.270 WCF – STILL GOING STRONG

LOCK, STOCK & BARREL

- Lee J. Hoots

Thousands of big-game hunters rely on .270 Winchester rifles, like this Browning X-Bolt, to bring down pronghorns, deer and elk every year.

One of the pleasures of writing for and editing firearms periodicals for a living is getting to hear about what the general shooting public (new hunters, recreational shooters, serious handloaders, new gun buyers and so on) thinks about “this” and “that,” even though I’m buried in the office much of the time. Such correspondence is generally sincere, is often enlightening and typically includes honest questions – some of the same ones I probably asked back when I was in my mid-20s.

Once in a while, however, a somewhat unusual query pops up in a gun shop conversation or by email, partly, I believe, because there are so many younger men and women joining the ranks of firearms owners, whether due to upturned politics or just general interest in shooting or, more likely, hunting. Plus, there is an increasingly expanding jumble of cartridge, rifle and pistol options to pick from, when and if they are available. Way back when I was younger with little cash flow, just old enough to purchase my own guns, picking one over another required a careful, painstaking decision. So it’s easy to empathize with people, especially now, as prices for both new and used guns ratchet up every few months or so.