Why am I messing around?

I would say that Hammer Bullets have elevated several cartridges. I remember when reloading was a bit frowned upon, but the reality is that not only often can a reloader get more velocity, but use a better bullet than the factory uses. Best of all, for a long time, my reloads have been way more accurate than the factory loads. To be fair to the 270, the guys I referred to were using the old common standard 130 grain cup and core factory loaded bullets. I'm old enough to remember the gun and hunting magazines seeming to promote that once a round broke the 3,000 fps barrier then it was magic. Because of that the 270 was often loaded and promoted with the 130 grain bullet. It wouldn't be my first choice, but if I had to I would hunt with a 270 Winchester with the 122 gr HHT. Beside the reality is that it is a necked down 30/06.
 
My first deer rifle was a 270 adl. High school Cheerleaders were sellin chances to win it. (Back when you could do stuff like that at school). I normally don’t buy chances on winnin a gun, but then gals knew exactly how to advertise to me back then.
and I won!
Still have it to this day.
And that was the very first rifle I ever handloaded for.

I still remember that cheerleader too
 
ButterBean said:
If I only had one it’d be a 270 C’mon Back
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gltaylor said:
All that means is many here grew up reading Outdoor Life and Jack O"Connor. His 270 exploits were legendary😁
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I feel we get all tied up in this caliber or that caliber, The real test is where we put that bullet. People drop Elk with a well placed shot from some pretty small calibers. And guys shoot elk 5-6 times with a 300 RUM. Why? Did the 300 RUM fail? No, they shot it twice in the back leg, twice in the guts, and finally hit the spine on the fifth shot. The 270 is a great cartridge, it performs well on game and a big part of that is it is easy to learn to shoot it well. Jack O'Connor was a great shot. He could have taken most of those animals with a 6.5 CM or even a 243. Placement is the name of the game.
 
joe16 said:
Just wondering why, with all this lethality, why wasn't this cartridge used in the M1 garand??🤔
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While doing some research I found the first prototypes were .276 Caliber. While it worked well and would have made a great rifle. We had many millions of 30-06 round in warehouses all over the country. So they had it redone to 30-06 because we had so much ammo on hand. A case of oversupply caused demand.
 
Gerald Dilgard said:
While doing some research I found the first prototypes were .276 Caliber. While it worked well and would have made a great rifle. We had many millions of 30-06 round in warehouses all over the country. So they had it redone to 30-06 because we had so much ammo on hand. A case of oversupply caused demand.
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I completely agree with your post. Would also add that the 270 Win is overbore. I’m not going to look up numerics on barrel life because this is a hypothetical about a decision 90 years ago. But I will posit that the 30-06 150gr ball load could probably go another few thousand rounds more than a 270 Garand with good enough accuracy. Because volume of fire was the logic. GIs were equipped with Garands, carbines, Tommy guns…none of these are best for controlled precision.
 
les said:
I would say that Hammer Bullets have elevated several cartridges. I remember when reloading was a bit frowned upon, but the reality is that not only often can a reloader get more velocity, but use a better bullet than the factory uses. Best of all, for a long time, my reloads have been way more accurate than the factory loads. To be fair to the 270, the guys I referred to were using the old common standard 130 grain cup and core factory loaded bullets. I'm old enough to remember the gun and hunting magazines seeming to promote that once a round broke the 3,000 fps barrier then it was magic. Because of that the 270 was often loaded and promoted with the 130 grain bullet. It wouldn't be my first choice, but if I had to I would hunt with a 270 Winchester with the 122 gr HHT. Beside the reality is that it is a necked down 30/06.
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Picture #1 is a cat shot with a .270 130 factory core-loct. First round into shoulder did not make vitals. Range about 50'. Cat bailed and a shot in the crease was effective. It's not always a gut shot, an ankle shot etc. to blame for the .270 disappointments. A .44 magnum would have had a one shot result. O'Connor wrote once the average hunter couldn't find the shoulder on elk well enough to hit it. The opposite is true then as well, not educated enough to miss it.

Picture #2 is a .270 145 SH. About 75 yards, now we're getting real. Inside slosh to a degree I've not seen with cup and core .270IMG_0127.JPGIMG_0523 (1).jpg
 
Besides touting the 270, Jack also wrote lots about using quality bullets that didn't blow up. He believed in bullet shanks staying together so they would pass through. In his later years he swore by the Nosler partitioned bullet, which was, at that time, probably the best at doing just that.
I've read pretty much everything that ol Jack wrote, and I'm pretty sure he would be a real fan of Hammers, if he were yet alive.
 
Didn't he shoot himself in the foot with a .270, and still managed to sheep hunt throughout life. Unlikely to keep foot with a .375. Which if I recall he said he had more one shot DRT kills on large thin skinned game than anything else?
 
Getting back to the main theme of the thread. I was at it again last week. I realized I have never had full on wildcat. I was drooling and dreaming, actually contemplating the new Sherman 375 Yukon. Why? I still have not rung out the 35 Whelen yet. I've got a very very nice Savage light weight 300wsm that isn't dialed in yet? At the last range session, I realized that I don't like the muzzle brake I bought for it. It was more designed for a semi-auto pray and spray set-up than the hunting set-up that I am after, so I ordered a new brake. I still have load development work to do on that gun as well. I think all of us older guys were influenced by Jack! It seems I like to chase the shiny penny! I've got enough guns to hunt whatever I will be hunting for the rest of my life. Time to just enjoy what I have.
 
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Fellas

I must confess I grew up in a household of felons and firearms were not allowed. I did not shoot a Centerfire rifle until one was issued to me in basic training at Fort Benning. I did not buy my first deer rifle until after I was medically retired from the Army I was 36 years old before I killed my first deer. I've never heard of Jack or Elmer my childhood Heroes were Roland Martin and Bill Dance. I never heard of Jack O'Connor until I bought a custom Mauser in 270 with the barrel on it made by the gentleman who made his Barrel. When I found Hammer Time my favorite parts were the stories from all the hunters. I've never read any of outdoor life or any of the others if it wasn't about fishing.

The first deer rifle I bought was a Remington ADL in 30 06 the second one was a Ruger Mark 2 in 270 that kicked like a mule, that's pretty much where my bias comes from. This was all pre Creedmoor so the smack talkers that you ran into at the range we're usually 270 guys knocking 30 caliber guys. You know the ones that say "this here 270 shoots flat to 462 yds with 140 Nosler ballistic tips doing 3500 ft per second... yeah go away I can read a ballistics chart too.

Keep in mind that Joe bought a brand new Savage in 270 this year👍 just to mess around with and put a new 35 caliber Barrel on it to mess around with.

This place is awesome
 
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