270 vs. 280

[rickt300]

I have hunted with 270's, 7x57 and 7MM Remington magnum rifles variously for more than 30 years and honestly couldn't tell if one killed better than the other. I'd put the 280 right in there with them. I never killed anything bigger than an elk but killed a few pretty big elk and will say that you can get by pretty well with a 150-160 grain partition pushed to 2800fps plus or minus on just about anything you might hunt in America up to elk at least.

[WyoStillhunter]

I posted earlier.  In the meantime I have been doing some soul searching about how many guns and calibers I am dealing with.  I am primarily a hunter but the gun nut gene is pretty strong, too.  Whatever!

I am trying to focus on a doing a few guns well.  I put two on consignment yesterday.  One was a Ruger Hawkeye .257 Roberts which I have had for a little less than 2 years.  I have grown to really like and respect the Roberts but I am unimpressed by the Ruger.  So...

I plan to rebarrel a .280 Rem. Mountain Rifle (M700) for my adult son, and eventually my grandson who is now only 9 years old.  I already have all the reloading stuff for the Roberts.  In the lightweight Mountain Rifle the recoil of the .280 is objectionable for all but dedicated shooters.  My son is a hunter and NOT a gun nut.  So he will be well served with my accurized (Hill Country Rifles) '06 and a .257 Roberts whereas with the .280 and the '06 things were pretty redundant.

Meanwhile my M700 Classic in 6.5X55 went off to Hill Country Rifles today for accurizing.  Together with a M700 Classic in .35 Whelen and another Classic in .223 Rem. I think I'll have a 3-gun battery that will meet all my Wyoming hunting needs.  My son will be better off without the .280 as long once he has the Roberts and an '06 for his Montana hunting.

I am convinced that the .280, in a full-sized rifle, is an excellent all-around rifle for the one-gun hunter anywhere in the Lower 48.  When you start to have more than one centerfire the .280 becomes an "in-betweener."

[efremtags]

DM

the performance difference may be more due to specific bullet selection than the caliber attributes.

I think that with the 270 people gravitated to the 130gr ammo because that is the most common green box stuff at any local store. That is not really the best all around performer. I know several people who complained that the 270 was inadequate and either ruined meat or wounded game. All were on deer in NY, where shots run 30 - 100yds.

Had they bought 280 or an 06, the most common available green box stuff tends to be heavier for caliber, and better for these shot presentations. Not a fault of the caliber, more of the hunter andof the marketing managers who choose what these big box stores carry as their low price ammo.

[Drilling Man]

DM

the performance difference may be more due to specific bullet selection than the caliber attributes.

I think that with the 270 people gravitated to the 130gr ammo because that is the most common green box stuff at any local store. That is not really the best all around performer. I know several people who complained that the 270 was inadequate and either ruined meat or wounded game. All were on deer in NY, where shots run 30 - 100yds.

Had they bought 280 or an 06, the most common available green box stuff tends to be heavier for caliber, and better for these shot presentations. Not a fault of the caliber, more of the hunter andof the marketing managers who choose what these big box stores carry as their low price ammo.

  I agree with what you have said...  BUT, i'm not the average Joe who goes out and buys ammo.  I spent many years testing bullets, i also did some design work, and mfg'd bullets for my own use and sale...

  In my testing there seemed to always be certain bullets/calibers that worked waaaay better than expected.  For instance, the 30 cal. 200NP...  In a 30-06 it just flat out, performs better than i ever expected...  Much better than anything else i tried.  It will give some expansion on smaller animals, yet stay together and drive in to break both shoulders on a big brown bear.

  Another is the 7mm 175NP...  This bullet works waaaay better than expected, and in fact the 7mm "caliber" just plain works better than expected.  175NP's would always expand and still out penetrate 375's and .458's in big bears.

  I'm no longer into all of that on a big scale, but over the years i did learn that when it came to deer, the 280 will do anything a 270 will do, and when it came to something bigger than deer, the 280 would out perform the 270.  Yes it's because of the bullet, but none the less, it did it for me.

  A perfect bullet to me is one that expands fast for small animals, but will still drive all the way through a big animal.  In all of the years i've been harvesting game, i found it's best to have an exit hole.  Bottom line is, 7mm bullets have done that better for me than 270 bullets...

  DM

[EsoxLucius]

Practically, with available ammunition and components, there is very little difference between them.  Sure, you get heavier .284" bullets, but it would not be hard to duplicate like weight .277" bullets as there is only 0.007" difference in bullet diameter between them.  Because Remington moved the 280 shoulder up so it could not be chambered in a 270 it does have slightly more case capacity; 280 Remington 68.6 grains, 270 Winchester 67.4 grains.  In addition, following SAAMI specs, ammunition is loaded to lower pressure in the 280 than the 270; 60,000 psi and 65,000 psi, respectively.  While there is no reason that the 280 Remington couldn't be loaded to 65,000 psi in a modern bolt action rifle, as is the 270, without pressure testing equipment it would be a problem as there is scant load information that takes the 280 to that limit.

