entropy4money

Hi all,

I was arguing with my friend the other day about the best caliber for all-around hunting big game in the U.S. The conversation came up because I am moving out west, and will be hunting a lot more with my rifle, since I already own a .270 win.

My friend's argument is simple, he thinks the .270 is a "dumb and unnecessary" caliber, since 30-06 can do the same, and more. I don't think that's true. I think the .270 has a superior ballistic profile than the 30-06 due to the lighter bullet, providing a flatter trajectory and making it a better option for longer range hunting in medium sized animals such as deer and medium sized hogs. My argument is that you can use the .270 to hunt almost anything, and if you could only have one rifle the .270 is a better choice. The 130gr bullets are perfect for medium sized game and better than the heavier 30-06 options, which means you could get used to your rifle since you will be using it on all your hunts. If going for an elk hunt, you can use a 150gr bullet, and even though the 30-06 would deliver a stronger punch, being familiar with the .270 you could deliver a pretty accurate shot.

My friend thinks there is no point on using a .270 for anything, since the 30-06 ammo is the same price and can do much better.

We are not really that knowledgeable about firearms, so I brought this to the forum since there's a lot of much more experienced hunters here. What do you guys think? if you could only have one rifle, would it be .270 or 30-06?

hardcastonly

provided your careful in selecting the ammo,either cartridge could be used for most medium and larger game , the quality of the projectiles for both bore diameters has improved a great deal over the last 30 years. I've personally killed a couple elk with a 30/06 and seen several killed with a 270 win, I don,t think your going to go wrong with either choice, PROVIDED you select the better quality bullets.
(you don,t need use only the ultra -premiums,from custom shops, hornady, speer and nosler ,swift,barnes,and berger all make decent projectiles
most of the guys I hunt elk with prefer the 150 grain 270 bullets,for everything.
I don,t think youll see enough difference to tell the two options apart,under typical field conditions.
those that use the 30/06 have found the 165-200 grain weights depending on the game its to be used on.
Id point out that despite what you might read in magazines the vast majority of deer and elk most of the guys in our hunt club have shot were shot at under 350 yards
(well under in most cases)

CalHunter

Simple answer is both.

Nomercy448

Both are too much for whitetail deer. When you go up from whitetails, the .30-06 walks away with the lead. When you go down, both are grossly overpowered, and any difference in performance is inconsequential.

I’ve never been much of a .270win fan. My first was a Pre-64 Win 70, great rifle, and I killed a sled load of deer and coyotes with a boat paddle Ruger in .270, but the cartridge didn’t thrill me. Not to say the .30-06 thrills me either, but I remain to hunt and shoot with the .30-06 every season. My first was another Ruger, but in blued and walnut, over 20yrs ago.

As I have come to it these days, I would never find myself with just one rifle. A 243win or 6mm Creedmoor for coyotes and deer, then a 300win mag or 338win mag would be my “everything larger” rifle.

Horses for Courses. Little cartridges can kill big game, but you’re not doing yourself any favors. Equally, big cartridges can kill little game, but again, no favors. The middle road .308win, 270, 30-06 just don’t tickle me any more.

flags

If you have a 270 and can shoot it well then it will work for 95% of the shooting you can expect to do. If you are after elk and maybe moose you may want to step it up but the 270 has killed a pile of each over the decades. Personally I'd like a little more bullet weight for the bigger stuff, but it will work if you put a well designed bullet into the chest.

Bocajnala

To answer your question. Based on the bolded part above....between the two the answer is the .30-06.

Because you stated "All around big game hunting in the US" the '06 has to get the nod here due to it's ability to handle heavier loads. If your question was limited to deer, or even elk, I suppose and argument could be made for the .270. But when you include all around US Big game... you're including the potential for Elk, Moose, Big Bears. And the .30-06 is better suited between the two options listed.

That being said... Both are really "too much" for whitetail. And they're both really "not enough" for big bears.

Although realistically either would work. If big bears aren't on your list, use your .270 and never look back!

-Jake

Mr. Slim

if you reload them both rifles can be loaded to do about the same. both can be loaded with lighter or heavier bullets. the one thing is the 06 can be loaded with slightly heavier bullets. check with any bullet manufacturer and see the range of bullets made for both calibers.

flags

Not really sure how you can intelligently defend this statement. For my $$$ the 270 has always been pretty much an ideal chambering for deer and that includes whitetails, mulies, blacktails and Coues. Not really much difference between them except for a little size difference but anything under 300 lbs is not going to walk away from a 270 bullet in the chest cavity.

Ruger-Redhawk

This could be a long running or on going debate and chances are it will never be agreed on. I have both a 30-06 and the 270 Win. among several other different caliber rifles .Between the 2 being discussed both are great cartridges.
I hunted for years with a 270 Win and to me and this is my personal opinion, think the 270 is one of the best deer cartridges. I've hunted with bigger medicine but always seem to come back to my 270 Win. Why? Because I know it does the job well w/o allot of excessive meat damage.
Would I hunt a moose with it or a grizzly bear? Probably not. I would not hesitate using the flat shooting 270 Win on an elk. Really there is no wrong answer use what you're comfortable with. For me it's either a 270 Win or a 7mm Rem Mag. The 7mm does allot more meat damage. If I could only own one rifle it would be the 270 Win hands down.

Nomercy448

Not really sure why they let someone into Mensa who could not intelligently compare 270win and 30-06 objectively against other more efficient short action cartridges for whitetail deer hunting.

Happy to explicate my opinion, not offering to care for yours in return, nor expect someone whose favorite cartridge is the 9.3 to come around to accept smaller caliber, short action cartridges as “ideal” for whitetails.

Both .270win and .30-06 use too much powder and have excessive recoil for the mundane task of hunting whitetail deer. They run 30-40% more powder and 20-50% more recoil momentum than highly effective short action whitetail hunting cartridges like 7mm-08 or 243win. Taking it a step further still, after using the Grendel again this year, I’d offer the perspective of 30-06 running 115% more powder and 80% greater recoil than the Grendel, for which I have not had any negative observation in killing power. Nor have I for 6 Dasher or 6XC, even in short barreled specialty pistols. Or a .357max Encore, for that matter, running 1/3 the powder and less than 50% the recoil. Any of the above I have successfully hunted whitetails without complaint.

Of course, I expect the retort to be explication of some watered down handloads where the 30-06 acts like a pop gun, a discussion in which I have no interest. The over-sized case remains to be less efficient when loaded down than an appropriately sized alternative case. I’ve also never had satisfactory precision when loading the super light bullets in 30-06 at low velocities, as the twist simply wasn’t designed for it, and of course, the sectional density goes to pot when you start shooting stubby little lightweights anyway.

Guys of a certain generation just knew the .30-06 was required to kill deer. Guys of another certain generation just knew the world was flat too.