270 Weatherby Mag?

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Ivanhoe

New member
I was laying on the couch, waiting for college football to arrive, and started thinking about my "need" for a long-range rifle. here were my criteria;

- very flat trajectory for informal target shooting out to 600 yards
- good for mule deer/sheep/caribou at 300+ yd
- minimum recoil
- must be able to get good bullet selection and brass, i.e. an existing cartridge in one of the "main" calibers

after looking at various ballistics tables and reloading catalogs, the optimum appears to be the 270 Wby Mag. the 264 Win Mag and the 7mm Rem Mag were runners-up. the 25-06 and 257 Wby Mag just didn't seem to have quite enough bullet weight to me. the 300 Win Mag has more recoil than I'd want in a "fun" gun like this.

I've looked around the web but I haven't found hardly any mention of this cartridge. seems like every obscure cartridge has it's frothing-at-the-mouth fanatics (and it's raving detractors) except this one.

anybody out there using this cartridge? what are its pros and cons?
 
A

Art Eatman

Staff in Memoriam
I've shot everything on your list except the .270 Wby. From reading I'd say the Wby will meet all your criteria except the recoil. To me, "minimum" recoil would be, say, .243 or lighter. "Mild" recoil would be standard .270 or lighter; this would include the 7mm-08, .257 Roberts, .30-30, etc. "Noticeable" is, say, .30-'06, lighter bullets in .300 Win Mag or 7mm Mag...

The easy way to run the numbers and play comparison games among rifles and cartridges would be to merely multiply the velocity by the bullet weight. Divide the larger number (say, .270 Wby) by the smaller (say, .243) and you'll have the percent greater recoil of the larger gun. For a given gun, the units are not correct, but when you do the division, it all drops out and you do have the relative "kick". Then, if you want, you can consider weight of the rifles...

Now: The difference in bullet diameter between 7mm and .270 is mighty small. What, 0.007"? The 7mm Rem Mag will probably do whatever the Wby will, and everything is cheaper. If you reload, the brass is much cheaper. Also, compare ready-made ammo between Rem & Wby. Hope your billfold is bigger than mine... :)

FWIW, Art
 
L

Long Path

New member
I've never shot one.
From what I've seen of the velocities and the ballistic coefficients of the heavier bullets (Sierra's 150g GameKing B.T.Spitzer is .476 between 2800 and 2200 fps!), this oughta be a heckuva cartridge. If you hadn't said carribou, I'd have said the .25-06 with 120 grain bullets would fit the bill handily. It'll still do the job well, but not so well as the .270 Wby. Recognize that when you're dealing with Weatherby, you're learning the real meaning of the word "proprietary." Pretty much EVERYONE who buys Weatherby reloads for their Weatherby, but as Art mentioned, even the brass is really pricey.

But if you want a classy, medium-recoil long-range rig, this would be a good candidate, to be sure!



[This message has been edited by Long Path (edited September 11, 1999).]
 
H

HankL

New member
As far as good bullet selection etc. you will
be much better off with the 7MM Whby than the 270 Whby. While cases are a bit expensive as are most belted ones and powder consumption is way on up there I love the 7MM Weatherby!
I only have two so I'm probably not an expert
on this subject.

Looking back at the original criteria, ever consider a 280 Remington? Velocity is close to 7x61 Sharpe & Hart Super and burns less powder than any of the magnums. Good luck in your quest.
Hank
 
C

ClayTTC

New member
you can know get a shell made by Remington
that’s a 270 wetherby mag 135 gr extended range #er27wba for 16.00 a box shoot them then reload how ever you want you cant get the WB brass for that I love the gun I have killed every thing from elk to prairie dogs I love this gun you will to just don’t put the scope to close to your face or you will get hit lol
 
T

trooper3385

New member
I would go with the 7mm weatherby mag over the 270 weatherby mag just because you have a better selection of bullet weights. I've shot both and I currently have a 7mm weatherby and 7mm rem mag. There's not much of a noticeable difference in the 7mm weatherby and the 270 weatherby as far as recoil. Due to the weight of my weatherby, the recoil is not much more than my .270 win. that I have in a feather weight and for that matter, not as bad as the 7mm rem mag that I have. Anyway, like the others have said, if you have your mind set on a weatherby, go with the 7mm over the 270.
 
A

andrew165

New member
if your feel the recoil is too much on a 7mm, look for one with a muzzle break. just bee sure to wear good earplugs! (i learned the hard way)
 
A

ATCHunter

New member
270 Wsm

Ivanhoe,

What about the 270 WSM? I beleive it has superior ballistics to the 270 Wby, and comes in a short action package which comes in a more compact rifle package. Recoil is probably even lighter than the 270 Wby. Ammo and reloading supplies are probably more available in the 270 WSM as well. Just something for you to consider.

ATCHunter
 
E

Evan03

New member
bout time someone mentioned the 270wsm ;)

i tired a 270wsm awhile back in win featherweight. ended up getting rid of the winchester due to winchester and not the wsm caliber. i hunt to my reloading dies and will give it ago again in ruger. now that they are available

i also own 270win in rem 700 this rifle and my featherweight were right at 7.5lbs and both scoped with 3-9x40 leos. recoil in these rifles was dang near the same. with the 270win kickn just alittle more due to its difrent butpad.

the 270wsm was acurate for me, i was pushing 140gr nosler bts just over 3100 fps. useing imr4350 powder and win knickel cases.

in the noler #5 they list these loads these are max loads both useing imr4350
270wsm 140gr nbt 60.5grs doing 3154
270weatherby 140 nbt 66.5gr doing 3138

but the weatherby can be faster. nosler tested viht n560 useing 70.5grs(max) and doing 3293 with the same 140 nbt.

ifr i didnt already have the wsm dies i might of tried the weatherby for kicks and grins. but haveing the dies and knowing what i know about the wsm id rather burn alittle less powder and not necisarly have to push em out there as fast as possible.
it just makes more sence to me.

good luck
Evan

id also like to take a note of nosler info.
they used 24" barrel in the wsm test and 26" the weatherby. and the wsm beats it in atleast one powder and bullet combo. even though you could if you wanted rev the weartherby up alittle more.
 
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