hello all,
my name is david, im from sydney.

i am a newbie but i have been reading alot for the past few years about rifles,ballistics etc.

i have my firearms licence and am looking at buying a new rifle soon.

im tossing up between a .270 or a .308 as my first rifle.
here is a link to a thread that i posted on the subject,
http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?p=287979#post287979

i hope to learn as much as i can here with the help of the board and make some friends in the process :)

david.

Welcome to the forum David. Rules are simple, be nice and join in. I'm going to move this post to the General forum, that's where most folks like to say hi.

Both of the guns you talk about will do about the same thing. There's more and varied ammo available for the 308, but the 270 has a very good reputation here in the states as a long range deer rifle. Recoil on both is about the same. Good luck with your choice I think you'll enjoy either one.

Welcome!
Enjoy your stay here!

You won't go wrong with the .308

My personal favorite!

David
I vote with M141a.
I would think the 308 would harvest most everything you'd like to shoot. And it would make a fine cast boolet gun.
Jim

Welcome yautja! Another vote for the .308. :)

Welcome Dave,
Glad your here. I really enjoy the 308 but have never shot a 270 so my guess is as good as yours. Listen up, these guys know there stuff. As for finding milsurp 308 ammo......good luck!
Greg

The 270 is a fine round too, but along with it comes a long action. The cartridge is about as long as 30-06, and is actually spawned from it.

The .308 is a short action, the cartridge a bit smaller than 30-06, and yes, there is surplus ammo available. I have been a .308 shooter for over 30 years, and ammo is out there.
Mil-surp .308 is NOT .308, but rather 7.62x51mm. Different pressures, but essentially .308

Most .308 guns will shoot 7.62X51, but 7.62x51 could be damaged by .308.

just be careful.

thanks for the welcome folks :)
so everyone says the 308 is the better choice, i will continue researching it.
one question, does a fmj bullet wear the barrel any more than a standard bullet ?
sorry, i hope its not a dumb question.
also, fmj bullets can be used for target shooting, correct ?
i can get new fmj rounds very cheap for the 308 so please let me know what you think.
thanks.

FMJ will not wear on a barrel anymore than any other coppet jacketed bullet will.
However:
some mil-surp ammo is STEEL jacketed, with a copper wash on it...when in doubt, get the magnet out! :D

FMJ is a fine choice for paper, not good for hunting. More of a military application.

Hunting is better served with a jacketed soft point, or, of course, lead... :D

David,

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your growing interest in shooting. Caution: your wallet may become challenged!

I concur with the others on the .308 for a number of reasons. Availability of a wider range of common bullet weights and of commercial loads are a plus. The .270 is a great deer cartridge, and if you only intend to hunt medium size game, you may find you like it better? There are reports of observed performance superiority of 180 grain .308 bullets in getting fast stops on somewhat larger game. I am thinking of Lindy Cooper's experience in Africa, in particular. In both calibers you can get lightweight bullets for plinking and practice.

I have never heard of anyone choosing a .270 for target shooting. If target shooting is of interest to you, you will find more bullets and brass and load information dedicated to the .308. Also, more accessories (magazine SLED's , etcetera, though some .30-06 accessories will work with the .270).

I hate to be a source of disagreement with a fellow moderator, but I respectfully suggest that Chris has the .308/7.62x51 interchangeability reversed. The 7.62x51 chamber is a few thousandths longer and its standard freebore, at 0.050", is 150% longer than the 0.020" freebore found on a standard .308 chamber reamer. The 7.62x51 throat is longer to accommodate the wide range of military bullet shapes, some of which, even though loaded to the same COL, have a short enough ogive that they will jam into the throat of a commercial .308 chamber, causing potentially dangerous pressure spikes. While it is true the .308's SAMMI peak pressure is 10% higher than the 7.62x51 military peak pressure specification, it is still well below 7.62x51 proof pressure, and, more importantly, most commercial ammunition is loaded a good 20% below the SAMMI limit, anyway. U.S. military ammunition, on the other hand, is loaded to the actual pressure specification. As a result, you will find it typically shoots hotter than commercial .308 loads. Foreign made surplus is another matter. It is loaded all over the map, and unless you have information that a particular batch of it is good, then caveat emptor.

no worries Nick, I always screw that up...the part of which is higher pressures and not.

That is why we work together here...Thanx for clearing it!;)




Just don't do like a buddy did...bring a 8mm mauser and FR8 mauser in 7.62, and mix up your military ammo piles....:eek:

broken FR8...I'm suprize it chambered.

Ouch!

I was at the range one day when a fellow came over to me with a .308 case blown out to shoulder width all the way to the case mouth, and asked if this was normal? He had borrowed his buddy's ".308", bought the .308 ammo for it, and loaded and fired it, despite the barrel having "30-06" clearly stamped on it. Fired OK, but he couldn't seem to get on the paper. That's the worst I've seen from an ammo mix up (knock on wood).

I came across a pile of 300 win mag brass out in the desert one time, that looked quite odd. It had the unmistakable double radius "venturi" WBY shape to it, with a really, really short neck. There was no body next to it, so he apparently shot up the box, oblivious to the mistake. :confused:

My vote to the 308 Win as well.

Aye Mate!

My vote goes for the .45-110 but since you're making things difficult on me, I'll have to go with the .308 as well - however - if you plan on shooting bullets over 150gr, make sure you get a fast enough rifling twist to accomodate the longer projectiles.

G'day Davo
Just a quick hiya from far northeast wa. I'd lean towards the .308
cheers
a

G DAY DAVID
The 308 is a good one
BUT I could not live with it
The last six years I been using a 270/308 imp
The 140 gr will take game a long way out
IT will leave the 308 for dead at the longer range
DAVID its all about putting the shot in the right place

gents;

There was an answer to this thread from rock Hard, that was added as a new thread. I just merged them together.
Anywho, same subject, updated title, still good to go.