.270 vs. 6mm Rem for Pronghorn

[Badbob]

Hey folks

Been posting about building up a SA that I have into a 400+yard Pronghorn PDog gun. In an another post folks recommend a 6mm Rem over the .243 or 6mmbr for ease of magazine loading and barrel longevity.

My question is this. I already own a .270 Rem 700. Would it be better to build up this gun into a long range (400+) for Pronghorn--perhaps shoot Sierra 110g spitzer? By buid up I mean 1) laminated stock 2) new trigger 3) custom barre 4) 14x scope

Or is that total overkill?

I could then take my SA and set it up as a pure target puncher.

I guess I'm just talking out load and looking for feedback.

Thx again for all your great advice.

Badbob

 

[bheadboy]

if your 700 270 will shoot 130 Sierra sBT or Nosler 130bt into 3/4 " you have a perfect 400 yd rifle as is.

i have friends i load 270 130's for and they have taken many a head out to500 no sweat. their rifles shoot into the 5/8-3/4 with the bbl, free floated and actions bedded.

the 3.5 x 10x scope or the 4.5 x14 Luep are perfect match.

Bob

 

[Badbob]

if your 700 270 will shoot 130 Sierra sBT or Nosler 130bt into 3/4 " you have a perfect 400 yd rifle as is.

i have friends i load 270 130's for and they have taken many a head out to500 no sweat. their rifles shoot into the 5/8-3/4 with the bbl, free floated and actions bedded.

the 3.5 x 10x scope or the 4.5 x14 Luep are perfect match.

Bob

Thx Bob

My current .270 is a SS ADL mountain rifle. The barrel is a twig. At one point it shot 130gr in under an inch but those days are long gone. I've shot 90g HP Sierra, 110g Speer Spitzer, 130g Nosler Ballistic, and 130g BT. your right the 130 BT shot the best. Now the gun shoots around 1.5" at 100yard.

So, I just ordered a laminated stock for it from Boyds. I'll replace the Tasco Pronghorn scope with some decent optics, bed the action, replace the trigger and reload. if it still will not perform then off to the barrel maker.

Do you think this setup, if I put a custom barrel on it and have the action trued, will shoot under .5" at 100yards--consistenty? Or is this an expensive pipe dream?

Thx Bb

 

[bheadboy]

Badbob

The 270 is easity a .5" shooter in a decent bedding job and good hand loads. i would suggest befor you spend money on the stk, that a major cleaning, carbonand copper, followed by checking the seating depth for possibley needing to seat longer - the throat may have move andyou are getting too much jump with the lighter bullets, the 130 shooting the best tells me they are longer and thus may by defacto are jumping less.

i found the 270s i load for myself and other shot best with .020 jump. 4350 and giving about 3000fps in at 24 inch bbl.
i would change the scope anyway and check the bbl for copper and carbon as you may have a buildup.

they try the seating dept etc. - dont rush your shooting on that thin bbl., they will shoot but can heat up if pushed to fast.

mony on stock would be the last at this point if it shot out of that stock earlier.

Bob

 

[ShootDots]

I live in Texas and our "Hill Country Deer" are just about the same size as a Pronghorn. I have shot a BoxCar full of them and many, many with BOTH a .270 and a 6mm Rem. I have shot them anywhere from 50 yards to well over 400 yards. I can tell you from practical experience that without going to some form of a magnum, there is almost no better gun for "deer-sized" ( and larger ) than a .270 Win. With today's excellent bullets, not only will it pound deer out past 500 yards but with the proper bullet it is a fine Elk rifle too>>>>something that can not be said for ANY 6mm bullet! Remember this, not only is it tissue destruction (destroyed heart / lung area), you need ENERGY to to "put 'em on the ground" quickly! In my not so humble opinion, the .270 Win. for game animals under 500 pounds, you would have to go some distance to meet or exceed a regular old .270 Win..

 

[bheadboy]

+1 for Shootdots,

i have loaded the same 270s discussed above for elk and used the 150 nosler part, one shot kills at 375 on more than a half dozed, they are accurate and have the energy at 2850fps to do the job.