[jcn59]

The difference in the taste of two similar apples is mostly in the mouths of the tasters.  Same for the .270 & .280.

THERE!

That will be three dollars, please.

[efremtags]

DM

I note your preference for heavy for caliber bullets. No arguments from me, I feel the same way in my choices.

The NP is a great bullet in that it is the softest of the controlled expansion rounds. The preference for the Scirooco, TBond, TShock are not really the nest on North American game. Most animals (big bears are the exceptions) are not all that tough that require the super bonded bullets in the standard caliber selection. If you are using a 30-378 different story, but in the 2700 - 3100FPS envelope, the NP is tough to beat all around.

I shoot REM corelokt in my 300WM 180GR PSP and 45/70 405GR. No complaints so far. I think they are a great value and I can shoot my hunting loads more often becasue reloads are cheaer with this bullet than with most.

I think the 270 has proven itself for a long time on big game. It is difficult to discredit a round with it's pedigree. I think it would do justice to the ammo if people would use the heavier 150gr loads on big game where shots are under 20 yards.

It's funny how a round develops a bad rap. I talked to a couple of bear guides who hate the 270 and 280 both becasue they had a lot of wounded, poor blood trail bears over the years (again light ammo over bait at 30 yards). They loved the 7MM rem mag (over the shelf ammo is typcaly 160 - 175Gr green box stuff). I argued the 7mmRM and 280 are practicaly the same thing, how can 1 be awful, 1 fantastic.

People, pick good bullets!!!

[rickt300]

150 grain bullets out of the 270 work up close and far away.  I had great luck with the Speer hotcor's and Hornady Interloks. I never had a penetration problem.  I used the 130 grain bullets quite a bit also on deer and antelope, once again I never had any problem other than they were a bit destructive at close and medium ranges.  I reloaded the 150's to near 3000fps and the 130's to near 3200fps in my younger days but now for a texas deer load I put 130 grain Nosler solid base bullets out the muzzle at 2800fps. Perfect deer combination.

[jro45]

I have shot my 270 130gr bullet to 600yds with a Burris scope. The bullet went right where I aimed at. Group was about 5" or 6". I will try the 140gr bullet this summer or when it warms up a little.

[Coyote Hunter]

This might have already been done, but I didn't return any search results.

Other that the obvious .277 cal vs. .284 cal bullets, is there a lot of performance difference between these two rounds??

It seems that as they are both use a 30-06 parent case they would fall into the same niche.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Also, I'm not looking to start any "my cartridge is better than yours" fights, I'm jut curious about ballistic performance and real life experience from folks that shoot these cartridges.

Thanks!

The .270 Win is perhaps the best dedicated deer and antelope cartridge available.  It never has been and never will be, however, an adequate cartridge for elk.  Not even with 140g or 150g bullets.

That is where the .280 comes in.  At 0.007” larger diameter and using 140g, 150g or 160g bullets, it is a great elk cartridge.

Hey, are you interested in some Florida land?  I can get you some ‘waterfront’ property really cheap...

[JD338]

When loaded to the same pressures as the 270 Win, the 280 Rem is on the heels of the 7mm Rem Mag. There is a vast assortment of 7mm bullets available making the 280 Rem a more versatile round than the 270 Win.

If you are going to only hunt deer size game, either is an excellent choice. If you intend on hunting larger game or at longer ranges, the heavier bullets available in 7mm make the 380 Rem the winner.

Myself, 280 Rem.

JD338

[roper]

This might have already been done, but I didn't return any search results.

Other that the obvious .277 cal vs. .284 cal bullets, is there a lot of performance difference between these two rounds??

It seems that as they are both use a 30-06 parent case they would fall into the same niche.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Also, I'm not looking to start any "my cartridge is better than yours" fights, I'm jut curious about ballistic performance and real life experience from folks that shoot these cartridges.

Thanks!

I shoot a custom 270 and my wife shots a 280AI both rifle are used for ELK/Deer in the combination season here in Co.  There alittle bit of difference not enough to worry about in my rifles.  I shot the old 7mm Express (280) and I wasn't impress something I wouldn't consider it an elk rifle. I was going to build one but opt for another 270 you look at the 270 150gr partition BC @ .465 and the 280AI shoot a 150gr TSX BC @ .408 and I'm sure some have loads for the 280 that they shoot and are happy with.  Don't get me wrong I started shooting the 7mag back in the 60's and I never did shoot anything heavier than 160gr bullets in my 7mm elk/deer rifles.  Well good luck

[jcn59]

I beat all of you.  I don't shoot anything lighter than 220 grains for elk.  'Course I only killed one elk all my life, but I killed him dead.   And I didn't even have to shoot one those little girlie-man guns to do it either.

160 grains?  I shoot bigger stuff out of my slingshot.