.243 / .270 Or .308 At Renewal

[charlie caller 3,654]

Thanks for all the input guys. I think the .300WM maybe too much calibre for me though. Not too sure what the recoil would be like???

When I first applied for a centrefire variation I asked for a .243 because some of the land I shoot has occasional deer and was having lots of fox problems. So I thought .243 would be ideal for both. Just one rifle for both. My FEO informed me they were not prepared to give me a .243 without a mentoring condition. However, they were prepared to give me a .22-250 without. I had no choice because it was impossible at the time for me to get a mentor and I needed to reach out to the foxes, something which was increasingly difficult with HMR. So I took the .22-250 and have to be honest, I love the round. Now my certificate is up for renewal in January 17 I am looking to apply for a round whereby I can try and argue the mentoring condition. I don't know if it will be possible but I certainly think it would be extremely difficult if I asked for a .300WM.

I will stick with the .308 & .270 but I am liking both. I have done a fair bit of reading and watching videos and personally don't think I will go wrong whatever round I decide. Obviously I'm going to need to talk to my FEO as well.

I know there is a variety of ammo out there and more variety and weights with the .308 but take a look at the ballistics I have posted below. I picked Hornady as an example. Not too sure if the additional name 'American Whitetail' actually means something on the .308 SP, but I thought they were interesting.

 

I can only seem to find bullet weights of 150GR for .270 on the Hornady website and not too sure if there are heavier ones sold by another manufacturer. I’ll have a look and post them below if I find any.

So, I decided to throw in another heavier bullet for the .308 to see what the difference is.

Hopefully get a few comments on the below:

 

 

1. .270 WIN 150GR INTERLOCK SP

2. .308 WIN 150GR INTERLOCK SP (American Whitetail)

3. .308 WIN 178GR ELD-X (Precision Hunter)

 

 

TEST BARREL 24” Velocity (FPS) / Energy (FT-LBS)

 

 

MUZZLE 100 200 300 400 500

.270 2840/2686 2642/2324 2452/2002 2270/1716 2095/1462 1929/1239

.308 2820/2649 2553/2170 2301/1763 2063/1418 1841/1129 1636/891

.308 2600/2672 2437/2348 2281/2056 2130/1792 1984/1556 1846/1346

 

I thought it quite interesting when you have both 150GR for the .308 and .270 especially at 100 & 200 yds. But, when you put in the 178Gr .308 you can see the difference, though very marginal out to 300yds when compared to the .270 150gr

 

 

I found some Norma Vulkan 156gr, but I am not sure if there are any heavier rounds out there for this calibre or, if I need it. So much to read and learn. I have put the ballistics for this round below. Not sure of the test barrel length. As you can see though, this 156Gr round is still hitting harder at 100 & 200yds when compared 150gr .308 round.

 

.270 MUZZLE 100 200 300 400 500

2854/2822 2586/2317 2333/1886 2094/1520 No further info at these ranges

 

 

 

That has just given me a good laugh on a monday morning they would not give you .243 without mentoring, but .22-250 was fine? ffs oh I can see the logic in that because a .243 is far more deadly than a .22-250 isnt it, you really could not make it up, they must be on drugs.

[walshie 2,804]

308

[AThomas 32]

The 270 is an awesome caliber,the only downside is the range of ammunition is somewhat limited, compared with whats available for the 308.

Having said that, 130 & 150 gr bullets do less damage on meat than my 243.

Although I have shot a few deer with my 270, Roe, Red and Fallow, I've only ever shot 1 boar, on a trip abroad, which also doped on the spot no problem.

Of the boar shot, I think 6 in total, 4 were with a 308, and all took 2 shots, purely coincidence I know, but i'm just saying.

I've also seen the humble 270 used in Africa on most plains game, with no problem, from Blue and Balck Wilderbeast, Kudu, etc to the smaller game species.

What I would say, although I'm not sure if you ever thought of doing any Boar trips abroad, some European countries dont allow the 308 as it's still classed as a military round, although I could be corrected.

[Deker 3,478]

308

 

 

Say it again and close the thread walshie, job done!

[maktayla 50]

Came across this by accident tonight, a BASC document offering Guidance for Firearms Officers on calibre vs good reason. Basically, it's an unofficial extension to the table found on page 121 of the Official Guidelines and covers far more calibres including .300WM and .300 WSM. It also goes right up to .700 cal!

 

http://basc.org.uk/wp-content/plugins/download-monitor/download.php?id=21

 

Quite a useful document, as guidance.

Cheers Alsone

 

Will take a look at it

[maktayla 50]

So much advice....Thanks to all. Its gonna be a lot of thinking but I honestly dont think I'll go too much wrong which ever calibre I choose. I know the .270 is a long action and the .308 is a short action cartridge. Are there any advantages / disadvantages to either?

 

Charliecaller: Yes, I couldn't believe when I talked to my FEO. If i had chosen a .243 I would have needed a mentor but, they were willing to give me a 22-250 without. It was frustrating at the time because I stated I wanted the .243 because it would allow me to have one rifle for fox and deer, rather than to go through applying for a variation again at a later date, and also the expense of another rifle if I didnt sell the .22-250. Less than a 12 month after I had the .22-250, they opened it up for me as well. Obviously I wasn't going to grumble at that because it has made my days out so much easier if I end up with new permissions. Meet loads of farmers on a day to day basis so I'm very lucky there.

 

They'll probably end up doing the same if I ask for either a .308 or .270. Probably give me a mentoring condition on one and not the other

[ianm 2,594]

 

308

 

 

Say it again and close the thread walshie, job done!

 

 

 

Mind you don't keep bumping into furniture with them blinkers on Dobbin!