Mike

It's your dough and you are the one that MUST be pleased after the purchase. It doesn't matter what caliber you purchase, there will be some drawbacks!
Some feel that the extra 2 inches gives that much more time for gas expansion to have that much more effect on the bullet, velocity wise. Does it? I don't know! From ignition to muzzle exit, things happen so quickly, only a chronograph will tell.

Bubba

mtnhunter is right. what you would be giving up is nothing compared with the benefits. you won't go wrong with the mk v.

MCskid, what's the biggest critter you going to hunt with it?

The difference between a .270 Win and a 7mm Rem Mag, is, well...
approximately .007 inches. The other difference is the fact that the 7mm case will hold more powder.
To a handloader, the 7mm velocities can be elevated to warp speed like factors.
The .270 Win? A handloader can make the .270 Win near equal to 7mm Rem Mag FACTORY loads, that is with near same bullet wts.
Makes no difference, as a recipient of a well placed shot from either caliber, an animal is only going to die so far, which is, optimally, all the way!
Is two (2) inches of barrel of any consequence? That is either a GOOD or MOOT point!

Bubba

Pretty much what I was meaning there WAM!

But even you will have to admit that bullet speed doesn't make an animal any "deader"!

Bubba

You are correct, Bubba. But you have to hit 'em with enough velocity to expand the bullet, penetrate the vitals, wreck the plumbing, and hopefully exit to provide an excellent blood trail just in case the plumbing is not totalled. The higher velocity cartridges apply the requisite velocity and bullet weight at greater ranges than the standard cartridges do. How much greater range certainly depends on the cartridges compared.

The .270's with lighter bullet weights are marginal for elk and fine for deer. Again, just an excuse for not using enough gun and for bragging about their ability to hit the vitals at long range. S^!%, I can kill elk at 100 yards with my .257 Roberts because I can make perfect hits on the vitals at that range every time. Poke that out to 300 yards and it is a whole 'nother game. If all you are hunting is deer, then why bother with the blast of a .270? Use a .243, .257 Roberts, 6.5 Swede, or .260 Rem! The .257 Roberts is my bare minimum caliber for anything except varmints.

MCskid

I would agree that a 26" tube is appropriate for the RUM's, 7mm STW, and .30-.378 Wby, etc. and the rest burning upwards of 80 grains of slower propellants. The .270 Wby, 7mm Wby, 7mm Rem mag, .300 Win mag, etc are on .30-06 length cases and have very similar powder capacity. The Wby's are just loaded to higher pressures. True enough that the new crop of Mark V's have 26" tubes, but probably have less than a 40 fps advantage.

I don't want to cast stones at Dave Campbell, but he is certainly not on my "A-List" of gun writers.

I would like to have a .300 H&H just for the nostalgia of that classic round. I don't think the recoil is any worse than a .300 Win mag or WSM.

BB25

Plus +1 for you.

I never pull the trigger on a shot that I don't have the utmost confidence that I can make :-)

I can stand before the Man and state that I have never missed a deer or elk at ranges of 100 yards or less. I don't shoot at running whitetails either, so that might be part of the equation. I certainly don't make that claim wingshooting! HA HA!

I have tried to figure out that barrel life thing myself. Lots of theories out there. I think from what I have read, we are talking 1,200 - 1,500 rounds on the magnums. The steel has a lot to do with it as well. I recall that the .220 Swift and the .264 Win Mag were labelled as barrel burners and I suppose the Lazzeroni's and Ultra Mags might be too. I probably only shoot my Weatherby 50 times a year. Maybe 100 in the past year doing load development? Over the long run, I will probably average 20-30 rounds per year, so even at 1,000 rounds, it will take me a while! LOL

WAM

I've since lost all the information, but found a "smith" that would rechamber a No. 1 Ruger .308 Win to .300 H&H. He would either supply the rifle or you could send your own!
If I were to ever get the opportunity to do so, I would want the barrel marked: "Holland's Super .30". If I'm not mistaken, (and I often am!) that is the cartridge's original moniker!

Bubba

Bubba

I suppose you could rechamber a Ruger No. 1 since it does not have the traditional bolt face. Sounds interesting to me. I have been looking for an old M70 or M-721 Remington in .300 H&H but all I have found do not meet the approval of the Minister of Finance. I am not sure of the original name of the .300 H&H. I read an article in one of the gun rags by Herr Boddington about the H&H. I'll see if I can find it.

WAM

WAM:

Your rifle can still group well at 100-200 yards but at 600+ yards it could be grouping very poorly. The reason for this is group size and time of flight are directly related. At 100-200 yards the flight times are short enough where a small change in the amount of dispersion per second of flight will not be very noticeable. However, at 600+ yards, the flight times are long enough that you will notice an abrupt change in your groups. I've shot out a lot of .223 barrels and a few .308 Win.'s and I always see the change in group size at 600 yards and it happens really fast. A barrel will be shooting fine, then it will start to throw some flyers out of the group and before you know it your groups look more like a patterning board for a shotgun. But I think you're right when you say the steel has a lot to do with it. All my Krieger barrels have lasted longer than any other brand of barrel I own in the same chambering. Krieger is more selective about the composition of the steel they use than any other barrel manufacturer. They all seem to use 416 SS but Krieger uses specific lot #'s of the steel that have the composition they prefer.

