.270 Reloading Question

[Hunter Mann]

As the subject line implies, I jumped into the TC Encore family with my first purchase last year...the .270 Hunter Package with 15" barrel. I like it a great deal. I use this pistol for hunting whitetails in Northern Michigan. Most shots are within 75 yards......swamps and thick woods while still hunting and stalking.

Currently I am shooting Federal Premium Round Nose factory ammo in 150 grains. My brother-in-law had a 30-06 that he didn't like, and he converted the pistol into a .270 rifle with folding stock. He loads his own ammo and has completely fallen in love with the Barnes XP bullet in 140 grain. The expansion he is getting out of these bullets is excellent and far better than I am getting with my factory loads. I want to play around with his reloading equipment, as you'd have to have screws loose to not reload when you own one of these things.

As I am a complete novice when it comes to reloading, can someone explain burn rate, and it's effects upon accuracy. To me, it would seem that with a 15" barrel, I would want a faster burning powder than he finds perfect in his 24" rifle barrel. I am thinking that faster burning powders will burn more completely in the barrel, lessen the fireball effect and improve accuracy. Am I all wet here?

Can someone suggest a good starting point with a Barnes XP in .270--maybe a bullet weight and powder that has worked well for them? I doubt that I will ever be shooting this thing farther than 100 yards.

Another interesting question--I notice that virtually no one here mentions the .270 caliber in Thompson pistols. Why is that? Am I hunting with the wrong caliber for a Thompson pistol?

Thanks in advance for all your help.....

[Ex-Cajun]

Hi Hunter,
Congrats on your purchase.  I have a 270 in a remington 700 rifle that I just love.  I just got dies for it, but I'm busy as hell right before christmas making jewelry.  I haven't had time to test any rounds yet.
Most folks use a less powerful pistol for hunting whitetale at those short ranges.  Personaly I have a 7-30 waters Improved that I'll be using in Louisiana at Christmas.  For it, I use the 120 grain Barnes X and have AWSOME results.  like 1/2 to 5/8 3-shot groups @ 100.
I plan on using the 140 Barnes X in the 270 and haven't even broken the seal on my box yet!  I have the Barnes reloading book right here but there's too much info to type tonight.  Try their website for some data.  Also do a search for "powder burn rates" and it will give you an idea of what burns faster than others.  Keep in mind though, that we are talking FRACTIONS of seconds faster or slower so 4-5 places different on the chart may or may not see a diference.
As for what works best, you'll have to do what we all do.  Try Try Try.
There are several things to look at in the right "formula" for your particular barrel.
Bullet, bullet weight, case dimensions, case trueness, primer, powder, charge, and seating depth to name a few.
Do some "google"ing to find a few loads and always ALWAYS start about 10% below and work up.  Accuracy is not worth injury.
See what the load is and find the fastest burning powder in the group and use that recipe.  I use IMR 4064 in the 7-30 but it would be too hot for the 270 I belive.
The Barnes book lists H4350 as the fastest powder in the list. with a starting load at 59gr. for the 140 X bullet.
Good luck.

Travis

[Gregory]

I had a 260 Encore at one time and loaded IMR-4350 powder with good results, I think you'll find that is is not really necessary to load a faster powder in these short barrels.  
 
If I were loading a 270 15" I'd be concentrating on a good 130 gr bullet for the best combination of terminal performance and trajectory.  But, at 75 yds, that 150 gr you are using may not be a bad choice.  Have you lost any deer?  
Has there been a good blood trail?  Do you get complete penetration?  That's about all you need.

[Hunter Mann]

Well, as to the question of blood trail and did the deer drop in it's tracks, that's yet to be determined....haven't dropped the hammer on one, yet.

Before the Thompson, I always carried a 30/30. It was the gun I started with, and it's a good brush gun. I always used 170 grain bullets for hunting the swamps and 150 grain for setting up on distances 100-150 yards with good results.

But reloading opens up all kinds of possibilities. I once had a guy tell me that if he was hunting close ranges, he would load his rounds lighter. His feeling was that he wanted maximum bullet expansion inside the target and not in the tree beyond the target. His thought was that if the bullet was traveling a little slower, it wouldn't blow through the target without expanding properly. He also suggested going with a lighter grain bullet for the same reason......kind of goes against my "old thinking." But that old thinking had my tracking a lot of deer....blowing bullets through deer without good bullet expansion with that 30/30. I always used Remmington Core Lok bullets, and I was just never satisfied with them in the 30/30.

Any truth to that?