgdon Load Database but causes no signs of high pressure in my rifle. It consistently shoots .75 4 shot groups at 100 yards. I do have to trim about every 3 firing.

 

[mattri]

Thanks for the replies, I've heard good thing about the IMR4831, how does it compare with the 4064?

 

[Joe S]

Thanks for the replies, I've heard good thing about the IMR4831, how does it compare with the 4064?

I prefer the "H" version of 4831 over the IMR in my 270, but.........

IMR4831 like the other flavors of this powder is a lot slower then 4064 or Varget. You should gain velocity and lower pressures with less then max loads. Full max loads useing it with 130gr bullets should give a good 100+ fps more then you`ll see from 4064

 

[vicvanb]

Have really enjoyed trying to squeeze what I can out of an old hunting rifle.

I'd really like to break .5 at 100, I think it's a reasonable goal...

From the description of your rifle in your original thread it's not likely that you will average 0.5 MOA or less. Maybe an occasional group that small but not a long-term average.

Ordinary 270 hunting rifles that will average 0.5 MOA are pretty rare ducks.

 

[mattri]

vicvanb, you're right that .5 is a lot to expect out of a hunting rifle, and I don't think it will get to the point where it will group .5 all day every day. What I would like to do is learn the rifle, the round, and the loads required to get below .5 on a fairly regular basis.

We've all met people with very expenive rifles in well regarded calibers, top of the line scopes and great ammo who can barely hit the ground for trying.

Before I invest in a better combo I'd like to be getting the most out of the one I have. As my skills and and knowledge as a shooter and reloader improve I hope to be able to make better choices as to where to go from here.

All the great replies are a huge help and very much appreciated.

I can't find any Match King's locally so will order them online. As soon as they arrive and I can work up some loads I'll post the results. Thanks again, Matt.

 

[Gerry]

I use the sierra manuals loads for the factory howa.
Both the 130 gr and 150 gr loads with 4895.
Both shot really well at 200 yds average is 1.5 inch groups.
For a factory unaltered rifle i think this is pretty good.
I seldom get a shot past 300 yds.

 

[mattri]

Thanks for the tip, all of these posts are being saved to try.

 

[alpinecrick]

Thanks to all who replied to the earlier posts re .270 accuracy.

This is my hunting round: 150grn Hornady SST over 41grns Vrgt in fireformed Win brass. This is by no means a comp ready combo but the deer don't know that.

This is again, a baseline.

I'd like to see what a 130 or lighter bullet will do with other powders and some better prepped brass.

Any and all suggestions welome, Matt.

H4831 and the 270 go together like apple pie and, ...well,.....mom.......

Some guys are loving RL-22 in their 270's, but there is the temp sensitivity issue, and when I tried RL-22 in a couple of my 270's there was a fairly significant loss in velocity from warm weather to frigid weather. More important to me, the ES increased a bunch.

If have always preferred the 150 grainers to the lighter bullets. Higher BC and Sd is the obvious factor, but I think everything else being the same the 150's are more likely to hold together better at hair burning range--especially in the spruce-fir elk jungles where elk will hole up after the first shots are fired.

Having said that, the premium hunting bullets available today generally do well under most conditions and have kind've evened things out.

Getting half inch MOA out of a hunting rig is a bit optimistic. If you can see 1 inch, 5 shot groups, you've got yourself a real shooter as far as big game rifles go. And there is nothing wrong with a rifle/load that does 1 1/4 groups either. The Nosler Ballistic Tip is practically a target bullet in terms of accuracy, but it ain't my fav for hunting. The Sierra's tend to be just a tick behind the BT's for accuracy, and are fine for deer.

For me, I run 150gr Partitions, and have used them for everything from pronghorns to elk.

In recent years, I've taken a semi-perverse pleasure in picking up old M700's when I can find them cheap. Full length bed the action, take out the pressure point, adjust the trigger, and give the barrel a GOOD cleaning with JB Compound and Wipeout, and with today's bullets, have made those rifles into some darn good shooters.



Casey

 

[alpinecrick]

Another thing......

I've seen a lot of RN and semi-spitzer bullets shoot well when other bullets won't. Whether it's more bearing surface, or the shorter ogive allows the bullet to enter the throat straighter, I don't know.

Finding a 160-170gr bullet and trying it may get even better accuracy.



Casey

 

[Bnhpr]

Sierra matchkings

would be the first thing I would try.

Bed the action and float barrel. Try other powders mentioned above, such as H4831.

Then Lets see what 5, 5 shot groups look like.