SmallCaliberCentral

Anyone ever load any up? Just curious on performance. Thought I would load up a bunch for p-dog hunting or other varmits

Back when I first got into handloading in 1968, my rifle caliber of choice (the only one I had then) was a .270 Winchester. I tried this combination for ground squirrels and rock chucks, and soon learned that burning around 60 grs of powder creates ALOT of barrel heat. In the end, I decided that this caliber was not suited to any degree of rapid fire for varmints because of intense barrel heating.

It may be okay for chucks if you only take a few shots a day, but for PD's or shooting colony squirrels, it is NOT the caliber of choice, believe me. Excellent deer and antelope caliber though. Save that .270 barrel and get a real varmint rifle.....if you value your .270 that is.

If you stick with the 130gr bullet and just use the rifle for coyote varmints, you'll have one load for deer/varmints and really get to know the rifle. Here's a coyote from 1970 with that old pre-'64 Win M70 and a 130gr Sierra BT from 340 yards:



I also noticed my barrel was much happier (read: cooler) shooting the 130's compared to the 110's. Just a thought.

I agree with "The" R.I.O. Leave the 270 for what it's best for, deer sized creatures. Even load developement could take awhile just cuz they heat up quickly. Still, it's one of the best cartridges out there, very well known.

Rick, please tell me you still have that Blazer! Talk aout hanging on to sweet things!

Thanks for the input. If I ever loaded them up I wouldn't rapid fire them. But ill pass and just load up my 150gr

sharptailhunter wrote:Rick, please tell me you still have that Blazer! Talk aout hanging on to sweet things!

Sharp: Well, no.....it was my dads rig at that time. It went to my son who jacked it up, then sold it soon thereafter around '92.....real bummer. Soon after that hunt while living in a logging camp in BC, I ordered a 'new' 1975 Chevy K10 that I had for a total of (exactly to the very day) 37 years. Just sold it this last December after all that time. If I had room here, I would have kept the old girl.....we went to alot of elk funerals together over the years.

Her picture as it hangs in my gun room:



My new rig has quite a role model to aspire to, that's for sure. I can already tell the body sheet metal is thinner, but gaining 30 years of technology overnight was a nice feeling and a giant leap.



Well, in another few weeks, the new rig will get stuffed with rat shootin' gear for our first multi-day outing. It's almost time....... Sorry for straying off topic.

Rick in Oregon wrote:

sharptailhunter wrote:Rick, please tell me you still have that Blazer! Talk aout hanging on to sweet things!

Sharp: Well, no.....it was my dads rig at that time. It went to my son who jacked it up, then sold it soon thereafter around '92.....real bummer. Soon after that hunt while living in a logging camp in BC, I ordered a 'new' 1975 Chevy K10 that I had for a total of (exactly to the very day) 37 years. Just sold it this last December after all that time. If I had room here, I would have kept the old girl.....we went to alot of elk funerals together over the years.

Her picture as it hangs in my gun room:



My new rig has quite a role model to aspire to, that's for sure. I can already tell the body sheet metal is thinner, but gaining 30 years of technology overnight was a nice feeling and a giant leap.



Well, in another few weeks, the new rig will get stuffed with rat shootin' gear for our first multi-day outing. It's almost time....... Sorry for straying off topic.

Nice rig..... I myself am a ford man but one of my best friends has that same rim and tire package

I purchased my first center fire , a Winchester Mdl 70 270 Win rifle in the fall of 1952. Started reloading for it with a Lymon Tru Line Jr press in 1953. I grew up in farm and cattle country and used the 100 and 110 Gr bullets to shoot a few prairie dogs out to about 300 Yds and any other unwonted critters . The muzzle blast from a 270 will get the prairie dogs running into the holes. When I could afford it I got a 222 Rem rifle for varmint shooting and used the 270 for pronghorn, mule deer, and elk shooting. Some days its eazy to shoot 200 or more rounds at prairie dogs, that would not be fun with a 270 Win rifle.

tuck2 wrote:I purchased my first center fire , a Winchester Mdl 70 270 Win rifle in the fall of 1952. Started reloading for it with a Lymon Tru Line Jr press in 1953. I grew up in farm and cattle country and used the 100 and 110 Gr bullets to shoot a few prairie dogs out to about 300 Yds and any other unwonted critters . The muzzle blast from a 270 will get the prairie dogs running into the holes. When I could afford it I got a 222 Rem rifle for varmint shooting and used the 270 for pronghorn, mule deer, and elk shooting. Some days its eazy to shoot 200 or more rounds at prairie dogs, that would not be fun with a 270 Win rifle.

I do agree on the not so fun part of shooting a .270 win. My 204 and 223 are much more desirable

I was just paging through the cabelas catalog and my mind got ahead of my common sense