Warren

Update:
I went back to the range with another box of inexpensive Winchester 130gr .270 ($17/box of 20) and took the best steady rest I could come up with and took 3 shots at 100 yards. These 3 shots could be covered with a quarter.
Conculsion: Out of the box Savage .270win with factory scope and inexpensive ammo and a steady rest is capable of 1" groups at 100 yards.

Thanks to everyone for your replys.

Warren

eldeguello

The preference a rifle has for a given lot of ammo has nothing to do with price of a box of cartridges. The inexpensive stuff is just as likely to prove accurate as the more expensive variety. Remington ammo with Corelokt bullets is adequate for deer. Many rifles will not shoot better than 2" @ 100 yards right out of the box, which is not too shabby performance.

ford351win

What part of SC will you be hunting in? I live in and hunt public lands in the Midlands of SC( Sumter, Lee, Richland, Clarendon, and Kershaw) area.

If you still have the .35 Rem bring it. Most of my shots are well under 100 yards and in brush, heck I have missed deer due to a long bbl, scoped rifle. I plan on using my new to me M44 with factory iron sights for a some of my close in hunting. I choose that gun because it should be fun to take a deer with an old surplus rifle. The 270 is more than enough gun for the bean fields and power lines where longer shots are the order of the day. By the way, 2 inch groups are darn good and more than good enough for deer hunting, if you can do that every time and put a cold bbl shot close to POA you will do just fine in the woods. I don’t think you said, but if the .35 is a lever gun with iron sights or a low power scope, it will provide a fine and handy rifle for hunting the brushy areas we tend to have in down in the “Carolina Pines”

Good luck in our fine state. Stay safe and hunt hard when you have time to do so.

Ford351Win

bush_pig

I would buy a 3 set die and reload so u can stick to a load and its cheaper than buying a box of ammo.

Folically Challenged

Congrats! I'm glad you found something that works for you.

I think the posts have been spot-on, where the folks have mentioned not bothering with premium bullets for whitetail hunting. I have tried far more types of ammo than it was worth, trying to find my "magic bullet" for accuracy. 'Twould have been better to define "good enough" for me, then move on with my life.

My experience has been that different rifles may prefer different bullet weights. I've heard about people who will shoot 150's, 165's, 180's, and 220's in their .30-'06, depending on the game. I tried all of them in my '06, and only the 165's would shoot worth a darn. So, I accepted the fact that I own a lover of 165's, and I go kill everything I point them at. So far, no critter has laughed at me after a shot, and suggested I come back with some 220's...

FWIW, I've got a 7x57 that vastly prefers 175's to 140's, and a .35 Whelen that's much happier belching out 250's than 200's. I feed them what they like, & they all seem to treat me pretty well.

These days, when I'm wringing-out a new rifle, I'll try 2 or 3 different boxes of ammo, in different bullet weights. If one of those shows more promise than the others, I'll buy 2 or 3 other types of ammo in that bullet weight, & see if any of those are better still. Seeing as how most of my rifles are shooting < 3,000 fps, I almost never reach for the premium ammo anymore.

Now go out there & knock 'em down this Fall, then send us some pix!

FC

eldeguello

Nov 11 is the day that WWI ended. It used to be called Armistice Day, and is now known as Veteran's Day. So it is an important holiday.

Catus Magnus

this has been played out, but my $.02 is... 2" ain't a bit bad. Apparently your rifle likes Winchester ammo a bit more; good.

I think that for deer, 'premium' ammo is a waste of money. As others have mentioned, lots of inexpensive bullets out of .270 will kill the deer just as dead as anything else. And I'll had... they'll do it further out than most of us have any business shooting at a deer.

I'm usually hunting with a 336 or a muzzleloader.

Warren

eldeguello
The date of Nov. 11th was brought up by Bigbulls and he was talking about last Nov 11th and implying that this date had somrthing to do with the ammo shortaged. I don't think he was referring to WW1.
I am well aware of Armistice day, both of my Grandfarthers served in France during that war. One of them was mustard gased and wasn't expected to last 6 months but he lasted until 1964.

Powerfisher

Untill about 8 months ago, I bought my bullets. I have since started to load my own. My grouping shrank, accuacy improved and cost per shot went down. I buy quality bullets and make all my rounds the same. Very consistant. Every bullet has the exact amount of powder in it, same length, same everything. My Reming 700 is a tac driver @ 100yds. Sub MOA. At 300yds, it opens up to about a 2" MOA. That is what you should expect to do. My understanding of the basic rule of thumb is, 1" MOA @ 100yds, 2" MOA @ 200yds and 3" MOA @ 300yds. My standards are a little higher but @ 100yds, the holes should touch. Even my ML has 1" MOA @ 100yds and that is with a peep.

pondpirate

If you're worried about tightening up your grouping, by a trainer .22 (in your case the Savage Mark-II) and set it up similar to your .270. My Mark-II will print .8" groups at 100 yards. It's easier and cheaper to work on shooting w/ an accurate .22!!

As for the ammo itself in your .270, the only thing I can tell you is to buy a box of each different loads and see what your rifle likes the most. One of my savages LOVES 168gr SMK's whereas the other one is a hair more accurate with the 175SMK's. Some rifles like some ammo more than others.