270Weatherby

anyone here have one? Does it live up to its hype?

Depends on what hype you've heard. Buddy had a MK5 in .270Wby. He's a hunter but he shoots whenever he can, usually weekly. If he let the barrel cool after each shot it would put them in the same hole all day. 100yd 5shot groups dime sized. Downside was after about 1000rds the groups started to open up, by 1500 it would barely pieplate and the barrel was toast. He took one deer with it at about 120yds with a boiler room shot. The exit wound was about the size of a grapefruit and there was basically nothing left of the heart (his favorite part of the deer) or the lungs. Serious overkill for NH. I was very impressed by the accuracy (while it lasted), but stunned by how short the barrel life was and how badly the throat was eaten. He said about 8" of the breech end was gone when he scoped it, like someone had taken a cutting torch and poked it into the chamber. One summer and fall was all it lasted. Like him, when I have an accurate rifle I like to shoot it often, so I would pass on this one if it were me, even if I liked magnums, as the barrel life was way too short and the brass and especially the factory ammo was beyond outrageously priced and only good for two or three firings before failing the paperclip test unless the loads were very light. If shot only occasionally it certainly lives up to at least some of the hype. I know two traveling hunters who use them out west and like them a lot, but they are not really shooters and I doubt their rifles get more than ten rounds a year through them.

He replaced it with a .270WSM, about 500fps slower, but this one has lasted him six years so far and he loves it. Dependable MOA, a m70. It's over 2000rds and hasn't shown any signs of losing accuracy. I think it's overkill for here, too, but he has yet to fire more than one round per deer with it. For a hunting rifle and a big game cartridge I think it's a better combination than the Weatherbys.

yes, no & maybe.

I don't shoot my 264WM a lot because of barrel life. Same issues as the weatherby.

If you are hunting elk or moose. They are overkill for deer.

Was thinking for elk and antelope around 200 to 300yds.

Hell, a regular .270win will do you for that with the right bullets. I take it you are just hankerin for something different. There is a lot to like about the WSM's for large game at those ranges, including much longer case and barrel life than those cursed belted magnums, as long as you aren't loading them up to the red line. The RUM's eat barrels, too, like the Weatherbys. I think the best compromise for all around middle and long distance large game hunting cartridges are the WSM's. They are way more than I need up here under 200yds even for moose, so I really haven't been interested in testing them. The ones I've shot or seen shot have been more than accurate enough for 300yd shots, MOA or close to it even with factory ammo. The .270WSM has noticeably lighter recoil than the .300WSM. I had no problem offhand hitting clay birds placed on the 100yd berm, bet I could have done it at 300 with his setup if we had had the range to try it.

How about a wildcat 6.5WSM? 140gr Partitions or 130gr TSX's?

I have a 7mm WSM and its ok. Not sure why I even bought it though. Hunted with it one year and went back to the 270.

I don't know.

I have always felt that if Jack O'Connor had been able to afford a 6.5 Mannlicher in his formative years the .270 would not exist today.

(This is where I would have added that "stir-the-pot" smilie on the old board. You get the idea.) :evil:

I've hunted with a few different things -

243 x2
25-06
264wm
270
7mm WSM

I have an old 30-06 with an old Weaver "T" reticle scope I have never used to hunt. Got it for $300 about 15 years ago from someone moving to florida. I think he bought a 300WM to hunt the mosquito's there. :)

i do like different. ive got dies for a 6.5-06 but just havent done it. the more immediate project is a 30 gibbs in an abolt i bought years ago. need to find a magazine follower for it. seems the follower for 30-06/270/25-06 is obsolete.