Bob

 

[ShootDots]

Hey Bob... I took a wonderful vacation a few years ago in northern New Mexico... I visited a "Dude Ranch" that we fished on and watched HUGE Elk from horseback... I spoke with one of the "guides" who actually was a "personal one-on-one" guide at a VERY expensive Private Elk Hunting Ranch. Eight thousand acres of prime and enhanced Elk habitat. This guide stated that if more people came with .270 Wins (shooting 150gr Triple Shocks) and .280 Rems (shooting 160gr Triple Shocks) the success rate for hunters would soar! His rationality was that most hunters, shooting hard kicking magnums, had terrible hit rates compared to the .270 / .280 "guys" because of the recoil effect. He stated that if you hit an Elk inside 350 or so yards with either of those cartridges "in the boiler room" you WILL harvest your Elk... He has seen LOTS of Elk over the years shot and missed>>>I welcome someone's actual experience like that over some "Peterson's Hunting Magazine" hunting / rifle editor!!

 

[Webster]

I consider the 6mm REM and 243 to be identical as far as ballistics and barrel wear. I shot a 6 Rem for 40 years. The 270 would have more barrel wear based on the powder charges. The 270 has a lot more power. I would stick with your present 270 barrel because of the higher velocity and heavier bullets as long as it is accurate enough. This will keep the cost down. At least try the 270 on a hunt or targets to decide if you want more money in it. I would buy a new custom barrel before a custom stock for a hunting rifle. Most factory barrels are junk if your looking for small groups. You are not going to wear a barrel out if the rifle is used just for big game hunting. It would cost about $500 to put a new custom barrel on plus cases and reloading dies. 1" group should be good enough to 400 yrds. on a fairly large animal. A 308 should have less bore erosion than the three above calibers. If you want a new barrel I would consider a 308 for accuracy, barrel life and ease of working up accurate loads. The 6BR case does not feed from just about any factory action. You have a single shoot rifle. The magazine can be modified for more $, it's not worth the trouble (I own one for GH). I think you would want the 270 or 308 if you want to also hunt mule deer. I'm sure there are other calibers but the 308 should satisfy the requirements. Consider shopping for a used low shot count 308 barrel to stick on your rifle. You might find one on this website.

Barrel erosion is related to the weight of powder compared to the diameter of the bore the hot gas gets shoved into. A few numbers from the Berger Manual

6BR 105 grain bullet - ~30 grain of powder ~2700 fps
243 Win 105 grain bullet - ~44 grains of powder ~2900 fps
6mm Rem 105 grain bullet - ~43 grains of powder ~2900 fps
270 Win 140 grain bullet - ~53 grains of powder ~2850 fps
308 Win 150 grain bullet - ~43 grains of powder ~2750 fps

 

[wapiti25]

I would prefer a 6.5-06 with 120 or 130 VLD's as my first choice but the 270 Win is a good second choice using the Berger 130 Vld's for antelope hunting.

 

[Badbob]

Thanks Guys!

So the general consensus is the .270 is a worthwhile investment, in terms of time and money, to be a long range pronghorn plugger. I think we all agree the 130g seem to work the best.

So replacing the plastic stock and investing in new optics should help improve things. I've reworked the trigger myself but it might be time to upgrade the trigger as well.

I do use this gun for elk as well so it is not going anywhere.

I didn't read anybody saying the mountain barrel is problematic. However I think I have about 500 rounds through it, mostly trying to do load developments.

Thanks for your input!

Badbob

 

[North Fork]

I shot two white tails with my 270 i used 110gr Max's one white tail was deed before hit the ground and the other one went about two yards . i also am going to kill a antelope this year with mind i am going to use 130gr nosler ballistic tips.

 

[wyoming .260]

Anything bigger then a .223, will kill an antelope just fine. Any shot in the ribs will put them down. I built a .243 for them , then the state of Wyoming decided to allow .22s for antelope and deer. I now wish i would have built a .22-250 for goats just because its cheaper to shoot. A 6 mm rem. would be way more then plenty.

 

[wapiti25]

Your 270 barrel should not be shot out at 500 rnds. Is it accurate at the distance you want to shoot? You will not be un-happy if you have a new premium barrel installed, DON'T buy a cheap one as you will never be happy.

 

[MildBill]

I would give a good cleaning to the barrel before I replaced it.

