If my kids make it to the refuge I am building, we will have four 270s. Really not a great lot of difference between 270 and 308, the 270 is a little bit better ballistically. I started hunting with the 270 55 years ago so I'm kinda attatched to it.

The 308 guys will say they have a better chance to find ammunition. I reload and have stockpiled a LOT of components.

 

I would opt for the .308 for the following reasons:
- more options for reloading - bullet weight variety
- availability of surplus military ammo & brass
- more accurate than the 270
- shorter bolt action

IMO, the only advantage the 270 has over the 308 is it is a flatter shooting round.

 

I have seen a 270 shoot 3/4MOA with hunting Bullets so your " More accurate" argument is weak

as far as the only advantage being flatter shooting it also has the ability to expand ammunition at greater ranges as it is super sonic to 1200 yards

the 308's real advantage is in detachable magazine auto Rifles and Battle Rifles

the shorter Bolt on a Bolt gun is nothing

270 Is the premier Rocky Mountain Sheep and Goat Rifle

 

If it must be a bolt action rifle, then it would be my Ruger GSR ( 308), although there is nothing wrong with 270 Win in a well built bolt action either.
Both will kill anything on this continent and then some.

Other reasons........


If both rifles are equal, the 308 should have a longer bbl life.


More 308 specific optics than 270

I can reload 308 cheaper than 270

More selection when it comes to factory ammo in 308

I already have 308 stockpiled by the pallets. Yes. Pallets
Same ammo used in 2 rifles shown in my avatar

 

Did we hear your right? Pallets?

 

6 of one..... There isn't an appreciable difference if you prep

 

if this is your toughest question when the baloon pops then your going to do fine.
both are big game rifles capable of taking a deer out to the limits of most shooters. quality ammo costs about 20 to 25 bucks a box and the both hold the same amount of rounds.

 

Great input. And yes if thats my toughest question I will do fine. But with the massive amount of .308 ammo that is available I think that would be the way to go. But that said, I am very impressed by energy the .270 packs. I am too much of a numbers geek that way. More is better . . . . ??? Maybe not always

 

you could go something that has a .308 parent case for easier brass stock conversion and reloading... 6.5 creedmore, 260 remington, etc....

the .270 is definitely a longer case (longer then 30-06 technically) so you might be limiting what types of platforms you can use with that caliber... especially if you ever want to get into a semi auto platform

 

Both are good rounds. 270 is flatter shooting then the 308 but you will have to reload your own ammo. The best round is the 308. If SHTF thi would be the easiest to find. And you could reload it cheaper due to the brass is cheaper and there are way more choices of re loads.

 

Round for round the 308 (assuming it is not loaded with ball propellant) should exhibit a much longer barrel life than a 270 Win. As a general rule the smaller the bore the shorter the barrel life and in this case you are burning more propellant per shot in the 270 than others will do with a 308.

However in your case with what you have laid in you can adjust bullet seating to chase the rifling as it disappears in front of the chamber which you can't do with a semi auto rifle unless you are content with loading single rounds.

As indicated the 308 has a wider selection of bullets in that it is a popular match cartridge and higher quality bullets are available.

Barrel life can be increased by cleaning ASAP after firing, removing the carbon before it hardens up in the bore. Every time you shoot a center fire and don't clean it immediately or at all and you shoot it again the carbon left in the bore will imbed on the follow on bullet jackets and do a number on the last half of your barrel shortening life.

 

.308, no question in my mind.

Supply is the biggest reason.

Second reason is more than acceptable ballistics for the envelope around me.

 

I'm not sure about "supply", as I reload...I can make a LOT of bullets in .270 and still be under the cost of the cheaper commercial or surplus .308.

But then, if reloading...there's no cost advantage to either bullet, and so it comes down to ballistics...where the .270 wins in wide open areas, but in brushy places, there's again, no advantage.

Which puts us at your second priority...which I totally agree with.

You gotta go with what works for your use, in your area.:thumb:

 

Several of the arguments people are making are not good arguments. Yes a .308 will have longer barrel life, but you are still talking about a bunch of shooting probably >5000 rounds. Just adjust seating depth if necessary.

The .308 may be inherently more accurate, 99.9% of rifles aren't accurate enough to notice the difference. I load my .270 with 130gr hornady sp interlock bullets, <.75 moa isn't difficult.

Costs difference to reload, not significant. I would have to look at a manual but I don't want to walk across the room right now, but maybe a 15gr differences between powder charges. Bullets are a wash but less selection for the .270.

Ammo availability, again probably a wash, the .270 is probably just as common around here if not more common. Both are very popular.

Trajectory, not enough difference to make much of a difference.

Me I am a fan of the .300 Win Mag. It costs a bunch to shoot, hard on barrels, but it carries a bunch of thump downrange pushing 200 gr pills at >2900fps. Does everything that the .308 and .270 will do and then some, so there.

So, you really need to make the choice, do you want a short action or long action?

 

Does everything that the .308 and .270 will do and then some, so there.

So, you really need to make the choice, do you want a short action or long action?

Hmmm...lets talk .270 WSM or .300 WSM...

:

 

A friend brought a guy he worked with over to shoot his 270 WSM on my range and it was sure impressive. I have steel disc targets set up at 300 yards and he tagged a couple. We went down to set them up and they were on the verge of blowing a hole clean through 1/2" steel plate. The backside had bulged.

