jadeandnoni

Have been frustrated with this gun. Let me explain . . . I recently acquired this gun from my father who has used it since 1978 for mostly deer and hogs. He never loaded his own ammo but found 130 grain Winchester Silver Tips (not made anymore) to shoot very good in it. So I thought I'd load up some 130 Sierra boat tails for it. They were all over the place with every powder charge I tried! Tried H4831SC and then IMR 4350 - with no luck. Bought some 140 grain Hornady boat tails and some Speer 130 flat base bullets. To shorten this up, the flat base bullets shot really good. The boat tails won't shoot in it! Anybody ever had this sort of experience? A rifle that prefers flat base bullets to boat tails? What is going on physically in this guns barrel to create this phenomenon?

Tater

Possibly the rifle benefits from the longer contact surface with the rifling.

Lone Star

I saw a discussion on another board about how boattailed bullets tend not to be as accurate as flatbase bullets.

I don't think I'd shoot those Sierra bullets at animals that might need more bullet integrity and penetration. I've read that most Sierra designs are more for target and varmint use; they may be too fragile for larger game.

I think the .270 in a general purpose rifle role is best sighted-in with Federal's Premium load with 150 grain Nosler Partition bullets. It loses a little flatness on plains game like pronghorn, but will usually suffice, and it's better for bear, elk, moose, and other animals. The quick-expanding frontal portion kills deer and pronghorn easily, but the rear of the bullet drives home in larger animals.

I've also heard good things about Federal's Fusion load.

Crusty Deary Old Coot

This could be a powder situation.

First off, I am a 140 or 150gr shooter in the 270. I don't do Sierra bullets for game, and some/many boat tails, like the Speer boat tail which IS NOT a hot core are very fragil.

I worked up loads for a RUGER #1 - 270 years back with the 150gr Speer Boat tail, and my son, who how now owns the rifle and has for many years, knows that no matter how well that bullet shoots, he is going to loose some meat with it on anything like a bad shot. Bad bullet as are many boat tails other then the newer bond types.

The Hornady Interlock is a much better boat tail then any other of the cup and core bullets which I know about. They make both flat base and boat tail interlock.

OK, on to the powder. When working up loads for a son's RUGER 77 - 270 and 140gr Hornady bullets, I just was not getting anything close to good groups.

Floated the barrel which cut the groups about in half, but still not what I wanted.

Friend suggested IMR4064 which I felt was way too fast, but he said try it. I did and that rifle really liked that powder!

The Nosler partition is my favorite bullet for game, but with the possible exception of the interlock I'd stay away from boat tails unless they were bonded.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

phonejack

53.2 of imr 4350 shoots half inch groups with Sierra 130's in my rem 700

trigger creep

Some rifles HATE boat-tails, and simply WILL not shoot them no matter what. I have 95% confidence that it isn't your powder or anything else, it is that your gun hates boatails. My dad has a gun that won't shoot 3" groups with boat-tails, no matter what he does powder and bullet wise. Stick to non boat-tails and you will be fine.

trigger creep

Sierra bullets are fine for hunting. Like every other bullet company they have very fragile bullets (for targets or varmints) and much tougher bullets like the Pro-hunter (non boat-tail, medium construction) and the Game-King (has boat-tail, toughly constructed). If you use the Pro-Hunter or the Game-King you will be fine for Big Game.

jadeandnoni

Thanks for your replies. I bought some Hornady flat base Interlocks the other day and think I'll load some up with H4831 SC. I've also got some IMR4064 on the shelf that I will try with some of the boat tails just to see what happens. My Howa 1500 30-06 loves the Hornady Interlock bullets, so maybe the M77 will too.