Would you agree with this statement about 270?

[Cement Man]

Pretty hard to argue with an analogy like that....

[myronman3]

For some people being a contrarian makes them feel smart.

i was going to say some like to conform to non-conformity.    you not only said it first,  you stated it better.   
   with my handloads out of my rifle (which have been run over a chronograph), my 270 is nipping on the heels of the 7mm mag.  the only weakness of the 270 would be a lack of bullet weight selection; which is a non issue to me because i like and use 150 grain bullets exclusively.
  as far as 270's not being accurate,  that is pure and simple b.s..   as with most rifles,  the rifle is usually capable of better performance than the shooter is.  but,  shooters can point fingers where as rifles can not.   

[nodlenor]

My 270 works just fine. It is just as accurate as most others that I've been around and will kill anything I want it to.

[lgm270]

I'm puzzled by the allegation that the .270 Win is not as accurate as other rounds. 

In my 30+ years of experience with at least a dozen of them, the  over the counter, off the shelf .270 is equally  as accurate as any other round.  Moreover, it's an easier round for most guys to shoot than the famous 30-06, which kicks noticeably harder.  As a teenager, my own shooting noticeably improved when I switched from the 30-06 to the .270. After that I've shot almost everything, but I can still tell the difference between the .270 and '06. 

I use the .338 Win for most hunting now because I can shoot deer at any angle and can take shots I would have passed on with the lesser .270 Win.  That being said, the .270 served me very well for 30+ years of deer hunting.   

[Cement Man]

I guess you got over that recoil issue if you ended up with a .338 for deer hunting. 

[poncaguy]

I used the ol' Remington 130 grain Core Locks in my  270's, and all but 1 deer have dropped in their tracks, one went 30 yards. No heart or lungs, just jello when I field dress them. Use a 270 WSM now, even more deadly and more range..............

[.308 Win.]

  I personally don't like the .270 because of lack of bullet selection when compared to the .308 or .30/06.  I used to have a Remington 700 BDL in .270 and used the Core-Lokt bullet to shoot a deer with it.  The hit was tight behind the shoulder on a doe.  Now, I've been hunting, shooting and tracking deer for the better part of 25 years and with the two fellows helping me, we never recovered that doe.  I believe it was bad bullet performance and not so much the caliber but I sold the rifle anyway and bought a .308.  I use Federal Fusions and shoot the deer high in the shoulder when I can.  With that bullet and that shot placement, I have yet to have one go more than 30 yards and most just go straight down and right now. I believe the reason they drop like they do is that the shock of the bullet placed high in the shoulder disrupts the spinal cord/nervous system enough to just break them down. People can argue caliber, and have, for years and years.  The bottom line though has to do with bullet construction, placement and the individual deer itself.  Some of them are just tougher than others and if lung shot after having just taken a breath, they'll go further than one that's just exhaled at the time they're hit.     

[Swampman]

A blindfolded shooter could not tell the difference in the recoil of a .30-06 and the .270.  All things being equal the .30-06 and the .308 will always be more accurate.

[myronman3]

A blindfolded shooter could not tell the difference in the recoil of a .30-06 and the .270.  All things being equal the .30-06 and the .308 will always be more accurate.

  that is a blanket statement which there is no facts to back it up.   

[Cement Man]

I don't own a .270 and never had the urge to.  My favorite cartridges are .308, .30-06, and the 6.5X55.  (3-way tie)
For some reason (probably Jack O'Connor) many of my old hunting buddies have been .270 men, and now I hunt with their sons who either inherited their guns, or just their love of the .270.  I've been around these ".270-ites" for 4 decades and shot many rounds along side them at the range, helped them gut, skin, quarter, drag, and eat a lot of game shot with .270's.

I have never seen anything about the .270 that would support the criticism I read here.

I do believe the .308 can have an inherent edge on accuracy - but if one could quantify it, on average it would be in fractions of an inch so small that it would be meaningless in the field and most shooters don't have the ability to exploit it anyway. For hunting, it is a non-issue.  Bullet selection is not as varied as with the .30 calibers, but more than adequate to do anything this fine cartridge would be called upon to do.

The .270 still makes me yawn.  Maybe because it just keeps doing such a fine job. 

[rickt300]

I used a 270 on deer, antelope and elk for nearly 20 years. Great cartridge I never lost an animal, however the 30-06 has an edge on elk and larger game in my opinion. I now use a 7x57 mostly on deer and feral hogs along with my 358 and 35 Whelen. The 7x57 shooting 150 grain bullets 100 fps slower than I pushed them in my 270 kills just as well which is very good.

