Travis Olander   12.15.23
These two centenarian sport cartridges have been utilized by hunters and marksmen alike, affording good accuracy at distance, with modest felt recoil and comparatively light-weight actions and barrels. Each rounds are so widespread that the majority of your favourite bolt weapons have been chambered in them: The Remington 700, Tikka T3, Savage 110, Weatherby Mark V, and dozens of different rifles from Howa, Mauser, Christensen Arms, Mossberg, Sig, Kimber, and the like supply tactical and looking rifles in .270 and .308.
.270 Winchester is Higher, but it surely May not Matter
The .308 camp can be mad at this assertion of reality. However, oh effectively: Though .308 Winchester — and its navy counterpart, 7.62×51 NATO — is by far the extra widespread cartridge (and nonetheless one of the widespread rifle cartridges, ever) it’s the smaller, sooner .270 Winchester that gives superior efficiency. However whether or not this efficiency even issues is debatable. Let’s clarify.
.270 Winchester Specs
- Bullet Diameter: .277″
- Case Size: 2.54″
- Total Size: 3.34″
- Case Capability: 67 gr H2O
- Widespread Weights: 90, 130, 140, 150 grains
.308 Winchester Specs
- Bullet Diameter: .308″
- Case Size: 2.015″
- Total Size: 2.8″
- Case Capability: 56 gr H2O
- Widespread Weights: 125, 150, 168, 175, 185 grains
.270 Winchester: Transient Historical past
Although .308 Winchester is taken into account archaic by some, .270 Winchester predates it by at the very least twenty years. The smaller cartridge was invented when Winchester’s engineers necked down the .30-06 cartridge, capped it with a .277 bullet to acquire efficiency just like the 7mm Mauser, and chambered it of their then-new bolt motion, the Mannequin 54, with an motion primarily based closely on the Mauser 98 motion. The Mannequin 54 was Winchester’s first profitable civilian manufacturing bolt gun.
Regardless of its excessive velocity and flat trajectory, the .270 Winchester wasn’t acquired with extensive favor. It wasn’t till Jack O’Conner, famed large sport hunter and literary, praised the cartridge for its accuracy and efficiency within the discipline.
.308 Winchester: Transient Historical past
The .308 Winchester is the civilian counterpart to the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge. Developed within the Nineteen Fifties, the short-action .30-caliber cartridge was made to shave weight and supply greater capability for intermediate service rifles. In 1952, Winchester developed the .208 Winchester and marketed the cartridge to American hunters. Though equivalent at look, the .308 Winchester is a warmer cartridge. It’s loaded to greater pressures with a thinner casing wall.
Due to this, .308 Winchester-chambered rifles can safely shoot 7.62×51 NATO — however the inverse isn’t true; NATO chambers shouldn’t be loaded with .308 Winchester. Not like the .270 Winchester’s sluggish adoption, .308 Winchester shortly turned one of the widespread rifle cartridges ever made. It was, on the time, one in all just some short-action rounds that afforded smaller actions and lighter rifles, whereas offering excessive velocity and comparatively little bullet drop out to 300 yards.
.270 Win vs .308 Win Ballistics
Like we mentioned earlier, .270 Winchester is objectively a superior spherical when in comparison with .308 Winchester: It affords much less bullet drop at comparable distances, with greater power and higher ballistic coefficients. However is its long-action requirement well worth the added efficiency? Let’s crunch the numbers.
150-Grain Masses In contrast
Evaluating these cartridges’ equivalent grain weights provides us the most effective image — however needless to say 150 grains is in regards to the restrict of what .270 cartridges can deal with; that is thought-about center of the highway for .308 Winchester.
.270 Winchester
- Muzzle Velocity: 2,830 fps
- Power @ 300 yds: 1,709 ft-lb
- Drop @ 300 yds: 12.8 inches
.308 Winchester
- Muzzle Velocity: 2,840 fps
- Power @ 300 yds: 1,565 lb. ft.
- Drop @ 300 yds: 13.4 inches
Off the bat, we are able to see each rounds have virtually equivalent muzzle velocities. However, as a result of .270’s lighter, it retains extra of its preliminary power downrange and winds up retaining 144 lb. ft. of power at 300 yards — that’s about 10% further energy on the most distance that folk really feel comfy taking photographs at sport. Bullet drop can be negligable; .270 Win beats out .308 with about half an inch (4.5%) much less drop at 300 yards.
If we observe .308’s path out to 500 yards, we discover it nonetheless solely suffers marginally worse efficiency: About 7% further bullet drop, at 3.9″, and it retains about 15% much less energy, or 188 lb. ft. However its the variations in wind drift that illustrate how .270 Winchester excels downrange.
