Gun Question

[cardawg]

I have a Remington 700.270 Caliber. I have never shot at anything over about 250 yards with it,it has a Leupold 4x12x40 MM scope on it,my question is what is the max effective range approxx with this set up ? thanks for any input in advance.

[Pine Donkey]

The effective range depends on your loads, comfort, and hour of practice. Certainly it will be dependable well beyond 250 yards if you put the range time into it.

[cardawg]

Right now I have a friend making hand loads for me at 130 grains,seems to be pretty consistant at a 3 inch group at 200 yards at the range,could always use more practice,was just wondering if this set up would be in the realm of some of the shots I hear about on this site,5 6 700 yards.

[Couzer]

If you can hit it in a vital zone I think it depends on how much kinetic energy the bullet has when hitting its target on the right weight of animal.

[Ernesto C]

You will need a lot of practice. Then practice some more and keep practicing.

 

You will need to find out how far you can shoot accurately. Can you shoot 3 times in a row a paper plate at 300 yards? How many inches is your bullet droping at 300 yards? How many inches at 350? Can you hit the paper plate at 350 yards 3 times in a row? and so on and so on......

Temperature, wind, down hill or up hill?

 

Once you find out how far you can shoot you will have the answer. A 270 can kill a deer up to 600 yards away but...can you make that shot?

 

Ernesto C

[billrquimby]

"just wondering if this set up would be in the realm of some of the shots I hear about on this site,5 6 700 yards."

 

You should have no trouble with 5 or 6 yards. For a 700-yard shot with any rifle you will need to practice or be extremely lucky.

 

Bill Quimby

[Red Rabbit]

"just wondering if this set up would be in the realm of some of the shots I hear about on this site,5 6 700 yards."

 

You should have no trouble with 5 or 6 yards. For a 700-yard shot with any rifle you will need to practice or be extremely lucky.

 

Bill Quimby

 

 

Cardawg, the 270 will be fine to those longer yards. I would suggest you determine your range by being able to consistently hit a kill-zone sized target from your field conditions rest (whether that be bipod, pack, or knees), and not off the bench. Use a 10" Shoot-n-C target on a big blank cardboard face to see where you hits and misses are.

 

If you do not have target turrets, mil-dots, or BDC reticle on your scope, you are severely handicapped, imo.

[coues7]

Right now I have a friend making hand loads for me at 130 grains,seems to be pretty consistent at a 3 inch group at 200 yards at the range,could always use more practice,was just wondering if this set up would be in the realm of some of the shots I hear about on this site,5 6 700 yards.

 

If the best a person can dois a 3" group at 200 yards (1.5 MOA)they have no business shooting beyond that distance. A 1.5 MOA carried to 300 is 4.5", 400 yards is 6", 500 yards is 7.5", etc. I personally do not believe that is adequate enough to knock off an ethical shot......that's just me though.

 

As Doug (Redrabbit) mentioned, without turrets a person is severely handicapped. I know a gentleman who practiced out to 1000 yards doing hold overs and drop charts with no turrets. He likely went through hundreds of rounds practicing this method. Even a person doing this I would not recommend taking shots past 300 yards.

 

Another piece of equipment a person needs to take longer shots is a good reliable range finder. Estimating yardages past a "couple" of hundreds is difficult, especially under pressure.

 

Scott

[.270]

3 inches at 200 is very good shooting. if what you say is so, then few folks should be allowed to shoot 200 yards. when you get in the field, your groups get a lot bigger. i believe in Bill Q's thoery that minute of deer is what matters, not minute of angle. Lark.

[JLB]

I am in agreement with all the comments about practicing and knowing your gun and loads for long shots. The 270 can easily kill a deer at 500 yards with a good shot, but to ethically make a long one-shot kill, you should make sure your rifle can consistently shoot one inch groups or less at 100 yards. I shot a remington 270 for years and the longest Coues shot was at 450 yards with a 130 gr handload that caught the deer in the center of the chest. That was taken from a great rest and before range finders (yes, I am old - I ranged it on a later hunt). If you can hold a 3 inch group at 200 yards, that equates to shooting roughly a 7 1/2 inch group (or worse) at 500 yards. Coues deer are very small from the backbone to the breast when standing broadside (approx. 14 inches). My advice is to do things to improve your groups to under an inch at 100 yards if you can. Maybe glass bedding the action, having a little trigger work done, free floating the barrel, adding a bipod, etc. Then practice, practice, practice. You must remember that the rifle range is the best rest you will ever have to fire your gun. In the Coues world, most places are steep up and down and you rarely have a good solid rest. This, plus adrenaline and being out of breathe causes a lot of misses at long range. I would hold your range to under 300 yards until you tighten the groups a bit. Remember, you want to make a good kill shot, not just hit the deer in the lower leg and have a wounded animal to chase. Hope this helps.

[.270]

i would bet that 75% of the rifles out there, with the guy that owns em, the ammo he uses and set up the way he has it set up, won't shoot an inch at 100 yards. no matter what the conditions. my old .270 that has had several thousand rounds through it, won't shoot an inch anymore. but i'll shoot however far i need to. and i'll hit it. you guys are putting real tough restrictions on folks with your under an inch at a 100 rule. and a 7 1/2 inch group at 500 is excellent. there ain't 1% of the shooting population can do that with a hunting rifle. never mind hunting conditions. i agree with practice, practice and more practice. i agree with really knowing your rifle. but all this unethical talk if you can't do this or that is bs. guys need to use what they want and have fun doing it. Lark.

[kaibabkiller]

i would bet that 75% of the rifles out there, with the guy that owns em, the ammo he uses and set up the way he has it set up, won't shoot an inch at 100 yards. no matter what the conditions. my old .270 that has had several thousand rounds through it, won't shoot an inch anymore. but i'll shoot however far i need to. and i'll hit it. you guys are putting real tough restrictions on folks with your under an inch at a 100 rule. and a 7 1/2 inch group at 500 is excellent. there ain't 1% of the shooting population can do that with a hunting rifle. never mind hunting conditions. i agree with practice, practice and more practice. i agree with really knowing your rifle. but all this unethical talk if you can't do this or that is bs. guys need to use what they want and have fun doing it. Lark.

+1!

[cardawg]

Thanks for all the input everybody.The .270 has servered me well over the years for mule deer,but I have never had to try shots at the ranges I hear about on this site,I am new at hunting Coues and I guess I was thinking I might need to buy another Rifle in a differant caliber and set it up just for long range shots,then again I see some really nice bucks taken by the Bow hunters on this site,and I'm pretty sure most of their shots are under 75 yards or less,so I thought if they can get that close with a bow,I should be able to get closer than 500 yards or more.

[roninflag]

Right now I have a friend making hand loads for me at 130 grains,seems to be pretty consistant at a 3 inch group at 200 yards at the range,could always use more practice,was just wondering if this set up would be in the realm of some of the shots I hear about on this site,5 6 700 yards.

until you shoot it you will just wonder. whether you are talking about a 243, 270 or 30-06 many others. the cartridge is capable. the rifle/load /scope and shooter is/are the question mark. i shoot a 6.5-284 very similar to a 270. the rifle load and scope are very capable.

[.270]

roninflag, excellent advice. the cartridge doesn't matter much if it's in a rifle that won't hold up it's end of the deal and if it belongs to a guy that ain't a marksman. just because something has a fancy name and impressive balistics doesn't mean the rig will live up to the hype. the nut that holds the trigger is the most important part of the equation. Lark.