270 Winchester Ballistics

270 Winchester:

The 270 Winchester rifle cartridge is based on the popular 30-06 Springfield cartridge case necked down to accept .277″ diameter bullets.

Winchester began producing the 270 Winchester in 1923. Although the 270 Winchester was in production in 1923 it was not officially announced until the introduction of their model 54 rifle chambered in their 270 Winchester cartridge in 1925.

Later it would be chambered in their famous featherweight model 70 bolt action rifle.

The 270 Winchester is a great dual-purpose cartridge that can be used for varmints sending a 110 gr. bullet out the muzzle at a sizzling 3,450 feet per second or it can be used as a big game cartridge sending 130 grain bullets out the muzzle at speeds of 3,100 feet per second with sufficient power out to the 400 yard mark for deer-sized game.

Using 140 grain bullets at 3,000 feet per second, it will harvest an elk with bullet energy to spare out to about 350 yards.

While much has been written about the 270 Winchester cartridge it truly is a great North American, big game cartridge. There are plenty of excellent bullet choices for hand loaders and as of late more factory ammunition choices are available in a variety of bullet weights as well.

All of these add up to better hunting ballistics.

The 270 Winchester with the power it offers down range will recoil somewhat to the shooter’s shoulder with heavier bullets in the 150 grain range but is still tolerable to shoot. If the recoil bothers you too much just find a quality gunsmith in your area and have a recoil pad installed on your rifle or shoot reduced recoil ammunition.

There are also quality slip-on recoil pads that are easy to install at home, like this one which can be bought off Amazon and shipped to your front door.

Also, when practicing with your 270 Win rifle, we recommend using dummy rounds like these machined ones that can be found on Amazon.

270 Winchester Ballistics:

This 270 Winchester ballistics chart shows 150 grain Federal Fusion rounds with a 100 yard zero.

This 270 Winchester ballistic chart shows 100 grain Remington Core-Lokt rounds with a 100 yard zero.

This 270 Winchester ballistic chart shows Hornady 130 grain Hornady SST Superformance rounds with a 100 yard zero.

270 Winchester Reloading:

Bullet Diameter: .277 Inch.
Maximum Case Length: 2.540 Inches.
Trimmed Case Length: 2.530 Inches.
Primer Size: Large Rifle.
Maximum Cartridge Overall Length: 3.340 Inches.

Check out our rifle ballistics chart for even more cartridge information.