Coyotejoe: I cannot disagree regarding the performance of the .270 Winchester and many standard 130-grain bullets. As a kid with a .270 I immediately went for the Remington Bronze Pt. bullet because it had the highest velocity of the 130-grain factory loads. I was lucky and shot my first deer with it in the chest. But there were a few lessons to be learned by the kill. The close range shot destroyed the heart, lungs, and part of the liver. Rather impressive damage and kill. But the lesson came when examining the entire kill. The bullet had disintegrated in the chest cavity and except for a few minor necks there was no damage inside the ribcage on the far side, nor damage to the shoulder of the off side. Just a few fragments were recovered. The lesson did not sink in for a while because I was more impressed by high velocity at 14 years.
Lesson #2 came a few weeks later at the close of the season. I needed another box of ammunition and all I could find was 130 grain Remington C-L. I shot a running buck behind the shoulder at about thirty yards. The bullet destroyed the heart and lungs, the rib cage on the far side suffered major damage, and the shoulder on the off side suffered extensive damage. The bullet did not hit the shoulder bone, and we recovered it under the hide. While the bronze Pt. flew faster the designed of the C-L allowed it to penetrated deeper.
But I also learned a few lessons about bullets and velocity from others. A neighbor and old time hunter always killed his bucks with a 30-06. His favorite bullet was the 165-grain Hornaday, and normally he did not recover his bullets. I was shocked when he bought a new M70 Featherweight in .243 Winchester. As luck would have it a large Mule Deer buck gave him a cross shot at close range. The high velocity 80-grain bullet blew a large entry wound and peppered the heart and lungs with bone and bullet. A follow-up shot was required. I was as surprised at him using 80-grain bullets, as I was that he was deer hunting with a .243 Winchester. He was a critic of the .270 Winchester and 130 grain bullets.
It was becoming clear to me that light for caliber bullets driven at high velocity where not the best answer at close range. I soon found that slower 150-grain C-L, and PP bullets along with 140-grain bullets were more reliable then 130-grain bullets in the .270 Win.
In later years one of my brothers started shooting the 6.5 Swede with 140 and 160-grain bullets. I learned from him that the heavier for caliber bullets in the Swede held together and penetrated deep or fully.
Speer has stopped recommending they’re 145-grain in 7MM Magnum on large deer or large game because it breaks up at high velocity.
A California Game Warden who travels out of State to go elk hunting told me that he has taken a number of elk with the .270 Winchester. The kicker is that he uses Nosler Partition bullets.
Is the success of the 6.5X55 Swede with standard bullets because the velocity the bullets are fired at better match standard cup design bullets? Will the standard cup design 120-129 grain bullets in 6.5 bullets start failing at close range when fired from a 6.5-284 or 6.5-06 at three thousand feet per second?
