Reduced Recoil 270 Win 120gr SST

[Matt/TX]

I know this is a 300 BO forum but I thought I would share some results I had with a built up hand load for 270 Win using the Hornady 120gr SST made for 6.8 SPC velocities... just in case anyone might have interest. Some background: I recently inherited a Rem 760 GameMaster Pump action 270 - it is short, light, and open sighted. It seemed to be an excellent gun for quick shots on running pigs when riding the field - but oh man it kicked pretty good with normal heavy loads for 270 Win. I decided I wanted to try and work up a reduced recoil load that would be easy to take multiple shots with and still keep eye on the target while following a lead. I read up on many forums looking for a 120gr reduced load with not much success and even purchased some cast bullet books hoping to find some 120 gr loads in the lower velocity ranges. Most cast loads used Unique, red dot, etc and stayed under 2000fps - a little slow for me. I have read that flaky powders do better in cases that are partially filled as compared to normal rifle extruded powders so I started looking at SR4756 (a favorite of mine) and others such as HERCO and Alliant Steel. Many warned in posts I read against Steel as a high pressure powder but I knew it was near to the burn speed I needed and it is a very bulky powder. Because I wanted a load that would not have inconsistencies from powder position in the case I tried three flaky powders - Unique, SR4756, and Steel. It was imperative that I keep a velocity range in the low 2000's that would not obliterate the thinner skinned SST made for the 6.8 SPC. At low 2000's this bullet is known to mushroom the 120gr SST best and penetrate "pig" like animals. Some of my results follow:
[All used CCI 200 Primers and various cases with COL~3.27" - different cases did not have much effect on velocities that I could tell, suspect the large case volume and low powder fill responsible here. Also varied the COL a few hundredths +/- and no noticeable change]
21gr SR4756 - Easy recoil, accurate but load also had some pressure signs I was not comfortable with
16gr Unique - not accurate, low recoil and noise
43gr Reloader 15 - accurate and fast but too much like a regular 270 round
44gr Win 760 - same as Rel 15

From my initial results I knew that the slower powders could get to the mid 2000's but that was still too much kick/noise towards my goal - lower velocity was possible with further decreased charges but case fill% was just too low for me. Initially the faster flaky powders I used just did not perform so well either. So I decided to try Alliant Steel because I was familiar with it from Shotgun loading and I had a a large jug on hand - indeed a very flaky powder. I found a starting point I was comfortable with from a 308 forum and used 21 gr for starting load.

Alliant Steel Results:
[All loads using Steel had a different point of impact as compared to full strength loads but the grouping was there for various charge weights tested - for some reason I was high and to the left with the Steel loads, once adjusted to bullseye I was really impressed with accuracy and consistency. Maybe the low recoil kept me from flinching as much??? I think Steel can perform if you do not push it too hard in rifle loads - my 2 cents]

20.5 gr Alliant Steel - 2150 fps avg
21 gr Alliant Steel - 2190 fps avg
21.5 gr Alliant Steel - 2221 fps avg [2235fps H, 2203 fps L, 10.2 S-D] First three shots I fired at this charge weight gave me 2222fps, 2224fps 2226fps respectively - that's pretty good by any standard IMO!

I dug out of the dirt almost all Steel rounds shot and found that the bullets were fully mushroomed and almost fully intact. I did not increase powder charge any further beyond 21.5gr because I felt like the velocity goal I wanted was achieved and no sense increasing to create problems! I tried various cases and COL with the 21.5gr load and accuracy and velocity never varied within the ranges I used. Overall I feel like it will be a great low recoil pig round. Take it for what its worth.

Matt

[Matt/TX]

Another reduced 270Win load using 130gr Hornady SP that performed well. Easy recoil - like a light 20ga load. Retrieved the bullets from dirt near target at just over 40yds and each mushroomed perfect - just enough speed.

Also tried Unique @ 18.5gr and SR4756 19.5gr but ultimately liked the IMR4198 best.These were in the 1950fps range. IMR4198 had a large jump in velocity from 25gr - 27gr but then leveled out pretty good from 27gr up to 28gr having 30-40fps speed increase with each 1/2gr after 27gr.

CCI200 Primer, 3.27" COL, mixed brass
IMR4198 - 28.0 gr
2171 fps avg [2189fps H, 2144 fps L, 15.0 S-D]

Hope it helps someone who may be looking for light loads with a Remington short pump action 760 with open sights. So easy to shoot it makes me wonder why I own some of the magnum rifles like I do. 2200fps seems it will do everything I need up to 200yds.