.270 Vs. 30-06? which should i get?

Question

OK so I have decided that I am going to get the new marlin XL7C. I am now trying to decided which caliber and have narrowed it down to .270 and 30-06. It will be used mostly for recreational shooting and I can get the rounds for about the same price so I am more concerned with shoot ability. The gun's weight is only 6 1/2 pounds so I need to know the difference in recoil and also the accurate range of the two rounds.

Answer 1

The 270 and the 30'06 are very similar in power and bullet size but the 270 shoots better the 30'06 tends to lob bullets you can easily shoot an arch over your target while the 270 shoots very straight and a little more accurate they are about the same in knockdown and penetration the only difference is the caliber of the lead the 30 cal and the 27 cal but the difference is so small you won't be able to tell the difference I would definately go with the 270 I have used the same one for about 15 years and it has taken all kinds of game from turkey to elk it has kept my freezer full for many years

Answer 2

I also like the Marlin.

I think it's a good choice.

Either caliber will take most non-dangerous game in North America.

But if you intend to use it primarily for recreational shooting I would no doubt choose the 30-06.

Buy the way I would choose the 30-06 for hunting as well.

Ammo prices are similar in the retail market but you can also buy Military surplus .30-06 much cheaper than .270 win.

The .270 was not a military cartridge and will never be available in cheap bulk quantities.

Recoil wise the .30-06 is a little stronger than the .270

But both are full power rifle cartridges and offer real recoil, but there is not so much of difference that the advantages of the .30-06;

[(cheap surplus ammo, a wide variety of loadings and almost universal availability) any store that sells ammunition will have .30-06 in stock, It is probably the most popular rifle round in North America. Excepting the .22lr of course].

Accuracy wise the .270 shoots a little flatter trajectory, but the '06 is no slouch either.

Both are capable of greater accuracy than 95% of shooters.

Bottom line: I don't think you will regret buying either, but the 30-06 gives your more options, cheaper ammo, and universal availability.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

A 6 1/2 pound rifle firing a 30-06 is going to have a bit of recoil. Not brutal but it will definitely make its presence known....  If you wont be hunting anything larger than deer then consider the .270....

Would you clarify what you mean by recreational shooting??

If you are mainly going to target shoot I suggest you avoid these cartridges... Both are fine cartridges but have one flaw. The ammunition is a bit expensive.... Of course if your hunting then $20 a box isnt a big deal because you will be taking a limited amount of shots..... On the other hand target shooters use a lot of ammunition and the wrong ammo choice can get expensive real fast.... If your going to target shoot then take a moment and consider purchasing a rifle in .308. You will save a fortune in ammo costs which over time will costs more than the rifle...

Here is some excellent info on the 30-06 and the .270....

http://www.chuckhawks.com/perfect_pair.h...

Consider the .308 if you plan on doing more target shooting than hunting.... Of course the .308 is fine for hunting....

http://www.6mmbr.com/308Win.html

.308 Ammunition in bulk..... SEE these prices...

http://www.the-armory.com/shopsite_sc/st...

Answer 4

You have a greater choice of bullet weights in the 30-06

Answer 5

The .30-06 will have around 20% more felt recoil with 180 gr shells than the .270 has with 150 gr shells.  The difference in recoil between a 150 gr .30-06 shell and a 150gr .270 gr shell is too small for you to tell the difference.  The .270 doesn't have a huge advantage in flat shooting until you get out to 300 yards and further.  Up to 200-250 yards it isn't enough to matter.     There are few things in North America which the .270 is not very good at killing, but for those large and even dangerous things, the heavy 180, 200 and even 220 gr .30-06 shells will do the job just fine.  As it was mentioned, you can still get surplus .30-06 ammunition.  

If most of your shooting is under 300 yards, there is little reason to choose a .270 over a .30-06 and several reasons to choose a .30-06 over a .270.

Answer 6

these two rounds use the exact same case, one is necked for a .308 projectile and one is necked for a .277 projectile

The recoil of the 270 will be a little bit less, but roughly about the same.  The 270 will shoot flatter, but the 30-06 is capable of shooting a heavier bullet, making it a better choice between the two for grizzly bear and moose, or other very large animal

Unless you plan on hunting, grizzly bear, moose, or bison I suppose, i'd suggest the 270

I fact, if you are goign to be just target shooting and deer hunting, the 243 is a wonderful deer cartridge and will recoil very lightly, and is equally accurate with the 270 and 30-06.  Note, both the 270 and the 30-06 work fine for elk, and okay for moose and bear, but the 243 is marginal for elk, and just not up to moose and grizzly bear

a 243 would be fine for black bear though