Dear Ron: Why isn't there a fast twist 270 Winchester?
Q: Why isn't there a fast twist 270 Winchester?
The shooting industry seems to enjoy creating new cartridges, but not all of them really take off. The 6.5 Creedmoor was a big success, but it seems to fill a niche that no other popular cartridge did. Recently there's the poorly named 6.8 Western (really, a metric designation followed by "Western"?). I'm sure this is a fine cartridge, but I really doubt it's going to become at all popular. Winchester already tried the 270 WSM, and I've never met anybody who has owned, or considered owning, a gun in that cartridge.
My solution is that from now on, all new 270 Win rifles have a faster twist, enabling the use of heavier bullets. You could keep shooting 130 gr bullets from it if you wanted, but you could also shoot up to 175 gr or so if you felt it was necessary. All the existing 270 ammo would work just fine. The new rifles would clarify "270 fast twist or 270 Win, and the boxes of ammo with heavy bullets would clarify "not for 270 Win." One could ask "but what if you put ammo with the heavy bullets in an old rifle with slower twist?" That's a concern with modern shotshells in old Damascus barrel shotguns, and with modern 45-70 loads in really old rifles. The difference is heavy bullets in a slow twist 270 won't make the gun explode in your face, the bullets just won't stabilize.
So my questions are:
Have you known anybody who has rebarreled a rifle to a faster twist 270 Win and loaded their own ammo with heavy bullets? Were they pleased with the results?
Is this an idea the firearms industry would actually consider? Would you please make this happen?
Is there a downside I'm not considering?
What twist rate would you suggest, and what bullet weights would it allow for?
People do use the 270 Win for elk, but it seems to be on the smaller end. Would heavier bullets make it a more appealing option?
Would heavy .277" bullets be suitable for long-range shooting, just like the 6.5CM and the heavy bullets it can fire?
What would you call it? 270 Fast Twist? 270 O'Connor?
Maybe this is a topic worth making a video on. And perhaps the 100th anniversary of the 270 could be celebrated with an update. What do you think? Thanks for the great content.
-Matt Hudson
A: Matt, I think all your 270 Win ideas are spot on. They could do all this. But I doubt they will. The current rush is toward short, fat cartridges and long range sniping. That's what all the new/young shooters want. They see the 270 like the 30-06. Fuddy duddy Manufacturers cater to demand. So they come up with cartridge shapes, performance, names they think will fit the demand. Metric designations are cool. Imperial are not.
Your best hope for an "upgraded" 270 Win. would be a custom fast twist barrel and handloads. Now that long, high B.c. bullets are being made in .277, you're set to go! Plenty of folks have done this, but I know of none personally. Thanks for your ideas and enthusiasm, Matt.
Ron
