Thread: 270 in a 20in barrel or 308 in 18in barrel

Originally Posted by No.3

I think the .270 suffers from a little bit of the "Poo70" reputation and as well as that it tended to come out in factory ammo with pills that are either designed for longer range work or they are lighter for smaller bodied game at closer ranges. It's more likely in this scenario to get a pill that doesn't perform to expectations with less than ideal shot placement. Reloading fixes that issue, although recently prior to the current shortages you could get a lot more interesting ammo without having to reload.

From experience the .308 is easier to get factory ammo for that will flatten things from muzzle to right out as far as you are competent, although again shortages are now a little limiting. You can get a lot more choice in the way of target-quality fodder off the shelf in .308 as well which is nice. FGGM usually groups well under 1/2" at 100 unless something is weird with the rifle.

The other factor is turning up at a hut, it doesn't seem that you get a second glance with a .308. My mate that had a .270 recently got rid of it a) because something else turned up that was more shiny and got more wing flapping out of him, and b) he didn't feel like he had to justify it every time he farted. Setting the record straight the .270 had zero failures to drop what it was aimed it during the time and more than paid for itself in terms of meat. The .308 did the same. He's recently gotten a Steyr SBS in (gasp) .270 and it came with a spiffy ali tube on the front for not much cash and it's a step up on class all around over what he replaced the first .270 with.

You are right about that with factory ammo and the 308, they somehow just seem to get it right more than other calibres it seems? Especially with the Bergara being a Rem clone there will be Federal, Hornady & Geco that will shoot lights out straight out of the box. Make you and wonder why you bother reloading apart from saving a few bucks. I'd still use the super-performance 150SST's & 165's over handloads for hunting.

agree with ya fly blown well put there is a plus with the 308 bigger blood trail ahhh

Thanks team. Been leaning on the 308, May just have to get my dad's 270 rebarreled to scratch that itch.
Will do some looking and find one. Really liked the Bergara Extreme hunter but the weight is getting up there.

Plus we all know real deer calibres start with a 3 !
....honestly either will do...have used both and as long as both are suppressed i honestly couldnt tell the difference in performance....

Originally Posted by 300wsm for life

Thanks team. Been leaning on the 308, May just have to get my dad's 270 rebarreled to scratch that itch.
Will do some looking and find one. Really liked the Bergara Extreme hunter but the weight is getting up there.

Do that. And make it a nice 24" one to do the cartridge justice.

either will work.....I had same decision a while back,nearly went with the .308 but saw reason...I have enough .270 projectiles to see me out.....

or......or .....or ...... do what I very very nearly did...only didnt as Amanda did not have one in stock...go the mighty .30/06 and have best of both worlds.

Originally Posted by Flyblown

.308 Winchester

Hands down the most versatile hunting cartridge.

You can run a genuinely short barrel (16” or even less).
A midway length is perfect (18-20”).
A longer barrel (22-24”) adds a bit of speed if you want it.
The projectile options for the .308 calibre vastly exceed what is available for the .270.
You can run the .308 as a fast varmint rifle with 110gr (>3300fps)…
…or…
You can run the .308 as a slower but very deadly bush rifle with 180gr (~2500fps), or even slower if you choose to use a controlled expansion bullet for less meat damage…
…and…
Everything in between, very competently.

The Tikka .308 has a 1:11” twist and it will run long, high BC projectiles to a point, the limitation being the factory mag which can be solved by getting something like the Waters Rifleman option. Either way, a stout load behind a 178gr ELD-X out of a 20” .308 Win gives you a lot of open country to play with, and impressive terminal performance at range.

Then there is the bonus of being able to easily load the .308 for subsonic use, which is really good fun and sometimes can be extremely useful. (I use .308 subsonic quite a lot for up close goat control.)

The bottom line is that the .308 is a far more efficient, versatile and well mannered case than the .270. The 270 excels with the 130 grain weight class, but ballistically that class is inferior by some distance to the .308’s 165 grain weight class. It is a no contest at 500 meters for me, .30 cal all the way. If you look at the midpoint of 150gr, velocity wise there really isn’t much difference between the two.

One way to look at it is how much extra powder the 270 case takes as a percentage, and then look at how much extra ooommppff you can get for that extra powder. You will find it is not a lot.

What do you get is excessive noise, muzzle flash and unburnt powder in a shortened .270 Win.

So get a .308 Winchester.

ah hum...... SOME of us edumicated folks do actually use 170grn loads in the mighty .270w and you can actually go lighter than 110grn now as the 6.8spc created a heap of more light weight options.
as for unburnt powder?????? that is purely and ONLY down to one of two things......piss poor reloading and/or too short of barrel...... IF the option to buy a HOWA with a 24-26" had been there I would have taken it.

I have both. If you only want out to 500 then get a .308 and cut it down to 16".
If you want any longer then flip a coin. 18" Tikka is the same whether it is short or long action and both calibers are pretty effective. .270 will shoot a bit flatter though.

another vote for .308 18" unsuppressed if the bullet doesnt kill em the boom will

Have killed my fair share of stuff with both. Faster more decisive kills with .270. My opinion not based on shit I read on the internet.

Only case for .308, is shorter action and barrel to save weight and factory ammo not as weak as .270 factory ammo. ( SST Superformance ammo excepted )

18inch suppressed 270.

308, 18 inch barrel, suppressed.

500 is a long way with either one. Is there something wrong with your legs ?

Another vote for 308 from me of course.
On the Bergara have you tried the mountain premier? It's not what I would call an ultralight but it is a lot lighter than the extreme.