BB25

One of my Weatherby's has a Krieger Criterion barrel. The other one, I have no clue. I guess whatever Weatherby was using athte time. It is a hammer forged barrel, not button rifled like the Krieger. That Krieger barreled rifle is the finickiest one I own. It will shoot 180 gr Core Lokts like it is going out of style and sprays Scirocco's and Partition's all over the place. It will shoot 165 gr Triple Shocks into cloverleafs at 100 yards too. All I have ever shot through the 7mm is Barnes Tipped Triple Shocks and Weatherby 139 gr factory soft points, which it likes; and the sorry ass Hornady Interbonds, which it patterns worse than my goose gun.

Good advice. I am not steady enough anymore to shoot at 600 yards. Hell, I may have never been steady enough to shoot that far! LOL I don't spend much time at the range. Most of my shooting is at clays and real birds all season. I hope my crappy trap shooting of late doesn't translate to my wing shooting this year.

Bubba, I admit I am NOT a .270 fan and have never hunted anything bigger than whitetails and black bear but I do have a 7mm Remington mag, which is acknowledged as adequate for bigger game with heavier bullets. As the .270 doesn't go any heavier than 150 grain bullets as far as I know, isn't the 7mm the better round for elk and similar game? Is the .270 adequate? Friend of mine hunted Alaska with a .300 Winchester mag and told me he would have been comfortable with a 7mm. Your thoughts? Good hunting.

Well put, Bubba, good points, especially the magnum mania. I hunt whitetails with my 7, handloaded with 160 grain Speer magtips and loaded back a bit and I can't complain as long as I do my part. I'm anxious to see what this fall will bring. My son has a 7 also and has worked up a load with a 150 grain Ballistic Tip, a bit on the hot side. Will it be too much? I'm anxious to find out. Regards and good hunting!

If I ever get the opportunity to hunt elk, I would probably opt for either a .300 Win Mag or .338 Win Mag. Probably have to do lots of shopping 'cause I am really recoil anemic!! LOL!!
Maybe a No. 1 with a nice piece of wood! Hmmm....
There's also the very real prospect that, not being able to afford a trip AND a rifle, I'd work up a really nice 150gr load for my .270 and be very, very picky about my shots!!

Bubba

I have used a 7MM Rem Mag for many years and they are now loaded down in factory loads and many loads in books are also "less stout". I shoot 175 gr partitions and get 2962 fps over the chrono and from long range drop tests. The load uses 65 gr of a certain powder. I have load recommendations from Speer, Hodgdon, etc. that go up to 68 gr of that powder for 3000 fps. They are are from that time when I bought the gun. Now the powder manufacturer says 58 gr is max even though the pressure is lower than others they recommend. I called them and asked if the powder had changed and if I should change my load. The answer = "if it was safe before, it is still safe. The powder has not changed, but all rifles are different."

All this means is it is still up to you to decide. I have seen several 1 shot kills on elk with a .270 Win. Jim Carmichael wrote about shooting a mule deer twice "in the boiler room" with a .338 Win Mag before it went down.

My Dad has two 7 rem. mags, a Ruger 77 and Ruger #2, he has shot thousands of rounds through the 77 and hasn't had to change the barrel yet, as for it being just a glorified 270 with its barrel well I'd have to say that there are quite a few deer that have made the trip to the freezer that were beyond what I would consider shooting with my 270. I like both calibers but my new savage 22-250 is now my primary deer rifle, I'll still take me old 270 mauser out for a doe every now and again.

On more thing, if you require a bullet over 140 grains in any 7mm to knock down a deer yet alone a caribou, need to stay home! With the exception if what romesaround your vicinity has you on it's menu, I can see using a bigger bullet. 120 to 130 would be my pick and that's where you'll find the best results on deer!

From observing more than a couple of bang-flops on elk and big deer with the Federal 7mm Rem Mag 160 grain TBBC, I can guarantee that it is a superb elk cartridge. Why do you think I switched to a 7mm mag for elk hunting? Even a .300 mag with 180's doesn't buy you much over that load IMO.

TESTED THIS EXACT QUESTION:Facts, not opinion. We have a chronograph. I have a 26inch browning A-bolt. My brother has a 24 inch barrel(thin its a remington). We cooked up a load using reloader 22 and 162grn hornady boattail soft point that ended up being the most accurate for both of our guns. My muzzle velocity was 3090-3105fps, His was never above 2980. (BTW, very similar to the speed Hornady has with the same boattail load they manufacture) That's a minimum of 110fps more. the extra 110ft per second places my bullet at a slight advantage compared to 300mag off the shelf 180grn Fed Nos Particians by time the led reaches 500yards at 7000 feet elevation (Where the elk are). Facts. Not opinion.