270 wsm ammo important information and history:

While it wasn’t an immediate commercial success, the high velocity .270 Winchester cartridge got the attention

of many hunters when first introduced in 1925 with the legendary Winchester Model 54 bolt action rifle.

With early .270 ammo loadings pushing a 130 grain bullet at velocities in excess of 3,000 fps,

many hunters appreciated the flat shooting characteristics of the round and the fact that it was so effective on thin skinned game.

The .270 Winchester cartridge gradually became extremely popular among North American hunters.

Indeed, the renowned gun writer Jack O’Connor was known for his affinity for the .270 and he’ll be forever linked to the

cartridge due to his columns featuring it in Outdoor Life.

The century-old .270 Winchester cartridge remains one of the Top 10 most popular centerfire rifle cartridges

in the United States to this day. Not surprisingly, virtually every single ammunition manufacturer of note like Barnes,

Browning, Fiocchi, Federal Premium, Hornady, HSM, Norma, Nosler, Remington, Sierra, Swift, and

Winchester produces several different variants of .270 ammo for hunting deer, elk, moose, bear, and many other big game animals.

Known for being a high velocity, relatively flat shooting, really accurate, and moderately recoiling cartridge

(compared to the bigger magnums), the .270 Winchester is a classic deer hunting cartridge if there ever was one.

Not surprisingly, it’s especially popular among mule deer and whitetail deer hunters as well as those pursuing game like pronghorn.

Jack O’Connor also helped cement the reputation of the cartridge as an effective bighorn sheep cartridge.

270 wsm ammo notice:

Make no mistake though: the .270 Winchester can be an effective cartridge for hunting bigger game like

black bear, elk, and moose as well.

However, different situations (like deer or pronghorn at long range vs moose at short range) necessitate the use of different kinds

of .270 ammo for best performance.

As is the case with other higher velocity cartridges like the 7mm Remington Magnum and

.300 Winchester Magnum, using the wrong kind of .270 Winchester ammunition can lead to disastrous results, especially on bigger game.

Many of the most popular .270 ammo loadings use lightweight, rapidly expanding bullets that are specifically

designed for use on thin-skinned game like deer. Those lightweight, thin jacketed bullets tend to perform very well on deer-sized game.

Unfortunately, those bullets are more likely to expand far too rapidly, sometimes explosively,

upon impact when used on much bigger game like elk and moose.

Bullet penetration is often terrible in those cases.

Sometimes the bullet will “grenade” upon impact and fail to reach the vitals when striking a bone or a heavily muscled shoulder of a big bull elk.

This can result in some horrific flesh wounds that are often not immediately fatal to the elk.

Fortunately, the .270 Winchester can be very effective on game like elk and moose when loaded with controlled expansion .270 bullets.

In general, lightweight 130 grain bullets are great for deer hunting, but hunters who use those lighter bullets on

larger game may still experience issues with poor penetration, especially on steeply quartering shots. However,

the .270 Winchester is absolutely deadly on really big game like moose and elk when using premium quality 150 grain bullets..

Keep this in mind when you select .270 ammo for an upcoming hunt.

Fortunately, there is a wide variety of .270 Winchester factory loads specifically designed for just almost

any big game hunting situation from Colorado to New Zealand. So, regardless of whether you’re using

a bolt action Remington Model 700, a Winchester Model 70, or some other hunting rifle,

there is pretty much guaranteed to be something for everyone on the list below of the best .270 ammunition for hunting.

In this article, I’m going to show you the best .270 ammo for hunting deer, elk, moose, pronghorn antelope,

feral hogs, black bear and all sorts of other big game. I’ll also go over the pros and cons of each individual load

and help you select the right ammunition for your specific hunting situation.