.270 Powders

[Don Fischer]

Ya know couple things about choosing powder that works for me. The powder that work's best in one rifle may not in another, unless your shooting a 308! When picking a powder, I look at which one gives the highest velocity with the bullet I want. Then I don't like a compressed load but my powder need's to fill the case 80% to 90% with a max load. I don't know what most people call 90% but for me it's just below the case neck. I like mid to a bit heavy bullet's in most rifle's so data for light and very heavy bullet's in that cartridge don't interest me. A powder I find useful in about everything is IMR 4350, don't know why but it simply works for me in most cartridges. In the 270 if I tried 4831 it would be first the IMR version. As I recall it doesn't take quite as much to fill the case and as I said, don't care for compressed loads. I doubt in the 270 I'd try anything slower than a 4831 or faster than a 4350.

 

[pre6422hornet]

I have never seen a .270 ( 6 of mine and 3-4 others) that didn't like 49.5 of IMR 4064 and 130 pills. I have chrono'd that load many times over the 2 decades of shooting it. 3050fps all day long and accurate as can be. Easy on brass life, easy on the shoulder. Anything deer sized hunted with that will be dead.

Now if you are looking for speed, RL26 is where it's at. Last summer I did a pretty extensive testing of it with 130's and 150's using the flat spot method.

130's gave 3325fps with no signs of pressure ( RL 26 will go from okay to overpressure real fast) and 150's went 3160. Both shot out of a model 70 classic stainless with 24" barrel.

Accuracy was very good with the 150's after I went back and double checked the flat spot. Sub MOA at both 100 and 200. Flat spot found at 3090.

The new powders are game changers nowadays. My previous best with 150's was 2850-2900.

 

[magnum44270]

4064

 

[Losing_Sanity]

IMR 4350 and IMR 4831.

 

[Aussie_hunter_JD]

Adi 2209 always worked for me, i believe it's rebadged as h4350 in the states

 

[klampson]

H4350 had been my go-to powder, but then I tried RL23 about two years. It gave me great accuracy, but with higher velocity with 150 gr Partitions.

 

[Fullquiver]

Hybrid 100v Accurate and fast..

 

[Brian in Montana]

I did a good barrel break in yesterday on my new .270 so I'm going start working on load development now. I'm looking more for flat-shooting, fast, lighter loads with deer and speedgoats in mind. Planning to start with 130grn Federal TBT's (my short actions shoot the beck out of that bullet) and H4831sc. I also have on hand some Accubonds and Barnes TTSX; and for powders - H4350 and Varget as well, so I have plenty to experiment with. I haven't used Ramshot powders too much, but Big Game certainly seems to be the thing to use in my 7-08; the combination of speed and accuracy I've gotten in that rifle has made me interested in Hunter for the .270.

Thanks for all the responses, guys. I always get good advice from the Hunt Talkers. There's a wealth of knowledge and experience here.

 

[Brian in Montana]

Here's a little point of interest: yesterday I scrolled through all the responses on this thread and count up the number of recommendations for different powders. Call it a little informal survey, here are the results:

H4831 - 15
H4350 and RL-26 both got 6
IMR4350 - 5
Hybrid100V - 2
RL-19 - 2
IMR4831 - 2
IMR4064 - 2
W760 - 1

It seem H4831 ran away with it. I was a little surprised to see that RL-26 is used as much as it is. I kept track of bullet recommdations as well, but couldn't really see much of a pattern in correlation to powders used, except to say that most seem to favor 130grn bullets and Barnes TSX came up a lot.

Thanks again for the info, everyone.

 

[GlockZ]

Either IMR4350 or H4350 is my go to powders for the 270Win. Personally I prefer the H4350 because of temperature stability. I haven't noticed any difference in speed between the 2, unless the temps dip below 30 degrees.

