The .270-08 Wildcat Cartridge: Worth Another Look

With the development of high-BC .277 bullets, is it time to give the .270-08 Wildcat another look? For the long-range hunter and shooter looking for relatively low recoil alternative to magnums, I’d say the answer is, “Yes!”

Admittingly, the .270-08 cartridge is not a new idea and has probably been a wildcat since day two of when its parent cartridge — the .308 Winchester — was introduced back in 1952. There is no doubt this combination of caliber and case was tried in short actions a long time ago by wildcatters and rifle manufacturers alike. Most wildcatters might have found it not worth the effort given available bullets, and rifle manufacturers didn’t think it was different or interesting enough to market it commercially. Whatever the reason, the .270-08 never took off like some of the other cartridges that are parented by the .308 Winchester.

Mr. P.O. Ackley identified the efficiency of the .270-08 cartridge in volume one of his 1962 book titled, “Handbook for Shooters & Reloaders.” He wrote:

“This is a very fine, efficient .270 cartridge made by simply necking the common .308 Winchester case to .270. It resembles the .270 Savage, but being slightly larger, it produces somewhat higher velocities, and these velocities compare very favorably with the standard .270 Winchester and a multitude of larger .270 cartridges, including the magnums.”

When discussing the .270-08 with others, the most obvious question I’m asked is, “Why would you want or need to?” With historically available bullets, these questions are valid because, generally, the purpose of a wildcat is to improve what is commercially available or otherwise fill some sort of gap. The conventional hunter and shooter wisdom might suggest the effort required to build a wildcat wouldn’t be worth it when you could simply shoot the .270 Winchester with a faster twist rate barrel, the new 6.8 Western, maybe a heavy .264, or a light .284 bullet, etc. My motivation to shoot the .270-08 is directly related to the development of the heavy-for-caliber, high-BC bullets made by Sierra, Nosler, and Berger. Without them, I would probably agree with the conventional hunters and shooters.

The “Classic” .270 Winchester is coveted by many hunters for lots of good reasons, but above all, it is time-tested and proven. There is no argument from me. This cartridge is about where my threshold for recoil lies. Regardless, there isn’t much North American game out there that couldn’t be effectively and humanely killed by the 130- or 140-grain bullets at normal muzzle velocities and at conventional hunting distances. However, the long-range hunter and shooter who wants to shoot the heavy, extremely long, high-BC bullets over 150 grains out of a .270 Winchester, .270 Weatherby Magnum, or even the .270 Winchester Short Magnum are challenged in two major ways:

1. Accuracy will suffer greatly unless the barrel has a twist rate faster than the standard 1:10.

2. Without a custom throat, the larger bullets will only fit in a standard chamber when you seat bullets deep into the case, resulting in shooting a heavier bullet with less room in the case for powder. Both conditions are unacceptable because we have lost any advantages of using long, heavy bullets that could be gained.

I don’t speak for any rifle manufacturers, but clearly, the new 6.8 Western and the 27 Nosler are .270 cartridges that are built with the performance demands of the long-range hunter and shooter in mind and will easily handle the heaviest .270 bullets manufactured today, greatly surpassing the effective range of the classic .270 Winchester, .270 Weatherby Magnum, and the .270 Winchester Short Magnum. Why not just shoot the new 6.8 Western or 27 Nosler? My answer is recoil. There isn’t anything wrong with the 6.8 Western or 27 Nosler. Arguably, they’re a little overbore, but generally, they’re great cartridges shooting great bullets. That is, only if you don’t mind a good thump from the recoil. Of course, recoil is totally subjective, and many seasoned hunters will tell you that you won’t even feel the recoil while hunting. Although I wholeheartedly agree, I still must practice being proficient, and I don’t want to be punished for pulling the trigger. For an old guy like me and maybe some other recoil-sensitive shooters, more recoil means less accuracy and less range time, eliminating most of the magnum cartridges from the list of practical options.

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To the long-range hunter, the long and heavy bullets are desirable because they produce a more efficient flight that results in less wind deflection, higher downrange velocity, and kinetic energy. I’m no physics major, but I understand doubling the speed of a projectile of the same weight will quadruple the kinetic energy. Although we don’t double the speed, the table below illustrates the benefits of retained speed downrange. Ultimately, with the .270-08, we have increased the effective hunting range of our cartridge by 220 yards without increasing muzzle velocity or felt recoil.

There is no claim from me that the .270-08 is any better than any other cartridge or that I think your personal accurate range is extended in any way by using it. (My own accurate range for hunting is well below 910 yards.) Rather, I am sharing what I have observed and experienced.

If you consider building a .270-08, it’s critical to use a long action and a barrel with a 1:8 or faster twist rate. My .270-08 started life as a Savage Model 111 Hunter chambered in 7mm Remington Magnum. The 26-inch barrel was made by Preferred Barrel Blanks, and the rifle was assembled by Black Canyon Customs. I selected a long action for two main advantages:

1. I can seat the very long bullets out to the case neck, allowing me to fill the case volume with powder instead of bullet.

2. With the extra-long cartridge overall length, I do not have to worry about the cartridges being too long for the magazine.

The .270-08 was a good cartridge from the start, but the available bullets of the time held it back. With the development of the heavy-for-caliber, high-BC bullets from Nosler, Sierra, and Berger, the effectiveness and efficiency of this cartridge have gone through the roof. Although a little late to the party, I would argue that the .270-08 has a place in modern, long-range rifle hunting and shooting.