I've wondered for years how the bullet came to be, and was sitting between the 6.5 mm and very close to the 7mm. This may be an explanation.

"It is said that the development of the .270 began in 1923. Surely Winchester engineers didn't pull the bullet diameter out of thin air, so at that time their reason for settling on .277" must have been based on some sort of rationale. Unfortunately, it seems to have been lost to the sands of time."

"If you think about it, it's an odd choice: The difference between .277 and 7mm is just 0.007", truly not enough to argue about. The difference between .270 and the 6.5 mm is a bit more, 0.013", but still hardly enough to get worked up over."

"It does seem that the company's goal was to increase velocity and flatten trajectory by necking down the .30-06 Sprg. case- perhaps with an eye toward reducing recoil as well. An internet search turned up several interesting comments, including that the 6.5 mm and 7mm were "European" bullet diameter, both with numerous cartridges and case dimensions already on the market, but unlikely to sell well in a post-World War I America. And there was still one incredibly simple explanation that never, ever crossed my mind: Multiply our popular .308" diameter by .90 and the result is .277". So the .270" is 90 percent of, or 10 percent smaller than , the then-standard .30 caliber. Perhaps that is coincidence and the explanation remains lost- or perhaps that 10 percent represented the engineering design goal."


That seems very plausible to me.

Interesting stuff. I love my 270

.270, todays 130 gr bullets at 3000 fps.......Hummmm

just like the 7mm Mag, 6.5's etc great long range cartridge????????????????????

why not?????????

Very cool

I heard that a Winchester rep went to China and found a .277 training round that was in development and borrowed the idea

My favorite

I had good luck with a 270 WSM, but have only briefly owned a 270 Winchester that I was putting together for a gift rifle. - I got to shoot it a little bit, getting it sighted in and found that it was indeed more pleasant to shoot than the 30-06. Not a lot, but definitely enough to notice.

I like hearing about the history of any cartridge. The 270 has a lot of history here in the US, and appears to be popular all over the world.

The story that I remember hearing was that barrels in 270 with the kind of twist rates that the long range shooters prefer are unobtainium. - And there were comments about the kind of bullets that are available in 277.

Anything can be shot at long range, if you tip the barrel up enough - but there's a lot more to it than that if you are wanting to compete with other shooters.

Or it may have been the more simple matter of finding good use of a hug overstock of 30-06 casings left over from WWI.

The .270 was based off a .30-03 casing

X2

.270 was my first center fire rifle. 1968 Remington 700 BDL, stamped, Flure De Lies checkering, no bolt shroud. Probably one of the best out of the box shooters I ever saw, had a Redfield 3-9X on it. Ended up sending it to Brown Precision for new barrel and one of those newfangled composite stocks. Hunted with it many many years.

there will probably never be one set up for super long range because of bullet selection, custom barrel twist rate, etc.

biggest reason, so many others available , much easier.

No bolt shroud, or the early shorter shroud???

Interesting excerpt, FJG. I guess the nostalgia got you interested in diving into the 27 caliber?

early ,short one, sorry

Never.

I just always wondered how it came to be. Being so close to 7mm in diameter. Berger is now making a high BC bullet in .277" But I have a 7 Rem Mag shooting 180's.I have no need for a 270. If ever I had a regular long action to build something on, it would probably be a 6.5mm or 7mm, or maybe even a .30 cal round.

"The .270 Winchester (or 6.9x64mm) was developed by Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1923 and unveiled in 1925 as a chambering for their bolt-action Model 54.[3] The cartridge is a necked down .30-06 Springfield. When loaded with a bullet that expands rapidly or fragments in tissue, this cartridge delivers devastating terminal performance.[4][5][6]"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/.270_Winchester

I remember reading an article about 270s a while back that said that Winchester didn't develop the 270 as a Target round because at the time the predominant shooting competitions only allowed 30-06 or something along those lines. When those regulations changed later on, folks were using the newer 243s and 280, so the 270 missed the boat.

Dunno about the Wiki citing, but I do remember reading the .270 being based off the .30-06...

"Both can trace their roots back to the obsolete .30-03. The .30-06 is based on a slightly shortened version of that case, and the .270 is based on a necked-down .30-06 case. The shoulder angle is identical and so is the powder capacity to the base of the shoulder."

http://www.chuckhawks.com/perfect_pair.htm

Back in those days, they had as many if not more cartridges around in the US than we have today, but they were almost all big-bore stuff designed for black powder, most of it long obsolete now. As US cartridges of the era go, the 270 was on the cutting edge, far ahead of its time. It was considered to be quite radical, and was controversial. Many of the experts of the time would have nothing to do with it.

It has, however, withstood the test of time. Popularity and availability aside, the 270 is still one of the very best choices available for medium game in the US. It strikes very close if not right on a perfect balance between recoil, range, accuracy and killing power.

It is no longer alone approaching this balance, as an American cartridge. It was one of the first though, and remains as one of the best.

Me too. Love my .270.

The .280 is a necked down 06'. The brass is the same

The .270 case was based off the .30/03 not the redesigned 06'


It's one of the commonly mistook things in the shooting world, that the .270 is a necked down 06' case

They are very very similar.

I know 277 doesn't get love from the long range guys but I love my Sako 270. 130 grain SSTs will knock a buck clean off their feet DRT.

One of my favorites. Killed more big game with it than any other caliber.

I am a .270 guy too. O'Connor sucked me in back in the day as a kid reading Outdoor Life. In east TX in the '70s it was actually not all that easy to find .270 cartridges. The .30-06 was still king by a long shot.