 

[Allen 270]

I always go with my grandpa's load data. It has worked for him since you could buy a 50 pound keg of 4831. 58 grains of 4831SC for 150s and 60 grains for 130s. You can hear the powder crunch when you seat the 130s. At elevation, the 150s are around 3050 fps and the 130s are just above 3200. This is with my tang safety Ruger M77. The old man's mid 50's Winchester model 70 is 7 fps faster on the 150s. I put 10 rounds through the chrony and they varied by 7 fps from high to low. I only use Hornady SST with both set at the same OAL. The only way I can tell them apart is that I use Win brass for 130s and Rem for 150s. So far I'm 0 for 2 for elk, but they ping the 12" gong at 500 yards. I hope CO 76 is good to me this year!

 

[brockel]

H4350,h4831,imr7828,rl26

 

[brockel]

H4350,h4831,imr7828,rl26

 

[jeremy.b]

Little set of datapoints here:

I wrapped up a new round of load development on my 270 earlier this summer working with some 133gr Sledge Hammers and 150gr Partitions.

I tried 4831sc, RL 26, RL 16, RL23 & eventually IMR 7828.

Started out with H4831sc with the 133 hammers but pressure showed up just over 3k fps.

Switched over to RL 26 which gave great speeds for both bullets, but when I started looking for more of it I found it was magic powder and didnt think I could get any more anytime soon.

Tried both RL 16 & 23 then, but as with h4831sc didn't find much exciting in the way of speed with either powder.

Picked up a copy of Quickload and found that IMR 7828 might get me close to RL 26 speed in my gun/brass, and I had a 1lber of it on hand. Speed turned out good, pressure good for both bullets.

Ended up settling on the 133gr hammers over 60.6 gr of 7828(sc too) going around 3120 fps out of a 22.4" tikka barrel. Accuracy is great if I do my part. Should work great for almost anything I decide to throw it at.

 

[Sweede82]

I use H4831 , a mild load gives me the best accuracy in a 130g bullet

I second this powder, but I use the 4831sc it has the same properties but more consistent out of the powder measurer. I use 130s in accubond or ballistic tip from nosler and federal 210 primers.

 

[WhitetailTracker]

Looks like this thread has been going for a bit but pertinent for me as I've been trying to work up a new load for my 270 this summer. I also had great results with the "magic" RL26. With the lack of availability I started trying a couple of other powders. My next best results are with RL22. Most accurate load with RL22 as follows:

- 22in barrel length
- 56.5 grains RL22
- CCI 200 primer
- 140 gr Accubond
- 3026 fps

 

[GunTruck]

My go to powders are RL23 for what ever 140gr bullet I,m using.

And RL26 and Norma MRP for 150Gr bullets. The MRP is a little more accurate in my rifles.

I,m trying to develop a load for RL23 using 150gr bullets. I have them loaded but have nor been to the range.

 

[grizzly63]

Imr 4350works in almost all rifles i use.
Imr 4350 150 ballistic tips
H4831sc 145 ELDX
One no one has suggested
RL23 speer 150 bt


What did you end up settling on?

 

[jacknifejc]

H4831 works best for me.

 

[Brian in Montana]

Imr 4350works in almost all rifles i use.
Imr 4350 150 ballistic tips
H4831sc 145 ELDX
One no one has suggested
RL23 speer 150 bt


What did you end up settling on?

I've played with our .270s a lot since last spring and found some loads. My wife's 700 seems to like 130gn Hornady Interlocks with 59.8gns of H4831 behind it. Hers also shoots well with 130gn TTSX and H4831 (can't remember the charge right off hand, but it was similar, around 60gn).

My T3X did well with H4831, particularly with a 130gn Hornady Interbond. That was a very accurate load with an MV of about 3025fps. I used it for deer and antelope this year. Also had good luck with H4831 and 130gn Accubond, and 140gn Federal TBT. And Ramshot Hunter pushing a 130gn TTSX.

There seem to be a lot of powders that will work well in .270. Ive definitely kept going back to H4831 - it's kind of Varget of long actions it would seem. Meaning, in the simplistic workings of my own own brain: H4831sc is to .270 and .280 what Varget is to .308 and 7mm-08, if that makes sense.