 

[tuck2]

Iv used a Winchester Mdl 70 270 Win since 1952 . I started reloading 100 and 130 grain bullets for it in 1953 and 150 grain noslers partion some time later. I shot pronghorn, mule deer, elk, and some other unwonted critters with that 270. Once I found an accurate reload I did not change the bullet, powder, primer, and case brand. Most all of my shots at big game has been one shot kills. Some years I used other big game rifles. Over the years it has ben fun to try out other cartridges but the 270 would have killed them just as dead. I have shot a few mule deer and pronghorn with 100 Gr bullet 243 reloads which were one shot kills . After finding a accurate load, over the years I may have shot a big game rifle ten times per year, I d check the rifle at 100 yards then went hunting. After 53 years of big game hunting with various rifles the rifle bores are like just broken in good. Not so with my varmint rifles which get a work out shooting prairie dogs and a few other critters. Get a 270 and forget the 6 MM...

 

[Drop Port]

Hey folks

Been posting about building up a SA that I have into a 400+yard Pronghorn PDog gun. In an another post folks recommend a 6mm Rem over the .243 or 6mmbr for ease of magazine loading and barrel longevity.

My question is this. I already own a .270 Rem 700. Would it be better to build up this gun into a long range (400+) for Pronghorn--perhaps shoot Sierra 110g spitzer? By buid up I mean 1) laminated stock 2) new trigger 3) custom barre 4) 14x scope

Or is that total overkill?

I could then take my SA and set it up as a pure target puncher.

I guess I'm just talking out load and looking for feedback.

Thx again for all your great advice.

Badbob

A few things to think about
How far beyond 400, 400+?
How many P Dogs do you plan on shooting?
How often will you practice or shoot the rifle?

I don't believe in "overkill" when hunting at longer range. I kill deer year round with 6mm, 30 cal and 338 depending on the conditions.

Most pronghorn country is windy and that is my biggest concern when picking a cartridge. At traditional range there are too many great cartridges to mention, including one of my favorites the 257 Roberts.

You first need to put a max range on how far you are looking to shoot. Under Ideal conditions either would work fine. If you plan on a lot of practice and pushing the range, my ideal rifle would not be something I would want to pound rounds through shooting P dogs.

 

[Bulseyetom]

I had the opportunity to harvest 5 antelope in Wyoming a few years back as I was able to buy left over licenses. I started with my trusty Model 70 270 with 110 grain Barnes TSX bullets and made two one shot kills at right at 300 yards. I then switched to my 6x47 Lapua shooting 85 grain bullets and made a one shot kill at 95 yards. The third day I took my Browning B-78 in 25-06 shooting 110 grain Nosler Accubonds and made a one shot kill at 175 yards and another at 275. I have found that the secret to success is lay down if at all possible, use a bipod or rest over your day pack, and shoot with a scope of at least 10x. No need to shoot at a running antelope as you most likely are not going to hit it where you want to and another opportunity will present itself soon. All of my hunting was on BLM land or Walk In Areas during the years of peak population. If I was only going to take one rifle with me it would be my 6x47 Lapua as it is heavy and easy to shoot prone, has a 4.5x14 Scope and has dropped every antelope I ever shot at with either the 105 grain Speers or 85 grain Speers. By the way, my old 270 must have 4000 rounds down the tube as it was the only rifle I had for 10 years and served as my deer, varmint and ground squirrel rifle.

 

[Deton8tor]

A .270 is hard to beat in most all hunting environments. Nosler has the new AccuBond L/R bullet out. In a .270 they have a 150 grn with a .625 b/c and others in 7mm and 30 cal. I would not hesitate to try a few. If they shoot good; the ranges mentioned here will be very achievable, and they are w/o using the new Nosler. I cannot count the animlas that have been taken with a .270 I have had for 25+ years.

 

[Drop Port]

Anything bigger then a .223, will kill an antelope just fine. Any shot in the ribs will put them down. I built a .243 for them , then the state of Wyoming decided to allow .22s for antelope and deer. I now wish i would have built a .22-250 for goats just because its cheaper to shoot. A 6 mm rem. would be way more then plenty.

+1
When you say long range I would worry less about energy and more about what you shoot best in the wind. Most speed goat areas are under tough windy conditions. My first goat was at 550 and I was happy to have a 300 WSM because I knew the gun well.

 

[Trapper243]

You are not going to go wrong building up a .270 . I have done it and so did a friend of mine. The cartridge has a good track record. Sub .5 moa is the norm, with a good barrel. With the right load killing to 500 is not a problem, and if you loose your ammo, in a pinch you can find .270 ammo almost anywhere. Now if the longrange accubond works as advertised, that really makes the .270 appealing.