.30-06 vs. .270 - A basic question

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Not much else to add that’s not already been said. If I could only have one rifle, I’d take an ‘06 over a .270 every time, all else being equal. That ‘06 does everything the .243 does as well....but the .243 would have less hide damage on coyote pelts...
 
I am lucky to own both a .270 Winchester and a .30-06 Springfield; like so many, I like both while I don't think there is so much difference in their practical use to justify owning both. However, I must say I support the opinion already expressed in favor of the Springfield for moose hunting, most especially for the hunter who doesn't handload, while I see a legal reason to own a .270 Winchester for the international hunter: some countries do not allow military cartridges at all; in such countries, where I will quite possibly never go, and even more likely never hunt, the .270 Winchester is vastly surpassing the .30-06 Springfield in usefulness!
 
I own several hunting rifles in overlapping cartridges:

Bolts in: .243 Win, .257 Roberts, 6.5x55, .270 Win, 7mm Rem Mag, .300 Weatherby Mag.

Levers in: .357 Mag, .45 Colt, .44 Mag... and .30/30, .35 Rem, .45/70.

Nuthin wrong with overlapping performance or even in having more than one gun per caliber to choose from. Just like a bag of golf clubs having lots of similar loft/length in the bag lets you tailor the club to the lie; having some performance options in a variety of rifles allows you to best tailor the gun/ cartridge combo to your expected hunting scenario a bit better.

Stay safe!
 
In 1925 a 270 driving a 130 gr bullet at 3000-3100 fps was a very different animal than typical 30-06 loads firing a 180 gr bullet at 2600 fps. 30-06 loads until recently were pretty conservative, and with todays bullet construction a 270 will kill most anything a 30-06 will kill. For 95% of hunters in 2019 they are ballistic twins.

270 loads haven't improved all that much. But today a 30-06 firing a 150 gr bullet at 3000-3100 fps is almost as flat shooting as a 270/130. And better bullets mean a 270 firing a modern 150 gr bullet at 2950 fps will kill anything a 30-06 firing a 180 gr bullet at 2850 fps will kill. And with similar trajectories.

The 270 has a slight edge in recoil, but neither are considered hard kickers.

The 30-06 has the edge if you need to go up to really heavy bullets. From a practical point of view 270 tops out at 150 gr which will match 30-06 with 180's. They make heavier 270 bullets, but they don't make factory rifles that will shoot them. The 30-06 can shoot 200-230 gr bullets effectively and the 270 has no answer for that. The heavy hunting bullets would be a better option for the bigger game animals. And the longer, heavier 200-230 gr high BC target bullets give the 30-06 the edge for long range target shooting. But to be fair, there are better options than 30-06 for those uses.
 
I have a 700 in 30-06 also. It wears a Williams receiver sight and gets used at about 100 to 150 yards with a 180 or 220 grn round nose bullet, depending on the distance I expect to hunt. I also have a Ruger M77 .270 that wears a 3x9x40 scope. I use it out to about 250 yards, with a 150 grn bullet. I have shot deer with both of them and can't tell the difference in recoil or killing power. Both of them kick like an army mule. Both of them will flatten deer as far as I can comfortably shoot them. So I say six of one, half dozen of the other. If you want something different, get you a 25-06 or 6.5 Swede. I have the 25 and have used it to great effect on everything from woodchuck (90 grain ballistic tip) to elk (125 grain partion) and have zero complaints about it. I owned a Swede some years ago, and it was highly interesting as well. I prefer the 25, as I can load it from spent '06 brass very cheaply. I never tried loading for the 6.5 though, so it might be just as easy and cheap. Ymmv and all that jazz.

Mac
 
Didn’t Jack also state “The .30-06 is rarely a bad choice” ?

Sam

I believe he did, I have his outdoor life book with all the big name shooting authors of the day I will have to go back and read. With everything said I own both calibers
 
My question is pretty simple (I think): Is there a particular animal or hunting condition where there will be a significant advantage of my having a .270 vs. the .30-06 that I already have?
No.

