Howa 270 win reloads

[vinpar092]

I've had my Howa 270 win for about 5 years and have never hunted with it. I thought I'd finally start shooting it. I've only put about 200 rounds through it. Anyway, I'm loading a 150 gr speer with Reloader 22 and its shooting just Ok. Thought I'd see what other Howa shooters were reloading. I haven't messed with seating depth all that much so I still have some work to do. Thanks

Vince

[nodlenor]

My Howa 270 is fairly new so I haven't done enough expermenting with it yet but I will post some loads that it likes as soon as I can. I have shot it enough to know it is going to be a good shooter though. My other 270 is a Rem 760 and it isn't particular at all. It seems to shoot good with about any ammo but a good 150gr load I have is Hornady's SST & 54gr of IMR7828. I've also had good luck with Sierra 140gr BTHP & 54.5gr IMR4831. Good luck with your Howa and be sure to let us know how it performs for you.

[vinpar092]

I'm thinking about shooting the Hornady 140 gr BTSP, just because its middle of the road. Most people shoot 130 gr and I guess I'm trying to get them to sell it to me. I prefer heavier bullet, that just me. I want to try them but can't make myself. I know alot of people that kill with them, I just can't get away from the heavy bullet philosophy. I also want to try IMR 7828. Any bad things to say about it.
Thanks
Vince

[nodlenor]

The old IMR 7828 didn't meter very good but it is made in a short cut now and should meter a lot better. I've not tried the short cut yet but from what I've read about it it uses the same amount as the older stuff. I didn't have any problems with what I used. I haven't used any Reloader 22 but I know people who do and like it very well. There are other powders that work very well in the 270 win, such as, Win. 760 & IMR 4350. I used IMR4895 & H4895 for several years. It doesn't give the velocity of other powders but it sure was accurate in my Remington. Finding the right bullet & the right powder might take a while but that's part of the fun of it all.

[tn_junk]

My favorite was a near max load of MagPro and a 150 grain Sierra.
Next favorite was the standard old line Remington 130 PSP and a fairly mild load of H4895. That was my standard go-to Deer load.
Both were easily sub MOA loads.

alan

[vinpar092]

Thanks for the replies, I've been out of town with Hurricane Gustav. I didn't think about Magpro, I'll have to give it a try. I'm so far behind this hunting season, I'm not sure I'm going to finish any project.

Vince

[Siskiyou]

I think you are on the right track with the 150-grain Speer and Reloader 22.  The track is using a slow burning powder and a 150-grain bullet in the .270 Winchester.

The right track for the .270 Winchester starts with a slow burning powder starting at IMR4350 or its clones, topping at with powders in the MagPro, Reloader 22 burn speed. 

I load for three different rifles in .270 Winchesters.  None of them are a Howa.  But a load these rifles like is a near maximum charge of H4831 and 150-grain bullet.  I reload a 100 or more rounds of this recipe at a time and get about 2870 fps out of it. 

This load has also been proven in a friends pre-64 Model 70 Feather Weight.

The 150-grain load is my go-to load in two rifles.  A third rifle likes the 150-grain load, but I have been hunting with the 140-grain Hornady BTSP in it.  I have taken a couple of deer using it pushed by H4831.  I had to back off on my first loading, and the result was been effective, and explosive on deer at close range. 

I spent a lot of time and effort developing a load using the 140-grain bullet pushed by WW785.  This load gives me better accuracy and higher velocity.  I was amazed to see the airborne hoofs of a deer doing a summersault after being hit by this load at about 75-yards.

The downside is that I can no longer get WW785.  My latest development effort has been with Winchester Magnum Rifle(WMR) powder, pushing the old style 140-grain Winchester Silvertip bullet.  I bought a thousand of these bullets on sale.  I found a near maximum charge of WMR and this bullet to be very accurate.  After this effort Winchester dropped WMR. 

Two powders have my attention for the .270 Winchester in the future, Reloader 22, and MagPro.

My bullet box contains, 100, 110, 130, 140, and 150 grain bullets for the  .270 Winchester.  Based on hunting experience if I was limited to one bullet it would be a 150-grain bullet.
 

[vinpar092]

I decided that bow season opens Oct. 1 and I don't have enough time to invest in another powder this year, so I'm going to stick with Reloader 22 and make adjustments from what I already know. I am set on 150 grain bullet mostly because I have a few left to shoot. But have seriously considered the 140 gr BTSP from Hornady. I shoot Hornady 165 gr. BTSP in .30-06 and really like their performance, and its only offered in the 140 gr. I have never shot a deer with the speer bullet, I'm sure it will work well.

Vince

[nomosendero]

I know with my 270 the 140 Accubond offered extreme accuracy.

[charles p]

Will you use it for deer or elk size game?  Nothing wrong with the 130 grain bullets in 270.  Surprised most have mentioned 140 and 150 grain selections.  They are unnecessary except for the largest game animals.  The 130gr and 270 go together very well.

[vinpar092]

I will use them for deer. I seldom hunt anything else. I plan to try 140gr BTSP. Its middle of the road and I think it should work real well. For now I have quite a few 150 gr Speers that will last me through this hunting season and then some. After that I will order the 140's. Went to the range today, except I went with 2 nephews and a friend of theirs (ages 9 to 12). As you can imagine I didn't get much work done. I did get my 9 yr old nephew to shoot his .243 for the first time. He's been very intimidated by it. I had to get it sighted in, etc. I let his brother shoot it and it was on after that. Anyway the 150's shot well considering. I wouldn't hesitate to hunt with it that's for sure.  I'm just upset that I haven't hunted with my Howa sooner. Its really starting to grow on me.

Vince

[rickt300]

I ended up using 150 grain Speers and Hornady bullets when I lived in Wyoming because the rifle was also used on elk. Here in Texas I load the 130 grain Nosler solid base bullets to 2900 fps and this is a real fine deer and feral hog combination. I found the 130 grain Hornady bullets to be far too destructive at full velocities.

[vinpar092]

Which Hornady's? The SST or Interlocks?

Vince

[rickt300]

They were interloks, one example I hit an antelope in front of the shoulder in the neck and it made a 6 inch hole all the way thru taking out all the soft tissue under the spine. This at 250 yards loaded on top of 59.0 grains of H4831 from a 24 inch barrel.

[vinpar092]

I never had that kind of devistation with an Interlok. The SST's yes but not the Interlocks.

Vince

[Siskiyou]

I kind of agree with rickt300.   I shot a large antelope buck on the run in the spine/back strap area.  The shot put the buck down, and blew out a large chunk of back strap and damaged the spine.  I came away from that hunt with two thoughts; antelope are tough, but tender.

I normally load the 130-grain Hornady with 60.0 grains of H4831 or in this case the load was 60.5 grains of WW785.  Either load gives about 3000 fps in my 22-inch barrel.

I have never seen that much damage on deer with the 130-grain Hornady.

A week ago I shot a buck deer using a 150-grain PRE-Interlock Hornaday bullet out of my 22-inch barrel Remington 700 in .270.   My Crony says I am getting 2830 fps out of the rifle used at 15-feet from the muzzle.  The bullet hit a rib directly behind the right shoulder, blowing a funnel shape hole into the chest cavity.  One lung was destroyed, and most of the other went missing.  There was an inch /two inch hole where the bullet exited on the other side.

I later measure the distance from shot fired to impact.  It was approximately 32.5 yards according to my rangefinder.  At close range the damage was excessive, but if the shot had been taken at two or three hundred yards most likely I would have had a nice mushroomed bullet toad to my collection.  The bullet did what I asked of it, creating an exit hole to leave a blood trail.