Past simply 100 yards, .270 Win suffers between 15% and 20% much less wind drift, which equates to about 5″ of drift at 500 yards. That’s not insignificant, notably in case you’re capturing at typical 12″ silhouettes. We will additionally infer this distinction solely grows to develop into downright problematic for .308 Winchester at 800 to 1,000 yards, considerably impacting comparative hit chance for the NATO-born cartridge.
Heavier .308 Positive aspects an Edge
Heavier grain weights can compensate for one caliber’s comparatively inferior efficiency. Considered one of .308’s heaviest masses, 178 grains, suffers poorer muzzle velocity, but it surely offers marginally higher power retention and considerably improved bullet drop. Let’s examine once more:
.270 Winchester (150-grain)
- Muzzle Velocity: 2,830 fps
- Power @ 300 yds: 1,709 ft-lb
- Drop @ 300 yds: 12.8 inches
.308 Winchester (178-grain)
- Muzzle Velocity: 2,600 FPS
- Power @ 300 yds: 1,792 lb. ft.
- Drop @ 300 yds: 8.8 inches
On the 300-yard measurement, we discover 178-grain .308 offers about 83 lb. ft. (roughly 5%) extra power than .270 Winchester’s 150-grain load. Bullet drop is improved noticeably, although. The .308 drops 4 inches much less, a roughly 31% discount.
Is .270 Actually Superior?
Virtually talking, 270 Winchester is just marginally higher than .308 Winchester. Inside 300 yards — the distances that just about all hunters take their photographs — the 2 rounds are so intently matched that both cartridge’s bullet drop and wind drift offers no significant benefit over the opposite, no matter grain weight.
At long-range distances, .270 Winchester offers noticeably higher wind drift resistance and reasonably improved bullet drop; briefly, it shooters flatter. However then the argument that there are far superior short- and long-action cartridges to select for one of these capturing — like all of the 6.5mm collection masses developed over the previous 30 years — enters the dialogue (however that’s a subject for one more day).
So, we glance to the non-performance subjects which may sway you to think about .270 over .308. It’s right here that you simply may discover causes to stay with .308.
Felt Recoil
Felt recoil goes to .308 Winchester — however once more, each are intently matched when related grain weights. In an 8-pound rifle, a 130-grain .270 Win load generates about 18 lb. ft. of recoil power. The lightest .308 load (125 grains) generates simply 9 kilos of recoil power, whereas the frequent 165-grain load generates 18.1 lb. ft. of power; principally equivalent to the .270.
Terminal Efficiency
It’s inarguably that, until a lighter spherical is travelling considerably sooner, it’s the larger spherical that produces an even bigger gap. The .308’s heaviest masses to, in reality, punch sport with extra power and extra bullet in addition. Though .270 is completely able to taking most antlered sport with out a chase ensuing, the .308 could drop a big bull elk or moose extra successfully.
Quick vs. Lengthy Motion Weapons
Quick-action rifles are merely cheaper, lighter, and simpler to shoot, and there’s a reputable argument for sticking with .308 Winchester because of this alone. Certain, the argument could be made {that a} lengthy motion soaks up extra felt recoil — however on this case, .308 wins with a typically softer punch to the shoulder, anyway.
Price Per Spherical
At publication, .308 Winchester stays the preferred and generally bought .30-caliber rifle spherical in the marketplace. It is going to probably stay extra reasonably priced on a per-round value foundation than .270 Winchester, effectively, ceaselessly.
The common value per spherical for .308 ranges between $0.66 and $0.90 for typical FMJ brass, whereas Match Grade ammo common $2.00 to $2.50 per spherical.
The present value per spherical for typical FMJ .270 ranges between $0.90 and $1.50, whereas Match Grade masses common about $2.00 to $3.00 per spherical.
Virtually Talking, It’s a Wash
It’s true that .270 Win outperforms .308 Win on paper — notably the place wind drift is worried, particularly at higher distances. However the benefits gained in ballistic efficiency with the latter are a moot within the context of most sensible functions:
Each rounds are made for looking, the place just about all photographs can be taken effectively inside 300 yards. Right here, .308 Winchester’s marginally worse ballistic efficiency is negligible and, in reality, its heavier masses may present higher efficiency, plus extra knockdown energy.
Couple these information with the opposite advantages .308 offers — higher felt recoil with lighter masses, some great benefits of a brief motion, arguably higher terminal efficiency, and a decrease common value per spherical — and also you may conclude it’s higher to stay with the bigger of the 2 cartridges. On this case, .270 Winchester could solely be preferable in case you’re typically ringing metal past 500 yards.
In fact, the standard of the rifle issues as a lot because the spherical. Try MDT’s new TIMBR Frontier Inventory, made for the .270- and .308-chambered Remington 700, Tikka T3, and Tikka T1X.
