.308 vs. .270 - whitetail

[eml9]

Can't decide what I want I will mainly use for whitetail. What do you guys think ? I don't own a rifle currently simply because I can't hunt with them in my home state but I have a few leases in Maryland rifle counties this year. Thanks

Eric .

[hankinsrfls]

Both of these are good cartridges and it's a toss up... The 308 will have a little more knock down power but the 270 might give you a little more range. I personally hunt with a 308 during our Kentucky gun season, Plenty of power to take down any white tail I will see.. I shoot 150 grain Speer Grandslams.... Got a bunch of them on a trade awhile back so I decided to use them in my rifle. They shoot good and I've taken many deer with then... I have also hunted with the 270 also with good results... Either way you will be in business...


Jeff.

[eml9]

Alright a guy down the road from me is selling many of his rifles for pretty cheap.. Several .270 and .308 in good condition..leaning towards .308 I believe ..thanks

Eric

[rambler]

I don't know a whole lot about rifles but I do know that my Ruger 270 does me just fine and then some. Course the white tails here in Arkansas don't get that big. I use 130 grain Remington core lokt cause thats what wal mart had at the time. I've shot countless deer and never lost one so far.

[eml9]

Yea iv been hunting since I was old enough to shoot a gun biggest bodied deer iv shot here in Delaware was just under 230 dressed... And that is kinda rare for here 200 dressed is a respectful deer. So like you said Itll get the job done ... Half the time I will be using it to sika deer hunt anyway so that definitely won't be a problem ..lol

[marku]

308

Varget and 165gr Nosler ballistic tips. Lapua brass and fed 210 primers.


Around 42.0 grains. Check the book

[DHinMN]

This debate has been going on ever since the 270 came out in the 1930's. There have been countless articles "Which is better the 270 or 30-06". It's never been decided. You just substituted the 308 in there. Seeing as I have hunted a life time with a 270 I'm prejudice to it. For you it may boil down the the rifle you want to carry. The 270 will have a long action and the 308 is a short action. So if you are buying from the neighbor down the road it may come down to which one fits you the best.

[rambler]

I'd like to have all those calibers

[12ptdroptine]

I have each...Ross up...for,your application . Personally I would get the .308 . Not that it is a better caliber... Just because it is a NATO round and availability for ammo and reloading components . JMO
Drop

[rossman40]

I would lean towards the 308. Short action so the rifle would be a tad lighter and more compact (I know it's only a few ounces and an inch). The 308 family seems to perform better out of a short barrel then the 30-06 family. You need a longer barrel to take full advantage of the larger cases of the 30-06 family filled with slower powders. Tons of off-the-shelf ammo loaded with premium bullets and cheap surplus ammo to plink with. I have a 30-06 and while 155-168gr bullets are OK it really shines with 190-200gr bullets for long range use.

[dans]

I like the .270 but I would choose the .308

[Deleted]

Both are time proven calibers..I personally shoot a 270 because of the open terrain that I've always hunted in but wouldn't feel undergunned with a 308... Good luck
Zen

[7mmfreak]

I think either is fine. The .270 Win is the better choice I think if you shoot an MPBR zero from a stand (like you probably do for Sika) and keep shots inside of 400yds which covers about 99% of hunting. Sika aren't huge and I would imagine most shots are not extraordinarily long given the nature of the terrain but I have had to defer my offer to hunt them due to my schedule the last year or two so I can't say for certain. No flys on the .308 Win though; I have probably shot more rounds from a .308 Win than anything other than a .223 Rem.

[wilmsmeyer]

Picking one over the other is surely splitting hairs. Since we are talking whitetail, there aren't many reasons to shoot a heavier bullet then 150 gr IMO, with the availability of some exceptional bullets to the handloader. Using 150 gr data, we can find bullets approaching .50 BC in .270. In a .308, low to mid .40. Both bullets can be driven to about the same speed so advantage .270. In terms of sectional density, obviously the smaller caliber .270 will be higher when bullet weights are the same. Potentially better penetration. Advantage .270. Out to 300 yds and maybe a little more, these advantages are so minimal that it doesn't matter much. Also, with outstanding turrets on a scope and some practice, either could dial and shoot a LONG way past 300.

So, if it were me, I would start with the type of rifle I want. Is short action preferred?

Do you hand load? After accumulating components, ammo availability is not an issue.

When the SHTF 2 years ago with ammo and supplies, the only thing you could find in terms of brass seemed like .270. Our Walmart shelves were totally cleared except a few calibers. 270 was one of them. Even though the .308 is so common, this seems to be its downfall when it comes to panic purchasing. Same with the .223. There are so many users out there that all the common stuff gets sucked up

My views here are only geared toward a hunter who wants a hunting rifle. If the question was a rifle to defend, fight and survive with it would be a .308 all day long. In a bad situation, if you make it through, you may not be able to go to the store and buy .308 ammo, but there will be a lot available on the battlefield, from fallen soldiers and ammo stashes. .270, not so much.

[jims]

If it were deer hunting I personally would use the .270, but I am biased. I have that line of cartridges, a 25-06, .270 and 30-06. But really both would do what you need.