I asked him the load and we looked in the book and it was under max. I forget now what bullet he was running but I have never had anything else affect those plates like the WSM did. I set up chrono and it was 300 fps below max velocity.

I was offered reamers/gages for 300 WSM but didn't want the expense of another set up combo and brass was pricey. I opted for 6.5X06 and it is not maxed out and I am getting 3015 with 142 Sierras. It is very flat shooter but I can tell from the bore scope that it is terminal at 500 rounds.

 

t I have never had anything else affect those plates like the WSM did. I set up chrono and it was 300 fps below max velocity.

I was offered reamers/gages for 300 WSM but didn't want the expense of another set up combo and brass was pricey. I opted for 6.5X06 and it is not maxed out and I am getting 3015 with 142 Sierras. It is very flat shooter but I can tell from the bore scope that it is terminal at 500 rounds.

I have a buddy that likes living hard...he's pushed the 300 WSM up over 4,000
fps on his chrony, but that speed only lets his bullets stay in one piece about half the time.:xeye:

And yes, barrel life is ridiculously short.

 

I have .270, so I will use that. Both are great rifles. After SHTf, you won't find ammo for either anyways. If you don't have enough ammo stocked for either rifle by now, that is your own fault.

 

You are exactly on the money there. I don't think there will be any ammo laying around and guys that have a substantial amount will have it hidden away never to be found.

I read a couple years ago they occasionally find caches of guns/ammo in Finland from WW2 when they were fighting the Russians and they went "lost" as the guys that put them away were killed in the war or died off afterwards and never passed the word to anyone.

As a rule of thumb I concluded years ago if you don't have at least 500 rounds for the CF rifle laid in and ready you can't go to the party.

Linked up with a missionary who was in Argentina during the collapse there and he said things were real dicey for the first month with lots of shootings, robberies etc. He said after the first month the gene pool had been pretty well cleaned up. It was fascinating, he said you did not stop at red lights after dark ANYWHERE, you walked out of your house with handgun and rifle and drove with handgun in one hand to work. He said most of the houses in town are walled off.

 

My choice would be .308, because I can find cheaper ammo to just shoot thru it.. The cheapest I've found is about 50¢ a round, with most range ammo at about 75¢..

That said, is .270 vs .308 better/worse/etc.. I don't really care because to get good at the longer distances will require lots of practice at the ranges intended. Me, I'm satisfied with less range & more bullets.

Runs on ammo; relatively easy to circumvent; buy it cheap and stack it deep. after that, get into reloading and get enough components to satisfy your future needs...

 

I've been hunting with a 270 for 30 years so I'm biased. Besides shooting much flatter I think they pack more of a punch at a farther distance. The 308 may make a bigger hole in a piece of paper at 600 yards but the 270 hits harder.

 

.270 Winchester.

My hunting rifles are my SHTF rifles. Each rifle has a specific role.

In ascending order:

.22 LR
.220 Swift
6mm Remington
.270 Winchester
35 Whelen

.308 is too "middle of the road" for me. The .270 excels in its given role, and if I need to go bigger then I can go bigger.

 

this is about which caliber is better during shtf in a bolt action rifle. . . . .
they are both going to perform so closely there wont be enough difference to blame on caliber alone.
sgammo has 200 round cases of 270 selling for a dollar a shot.
the one added bonus that would go for the .308 would be there are more lower cost rounds available from ammo makers. the 270 is a pretty common caliber but not as widespread in volume shooting as the .308. a lot of companies understand this and can produce a lower line (but still totally reliable) of .308 ammunition.
most 270 ammo is geared towards hunting and use higher priced components or are from a major ammo manufacturers higher grade line.

 

During the recent ammo "shortage" there was always 270 ammo at Walmart in Napa. I thought it was odd, I have a model 70 in 270, it is a popular round. I reload my own so I didn't buy any, just thought it was odd that it was always available here.

 

270 vs 308? Someone get tired of the AR vs AK argument?

Each are excellent and have similar capabilities, I own and will be happy with either.

 

270 vs 308? Someone get tired of the AR vs AK argument?

Is there an argument between the AR and AK??????? lol

 

I'm a 270 guy, but if you get down to casting your own bullets in SHTF, the 308 would have a slight advantage because you can use heavier 30 cal bullets and thus deliver a few more foot pounds on the target.

 

Just my 2 cents . why fool around with a 308 or a 270 ? 7Mag or a 30-06 without a doubt are way better guns . better ballistics flatter shooting . and for the money the 06 is just as cheap to reload and way more effective than either

 

Just my 2 cents . why fool around with a 308 or a 270 ? 7Mag or a 30-06 without a doubt are way better guns.

Can you justify this please?

I think the 7mm Mag and -06 both suck.

 

Just get the 45-70 and tell all these other guys to shove off!

 

"Ho hum the tune is dumb,
the words don't mean a thing...
isn't this a silly song,
for anyone to sing...?"
:whip:
And yet - I'll opine,
308 because I think the 256 Newton or 280 Remington make more sense than the 270.
0.007" one way or the other.
Really they're all the same, no elk or deer is going to say "ha ha, puny cartridge!"

 

 

The 270 has greater distance and flatter trajectory.

I like both rounds. See which your dollars will go farther.

Both are great rounds. I had a Remington 700 .270.

 

I'd always thought a .270 was a 30-06 with a junior bullet and a .243 was a308 with a junior bullet. If true, a .270 vs 308 is like comparing a Jr to a Sr. Completely different ideas.