[dakotashooter2]

The expectation that any cartridge will ALWAYS drop game in its tracks is an unreasonable one. There are just too many variables in the field. Quite frankly if I have game that drops within 50 yards I consider it to have "dropped in it's tracks". I am probably 50/50 on flops vs 50 yards  or less of travel. I always EXPECT game to travel a bit and thus feel I am better prepared when it does and pleased when it doesn't.

[SHOOTALL]

who takes one bullet and shoots a deer ? no sight in ? must have a majic gun that shoots everything perfect !
this has BS all over it . the 270 is no better or worst than the rest !

[nodlenor]

I just came back from the range. I took my Howa 1500 SS 270 Win. I wanted to try a new load. I couldn't get it to get anything smaller than 1/2" at 100 yards. Guess I'll just have to scrap it and buy something that will shoot. Hey, Swampman any suggestions?

[rickt300]

If a deer runs 2000 miles and goes down it still drops in it's tracks.

[Lone Star]

...Anyone that says all their deer are bangflops hasnt shot many deer,especially if they shoot for the lungs....

I've killed well over 50 deer with handguns and rifles, and the vast majority were most certainly not bang-flops.  This silly term is often used by less-experienced hunters because they fear that if they told the truth they'd be ridiculed.  Now it may be possible  that someone has never experienced a deer running after the hit - I would not deny that nor call anyone a liar.  But in my 40 years of hunting experience across the West and in Alaska, true bang-flops were rare if the CNS is not hit.  BTW, I almost never used head or neck shots.

Back to the original poster's question, the quote loses all credibility  with me for a very simple and obvious reason.  It was not Jim Carmichael who touted the .270 for half a century - it was his predecessor, Jack O'Connor.  I'm surprised no one picked up on this inaccuracy.....

Elmer Keith thought it was a fair coyote caliber.

Elmer also thought that the '06 was an inadequate cartridge for deer!  The old coot fooled a lot of readers with his folksy pap.   He is a fun read however.


.

[billy_56081]

  I have spent a few years guiding out west and a whole lifetime hunting big game. For those who talk about a bang flop every time, go watch your sci fi movies and stay out of reality. Unless you shoot your game in the central nervous system EVERY time bang flops are science fiction. Now there are occasions where heart shot animals will bang flop, when the heart id fully constricted in pumping and blood pressure is at its peak, you will explode the arteries in the brain causing a bang flop. Now can you tell me that with any caliber you can either hit the CNS every time or time the heartbeats of your game. As was said before if you can't track an animal 50 yars you have absolutly no buisiness being in the field.

[LEO]

Well, I agree with those who say the folks who say that every deer they shoot is a bang flop are either exageratting or haven't shot many deer.  As far as the 270 goes, I have shot a few deer with it and the one that impressed me the most was the worst shot I made with it.  The deer moved right as I fired and the bullet struck it too far back, it was on the edge of a field next to a thicket.  The deer ran into the thicket from the edge of the field, about 10 yards.  I waited a while, got down out of my stand and took my stuff back to the vehicle, I waited about an hour and went to look for the deer.  Much to my surprise the deer was laying beside a trail about 40 yards or so inside the thicket.  What surprised me about this was I had shot the deer behind the diaphram, the bullet entered about the back edge of the liver.  When I field dressed the deer, the liver was jellied, the diaphram busted, the lungs were bloodshot, and the aorta was torn.  The bullet was a 130 grain Sierra Gameking over a near max load of IMR 4831.  I don't know if this performance was a fluke or not because obviously I am not going to intentionally make a bad shot just to see if the same thing happens again.  I sold the rifle a short time after that, not because of the caliber but because a fellow wanted it bad enough to pay me almost twice what I paid for it.  I have several hunting buddies who use a 270 and whle the 270 is not magic it does a fine job of converting live deer into dead ones.  As far as accuracy goes, it may not win any benchrest competitions but a good load out of a good rifle is accurate enough to shoot a deer at any range that a person has any business shooting at.

[myronman3]

 i have killed plenty of deer, with a variety of guns and other devices.    i started out with a 20 gauge, they run a little after you shoot them with that,  but not too far with a well placed shot.   i killed a few with the 35 remington, in fact they were my first few rifle kills.   they ran a little after a well placed shot but not very far.  i have killed a few with a bow, and they can cover a surprising amount of ground after a solid hit.   
  then i started using a 270.  i have killed a lot of deer with it.  and like i said, all but one hit the ground so fast i never even saw them drop.  one second they were there, the next second they were stone cold dead on the ground.   
   in fairness,  my brother hunts with me often and also uses a 270.  he has deer typically run a few yards after the shot,  but he does use different bullets occasionally.   