[pposey]

I hunted with a 270 for years and decided that is really was overkill for deer, unless your going long range,,, 300 yards plus,,, there really is no need for a 270,,, good round though and kills deer and hogs dead rather well, 130 grain powerpoints were all I used as this was before I started reloading,

I now use a 7mm-08 and really it is a 270 "short" 95%+ of the performance and less powder and kaboom,,,

My uncle has killed many many deer with a 308 and 150 grain BTs that I load for him with Varget not max load,,,, every deer he has shot has expired quickly

Really I'd pick the rifle that you like best,,, either round will do well with factory ammo and you can find factory ammo for either about anywhere. If you just want a good hunting rifle I'd be more concerned about the Brand, stock, trigger, condition, ex than either of those chamberings

[wilmsmeyer]

I agree on the overkill. You need the great ballistics for the occational long shot and end up shooting everything at 50-75 yds and blowing the crap out of a deer.

I have the same issue in the 7mm Mag and I think I found the solution. Mono's. Still get some shock effect but less overall explosion area in the deer. Killed a doe at 160 yds with an archery pocket shot. Small hole in and out and some mushing vitals. No frags in the meat. A 120 TTsx at 3400-3500 fps is very flat and very deadly.

For a woods gun, I went with a 30-30 last year and killed 2 very dead with basically the same shot placement but 50-75 yd death runs...which are cool when immediate anchoring are not a concern.

We run into the same argument with the hot loaded SML's. If you can get a Barnes TMZ shooting fast, you'll have the best of all worlds up close and way out there

[10ga]

Pick whichever one fits you best. Short or long barrel, bolt or lever or break action. whichever rifle configueration is most comfortable for your hunting style. Both will kill any whitetail DEAD at most any range you can hit the target area. Personally I shoot 308 & SML, my brother shoots a 270 and a recurve, my nephews shoot 30-30s and compound bows. It's really not about the cartridge but about your hunting style/skill. the other way to go is whichever is most valuable and the best deal for your $ = trade bait, another factor. Always looking for a deal to trade up! JMHO, 10 ga

[eml9]

Just got back from Wisconsin Yesterday planning on purchasing a .308 in the next day or so ... Thanks for all the input guys

[Falcons_Fan]

I'm late to the party here but I was going to say - don't fret the choice. Either one is PERFECTLY adequate from 0-300 yards with a little practice and considerably further with more practice. I'd focus on the features of the rifle you're interested in instead of caliber. I've killed quite a few critters with quite a few different calibers and blueprints of guns. Bottom line is shot placement with bullets of adequate construction kill - the rest of the ballistic gack we like to argue is all academic.

I've sold a lot of my factory rifles and settled on a handful of customs. I don't own a .270 Winchester any longer but I did build this little gem in .308 Win. It's not that a .308 Win is any better but I wanted a 20 inch tube on a relatively light rifle that would work quite well in blinds and stands.

[bluedog]

A fellow Lefty? I am a 270 fan for deer, but i would like to get my hands on your 308 Falcons_Fan, sweet rifle!

[jims]

That is a fine stick of wood and rifle.

[eml9]

That is showcase worthy ! Beautiful..

[7mmfreak]

Sept 18, 2015 13:11:35 GMT -5 jims said:

That is a fine stick of wood and rifle.

That's a McMillan

[timgunner]

I think it boils down to Ford or Chevy... On that note I choose Ford because I like the way it looks. The 270 has the ballistic advantage but that doesn't matter if your not stretching the limits. The 308 might have less recoil if that's what your going for but it all depends on the load... I've owned both and I'm the kind that likes to stretch the limits so I'm building a 270 Ackley to shoot the 150gr Nosler LR accubond. If you hand load there are about a million more bullet choices for the .308 but you can't take advantage of most of the high BC bullets because of limited case capacity and short action length. My advice is choose the one that he has that shoots the best.

[7mmfreak]

Sept 23, 2015 11:52:38 GMT -5 timgunner said:

If you hand load there are about a million more bullet choices for the .308 but you can't take advantage of most of the high BC bullets because of limited case capacity and short action length.

I shoot the 190gn SMK and 208gn A-MAX out of my .308 Win with RL-17 and they feed out of 3" AI mags but in the 2.8" range they are not the best choice but still work.

[peddler70]

Either one will do the job quite nicely. Again it's the old Ford Chevy thing and it could be argued or discussed forever. Whichever you choose will do the job well.

[peddler70]

Sept 17, 2015 22:39:49 GMT -5 Falcons_Fan said:

I'm late to the party here but I was going to say - don't fret the choice. Either one is PERFECTLY adequate from 0-300 yards with a little practice and considerably further with more practice. I'd focus on the features of the rifle you're interested in instead of caliber. I've killed quite a few critters with quite a few different calibers and blueprints of guns. Bottom line is shot placement with bullets of adequate construction kill - the rest of the ballistic gack we like to argue is all academic.

I've sold a lot of my factory rifles and settled on a handful of customs. I don't own a .270 Winchester any longer but I did build this little gem in .308 Win. It's not that a .308 Win is any better but I wanted a 20 inch tube on a relatively light rifle that would work quite well in blinds and stands.

[peddler70]

Pretty pretty pretty, but the bolt is in the wrong side.