I am about to purchase another rifle and I am considering a 270 win or a 7mm-08 for shooting to 1000 yards, and slightly more? I am looking for a good long distance caliber that has recoil that is not significantly more than a 308 or 30-06. The reasoning is that if this is new to me, I will progress much more if I can shoot a lot. More powerful calibers, like a 300 win mag, are not conducive to shoot a lot. I do want more power than a 243, and I suppose that a 270 win or 7mm-08 calibers are reasonable solutions. Your thoughts?
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randolphmessage
Apr 11, 2017
Need advice: 270 win or 7mm-08 for long distance?
Need advice: 270 win or 7mm-08 for long distance?
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Have you also considered the 6.5 Creedmoor? I would be very curious on Rex's thoughts on the 7mm -08.
6.5 and 7mm based catridges have really good aerodynamics per affordability of reloading components if you are reloading. I ended up going 260 Rem but 6.5 creedmore is very similar. I was going to go 7mm-08 but most non custom guns at the time had twist rates too slow to stabilize the higher b.c. Bullets. If you are target shooting any of the more popular 6.5s (260, creedmore, lapua) will get you out beyond 1000 yards...mine is a 20 in and stays supersonic to a little beyond 1300 at sea level on a moderately cool day. At 1000 it is still around 500 ft lbs...so if you need more 7mm-08 would be ok but you may want sub magnum 6.5 or 7mm (6.5-06 or 280 or just go 7mm mag)...270 has the off the self Ammo edge but really the others are probably better if you are reloading.
Forgot to mention, my normal 143 eldx round is around 0.45 per round reloaded...so the 260/6.5/7mm-08 are probably going to be best for shooting a lot of rounds...of course that all depends
A lot on what bullet you choose (like hornandy for cost per performance but things like Berger and alco are tempting to try)
Thank you for the good advice! At this point I am not ready to start reloading and I will be buying off the shelf. Of course all 6.5mm are not created equal: any experience with 6.5x55 Swede? I am not sure that it would stay supersonic at a sufficient distance?
No personal experience with 6.5x55 but from what I have seen it is a bit low on pressure and runs in the neighborhood of 150 fps slower than similar 6.5 rounds and a bit longer cartridge so choice of rifles can be harder. Not reloading would tend to push towards the 6.5 creedmore due to more loadings for it. I personally have had decent luck with hornandy match 260 but there are not many weights available. If you find good Match 6.5x55 Ammo it could probably make it around 1000 but at the time I looked there was not much available. Even if you don't reload I suggest saving your brass in case you decide to in the future as that is one of the more expensive components.
No question: over time ammo is the biggest expense! And the stock ammo is rarely as well suited to what we do. At this point I just do not have the appropriate space to reload.
I have a tikka in 6,5x55, and you can load it faster than you think. It likes medium to slow buring powder with 24 inch barrel or more. In my 24" i get 900m/s (2950fps) with norma mrp with the 139gr scenar. Important to not confuse the skan loads with the old swedish mauser load data. Even the skan loads is published way too slow. Get good results with speed and accuraccy with vv n160 and H4831 on 139-142gr bullets. The 260 can't keep up. ;) i shoot supersonic out to 1100-1200m (1200-1300yrd)
I like the 7mm-08 because the availability of .308 brass is popular almost everywhere and can be necked down if your in short supply. I've had a .243 Winchester for years and this was the same reason i went with the .260 Remington instead of 6.5 Creedmoor. Although i don't really need to move to 7mm-08 other than i want another rifle, this will be the reason i do end up getting it too. Can't go wrong with either though, especially if you want to buy factory ammo, .270 is very popular most places as well.