You can compare them if you are trying to decide which one you should buy, but if you have a rifle in either that you like, there's not enough difference between them to justify buying a second rifle to get it.
 
The only advantage to shooting a .270 Win over some other cartridges, especially if you're only going to kill things beyond 300 yards, is that, if you handload, you can load 90 grain bullets for enjoyable target practice or varmint disposal. My "super-accurate" load with 90 grain bullets is 48.5 grains of IMR 4895, CCI 200 primers, Rem cases. At 100 yards, in my rifle, it shoots very close to my hot, 130 grain deer load, but without the recoil and muzzle blast of a standard load. Using it, I've won a few turkey shoots, including a "running" deer shoot in the woods. (That's another funny story, but I'll spare you.)

Weird event: One day, when going deer hunting, I had two boxes of ammo in the truck and grabbed the wrong one, and in a hurry to load up and get out there, didn't notice that I loaded the rifle with the (under-powered) 90 grain "target" ammo. I hurried out to my stand along a woods road and sat down on my stool. After a few minutes, I pulled out my deer call and gave it a few toots.

After a few minutes, I heard a deer walking toward me on a deer trail to my right. Then the small buck came into view, about 45 yards away, presenting a nice broadside view. I fired and the deer stepped behind some low cedars, but kept walking toward me. I told myself that it was definitely hit in the boiler room, so let it keep coming. If it makes it to the road, shoot again. The deer kept walking toward the road and just as its nose entered the opening, it dropped dead...only about 20 feet from me!

I wouldn't use that bullet for deer on-purpose, but it was a really memorable event and a story I've told to friends.
 
Sorry, the reason of "you can't have too many guns" will not be accepted.

But, this is, the real answer. You're giving me a headache, it's acceptable for the rest of us.

30-06 is my go to rifle. I had a 270 which was very good cartridge, but, I improved it, by having it re-bored to a 35 Whelen. Now it's outstanding.
 
I believe Jack also said in one of he's books that the 30-06 was a superior cartridge. Going by memory here.

I have to chuckle every time someone mentions Jack O'Connor. I bought a 270 in the 1970's because of his writings. It's a great cartridge and I have never been disappointed in the performance. He was the factory representative of the Speer bullet factory in Lewiston, Idaho. Shortly after his death I visited the factory in Lewiston for a tour and I had the opportunity to talk to several people who worked with him. The one comment that I got from almost everyone was that 'You just couldn't do enough for old Jack." Apparently he was very demanding on getting what he wanted. As the years went buy I realized that I still liked the 270 but when I went hunting I would always hunt with a 30-06. But for accuracy it takes a really good 30-06 to compete with a 270 because the 270 rifles that I have owned are inherently accurate.
 
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I see nothing wrong with owning examples of .30-06, .35Whelen, .270, etc. However, just to hunt, I'd say stick with the '06 and see what a .243 will do. OP has light and heavy covered.
 
I have both a .30-06 and a .270-----little difference in the cartridges but my rifles are quite a bit different.

My '06 is a stainless Ruger Hawkeye ---hell for stout, all weather beast that's quite heavy----------the .270 is Browning X-bolt Composite Stalker---light weight and trim--my go to deer gun.
 
I was kicking around a general big game rifle.
Found a Ruger #1A w decent wood..............posted about it a few times.
The price............the risk of not shooting worth a darn...........and being a pretty rifle that could get dinged up.............

it was in .30-06 and #1's IMHO kick kinda hard for what they are.

Said screw it and ordered a new Steyr Pro Hunter today.
Not pretty. Not light. Boring ol'.30-06.

Am gonna slap OK glass on it (sub 1K $ and just hunt the thing).

IIRC some folks made reduced recoil .30-06 ammo.
My plan is to run reg 150's in it and see how they bounce off the deer.
180's for elk. If I ever go back for that.
 
Depends on what make and model of rifle, for me. You can never have enough Ruger 77s. Especially if they have the all weather barrel and a v-bolt. Just saying...
 
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