Watch .270 Winchester Video

The .270 Winchester was developed by Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1923 and unveiled in 1925 as a chambering for their bolt-action Model 54. The cartridge is based upon the .30-06 Springfield. When loaded with a bullet that expands rapidly or fragments in tissue, this cartridge delivers devastating terminal performance. The .270 Winchester became a very popular deer and elk cartridge...  MORE

The .270 Winchester was developed by Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1923 and unveiled in 1925 as a chambering for their bolt-action Model 54. The cartridge is based upon the .30-06 Springfield. When loaded with a bullet that expands rapidly or fragments in tissue, this cartridge delivers devastating terminal performance. The .270 Winchester became a very popular deer and elk cartridge due to the widespread praises of gunwriter Jack O'Connor who used the cartridge for 40 years and espoused its praise in the pages of Outdoor Life. Driving a 130-grain bullet at approximately 3140 ft/s, the cartridge demonstrated high performance at the time of its introduction and was marketed as being suitable for long range shooting on most big game. Two additional bullet weights were soon introduced: a 100-grain hollow-point bullet for varmint shooting, and a 150-grain bullet for larger deer, elk and moose in big-game hunting. While not an immediate success, over the succeeding decades and especially in the post-World War II period, the .270 Winchester attained great popularity among gun owners and hunters, ranking it among the most popular and widely used cartridges worldwide. Internationally, firearms manufacturers now offer this chambering in all firearm varieties: bolt-actions, single-shots, lever-actions, pump-actions, autoloaders and even a few double rifles. LESS