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When I left school I bought a .30-06 and also joined a deer hunting club.

At the deer hunting clubs annual target shoot, I was interested to note, only one other participant had a .30 calibre rifle. There were a lot of .270's, .243's some other less than .30 calibre rifles. Nothing over .30.

Most of the hunting was fallow deer, and of course goats and pigs. Many hunters did make trips to Victoria to hunt sambar deer. The .270 is legal and adequate for this.

Nowadays my guess there would be few if any .270's. Lots of .30's and a number of greater than .30 rifles represented. Probably few if any .243's.

Have these lesser calibre cartridges stopped being able to kill beasts? No. What has changed? Fashion and hype. Hype to sell new stuff. Fashion to use newer and "better" rounds.

My original choice of the .30-06 was because I wanted one cartridge able to be used for any and all medium game hunting anywhere in the world.

Same reason I went to the slightly more powerful 8x68S. This was partialy due to my shots with the .30-06 failing with some beasts in Africa. With hindsight it was probably more due to the particular projectile failing to perform and more likely the batch of the projectiles was defective. But it is good to have some extra oomph when trophy hunting and not just meat hunting.

BTW same reason I went to the .375 H&H Magnum, a cartridge which can handle any beast anywhere oin the world.

Both the .30-06 and .375 H&H Mag are also common. Not a defect, but a positive if ammo ever needs to be sourced.


So a but off topic. But a .270, which could kill well in the 1980's can still kill today.

Same as a .30-06, which also has only a slightly lesser trajectory.

But not fashionable or trendy!

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Agree with most, it is perhaps not fashionable or trendy. And yes, I am certain, the 270 or '06 would kill today as well as they did back 40 years ago. However I feel there are other reason as well. Perhaps it is also shooters, hunters, reloaders, competitors are also more informed today?? All the info we can read is at our fingertips on the "net".. whether accurate or not, is another question.

I for one have read, used, shot many more calibers than what was my uncles favorites were back in the day. It is of great interest to me. Ballistics of this caliber or that, along with the advancements in design of bullets by different manufacturers, more info on how ballistics are establishment, new methods in achieving those results, all make a difference. Some of it is hype sure, but also some of it is fact..otherwise the boys competing would not be buying them.

Agree with many suggestions on here of the 6.5 as a great place to start and perhaps end. For the game I would generally hunt in the mtns of the world, can't really think of any that could do as good or better for that matter. The 6.5's are proven to be ballistically superior to those in many other calibers including the 270 and '06. I am not bashing those calibers, just saying for extended ranges, especially those in long distance target shooting, the 6.5 in the last 20 years has proven itself to be a leader and winner.

Those who compete on a regular basis in Long Range Precision Rifle know volumes more than me and yet when you look at the results of the top 100 or 200 shooter for that matter, the 6.5 or 6mm are ruling the roost. Don't think that is just my happenstance. If the 270 or '06 would have been such great marvels in terms of those applications, one would have seen them used a ton in competition as those guys do anything to win, yet, mum is the word. In today's world, if the .270 caliber would be such a great marvel, someone would have necked it up, down or somewhere to make it a competitive long distance round. Yet, nothing. Sure they did come out with the 270WSM, which is a great deer, elk round and an improvement over the old standard .270. However as good as it is, it simply does not stack up to the ballistics of the 6.5 rounds. At least not when you make a fair and accurate comparison. Recently I was reviewing the NEW target bullets by Nosler, again, there is the .22 cal which is for the AR's used in competition, then it goes to the 6, 6.5 and 30's ..NO 270...pretty sure that isn't by accident.

https://www.nosler.com/rdf-bullet


Europeans have been enjoying the benefits of the 6.5 for many many years. Finally, in the last 20 years or so, the shooting community in my part of the planet has figured out there is more to this caliber than talk.

As I have stated many times before, I welcome new advancements, new technology, new calibers. IF someone wants to shoot with a musket, have at it. Have no problem with it. If you want to shoot your .270, go for it. It will do just fine and still kill a deer . However, if someone wants to shoot the latest, greatest, or something different than you like, then offer those who do the same response. Will it be better? Maybe..or not.. As long as you can shoot what you like, why does/would it matter?? Yet so many get their panties all bunched up if someone does..Life is too short, let it go Luke..


Ripp