[myronman3]

 

For those who talk about a bang flop every time, go watch your sci fi movies and stay out of reality. Unless you shoot your game in the central nervous system EVERY time bang flops are science fiction.

OBVIOUSLY, you dont know what you are talking about with a statement like that.    a statement like...

The expectation that any cartridge will ALWAYS drop game in its tracks is an unreasonable one. There are just too many variables in the field. Quite frankly if I have game that drops within 50 yards I consider it to have "dropped in it's tracks". I am probably 50/50 on flops vs 50 yards  or less of travel. I always EXPECT game to travel a bit and thus feel I am better prepared when it does and pleased when it doesn't.

  is a much more realistic statement, providing for different circumstances, shot placement, game species, and loading components.   
    i realize that others may have different experiences, but i dont try to marginalize someone because of it.  i would prefer to discuss it and maybe just learn something in the process.  but that is just me.

[NONYA]

Bangflop every time?BS,maybe if you have killed one or two deer in your entire hunting career. Elmer praised whatever he was selling at the time,he called the 44 an great medium range deer cartridge and the -06 less than adequate,they guy was full of it.

[myronman3]

Bangflop every time?BS,maybe if you have killed one or two deer in your entire hunting career. Elmer praised whatever he was selling at the time,he called the 44 an great medium range deer cartridge and the -06 less than adequate,they guy was full of it.

every time i have put it in the chest cavity.   and believe me, i have killed my share of creatures.

[billy_56081]

Oceanfront property in Arizona!

[myronman3]

yuk, yuk.   you got anything constructive to add,  some first hand experience to share, or you just trolling today?

[Cheesehead]

Myronman,

The recipe for the "bangflop" has two parts. The first part is an adequate deer cartridge, and why wouldn't the 270 be adequate. It is based on the 3006 for goodness sake. The second part is precision marksmenship. This is where you probably excel to be as successful as you are.

High performing round + high performing marksmen = bangflop

Cheese

[NONYA]

Bangflop every time?BS,maybe if you have killed one or two deer in your entire hunting career. Elmer praised whatever he was selling at the time,he called the 44 an great medium range deer cartridge and the -06 less than adequate,they guy was full of it.

every time i have put it in the chest cavity.   and believe me, i have killed my share of creatures.

LOL not buying this line,at all,i dont think anyone is.You have either killed  VERY small number of animals or you are completely FOS,anyone with field experience knows that this isnt going to happen EVERY time,you are only fooling yourself,if anyones trolling its you with your stories,you cant possibly expect people to believe this do you?

[billy]

90 percent of the deer i have killed is with 130 sierra gameking federal premium in 270 ,never lost one yet,can,t say that for ballistic tip.

[poncaguy]

I've killed 25 or more whitetails. If I have a steady rest, and the deer is feeding, not knowing I'm there, all but one deer I can remember, fell in their tracks, some didn't move, some kicked, but died without taking a step when I hit them behind the shoulder in the heart-lungs with a 130 grain 270 Remington Core-Lokts. Most were south central Kansas whitetails, 150 to 200 +  lbs. Heart and lungs were nothing but a jelly mess, kinda like fish eggs..ha. Now if their alert or spooky, some have run 20-30 yards.

[roper]

After we moved to Co I had a buck run up hill hit him between shoulder he rear up fell over backwards dead slide down the hill so I guess that might be whats called Bang Flop was shooting a 270 with 130gr GS and I took a bull elk with a 7mag next year I hunted in what was a combo deer/elk unit so I use the mag rifle ever since.   More than 30 yrs passed by and last year I used a custom 270 on a Co deer hunt again and in all the years I've hunted deer I've never had one react like that buck did and I think it may be my once in a lifetime shot as I call it.  I don't figure I'd be under gunned using a 270 for deer I do agree bullet selection is limited and you have more choices going with other calibers and I used that argument when I switched over to a 30 mag for those combo deer/elk hunts.   Now that we can hunt deer in a separate season from elk I have started building up rifle cal for those deer hunts here and my first one was the 270 my wife likes the 280AI gunsmith finished the new 270WSM so if we get drawn I'll take both 270's and 280AI can't pry that rifle out of her hands and I'll hunt one day with the 270 next day if unlucky the 270WSM and so on.  I just got back to shooting the 30-06 also 7x57 and it's nice to revist those calibers and compare 30yr reloading data.  Just my .02 

[fishdog52]

The earmark of a great caliber is it ability to deliver a kill when the shot placement is less than perfect.  A 270 used on a whitetail will get the job done.  Anyone who discounts the 270 has likely had damn little REAL experience with one.  With apologies to the 79 yr old Canadian I hunted moose with who claimed to have shot a moose, between the eyes, with a 270, and failed to give it a bloody nose.