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Expert Advice: The Best All Around Hunting Rifle Caliber

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Availability

I’ve been to a small town on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska. The only way there was by boat or floatplane.

The outfitter shop had a limited selection of ammo. On its shelves was .270 Winchester ammunition.

Practically anywhere you want to hunt will have a store nearby with .270 Winchester ammo available for sale. And, since it’s not a round used in modern sporting rifles, it’s managed to elude much of the political pressure and hoarding issues that plague other popular calibers such as .308.

There is a knock against .270 Winchester, though, and that’s the price.

You’ll be hard-pressed to find cheap plinking ammo for your .270 rifle!

What Makes the .270 Winchester the Perfect All Around Hunting Caliber

.270 Win is such a great round because it managed to hit so many sweet spots of power, range, and versatility.

Part of this is because of circular reasoning. .270 is popular so manufacturers make high-quality ammo for it, so it becomes more popular.

However, the .270 is also so effective because of ballistics, the mathematics of projectile flight, and impact.

History of the .270 Winchester

When Winchester released their Model 54 bolt-action rifle in 1925, they also introduced the .270 Winchester cartridge. It was a fairly successful rifle but the cartridge was overshadowed by existing hunting cartridges, especially the ubiquitous .30-06.

It took decades for hunters to realize that .270 was easier to use than .30-06 due to its flat shooting profile while being no less effective. In fact, with a modern bullet design, .270 can be more effective than its old competitor.

Today, the Model 54 is more or less a relic of history. Scopes weren’t commonly used when that rifle was designed so the bolt interferes with where a scope should go.

However, the .270 has gained worldwide acceptance as one of the greatest hunting calibers.

Let’s Dive into Ballistics

Bullets are effective because of physics. They transfer the kinetic energy into flesh, disrupting the tissue and organs and causing wounding and death.

A lot of advanced mathematics can be used to determine how effectively a bullet can transfer this energy. Bullet length, width, shape, and speed all have an effect.

The important factors for us laymen are sectional density, ballistic coefficient, velocity, and energy.

What makes .270 such a good cartridge is how it makes good marks in all of these factors.

Sectional Density

Without penetration, a hunting bullet is worthless.

Sectional density is a measurement that helps hunters understand how well a bullet penetrates a target.

If two bullets with the same velocity, shape, and construction but different SDs hit the same target, the higher SD bullet will penetrate farther.

To determine a bullet’s SD, take its weight in pounds, divide it by its diameter in inches, and square the result.

You want an SD of .205 or higher for deer and .250 or higher for elk. .270 Winchester’s sectional density averages between .242 and .279.

Ballistic Coefficient

Another important consideration is how well the bullet flies through the air, measured as the bullet’s ballistic coefficient. The higher the BC, the lower the bullet’s drag, the better it retains velocity, and the longer the range.

BC is a ratio based on the bullet’s SD and its shape. The flatter the nose, the worse the BC; the heavier the bullet, the better the BC. Higher is better.

Let’s compare Hornady’s 150 gr SST bullets, .277 caliber for the .270 Win and .308 caliber for the .30-06 Springfield. The .308 bullet’s BC is .415 and the .277 bullet’s BC is .525. That’s quite the advantage, even with the same bullet weight.

Oh, and the sectional densities for those two projectiles? .279 for the .277 bullet and .226 for the .308 bullet.

Velocity and Energy

Naturally, to impart energy, the bullet has to have energy. .270 Win doesn’t lack here. The average load puts out around 2,700 ft-lbs of force, whether it’s a 150 gr bullet going 2,850 fps or 130 gr bullet going 3,060 fps.

.30-06 just barely beats out .270 Winchester here. It gains about 60 fps and 100 ft-lbs with a 150 gr bullet. However, that advantage won’t last long because of the .270’s superior SD and BC!

Other Great Hunting Calibers

While I hope I’ve laid out some good arguments for why .270 Win is the perfect go-to hunting caliber, I know I haven’t convinced all of you.

And that’s okay.

I believe that everybody should be knowledgeable about their specific circumstances and use the best tool for the job.

.270 Winchester may be extremely effective and versatile for many people but it won’t be the best choice for everyone. I tend toward specialization, but that’s because I’m also a firearm collector. Some people like to minimize the variety of calibers they have to juggle. I have three different caliber barrels for one of my pistols and four other caliber uppers... So, I’ll grab my 6.5 Grendel...for deer hunting and a .45-70 lever-action rifle for black bears rather than a single rifle for both.

Other people may want to pass on picking up a .270 Winchester rifle even if they’re looking for a one-gun solution.

For example, if you’ll never travel up north to the land of moose and brown bear, then the maximum-power capabilities of the .270 may be a waste. You can be just as effective with a less powerful choice.

So, let’s look at some of my favorite alternatives to the .270. All of these will be great all-around hunting rounds. Just not as versatile as .270 Winchester.