ORIGINAL: timbercruiser
A box of cartridges will cost twice as much for the short, and there isn't as good of selection available. A regular .270 is a dang good deer rifle and topped with a quality scope is all you would need.
You are right there. Over 40 dollars a box now, but all ammo has gone up. There are three different brands of the .270 short mag that I know of, the Win. ballistic tip, Fusion, and Federal now makes one. Fusion is the cheapest, but still$30 a box. A top quality regular .270 box of bulletsis going to cost you $25 to $35. You can still buy the cheapos for under $20. They will kill deer, but there is a big difference in the quality. When it comes to hunting, I'm not going cheap.