270 Weatherby or 308 Norma Mag?

[gerry]

It keep going back and forth between the two and can't make up my mind which one to go with next. I have dies for both and a bunch of .277 and 308 bullets, have some 308 Norma brass too. On the small side I have a 270 Win and a 35 Whelen on the big side. Game to be hunted is anything from deer to moose in open country.

Pro's for the 270 Weatherby:
- mild recoil
- easy to find ammo and brass
- enough power for any game here

I do wonder if the extra 100-200 fps over a 270 Win will really make much difference.

Pro's for the 308 Norma:
- more power
- easy to download a bit with faster powder and have reasonable recoil

Finding brass and ammo is much harder but not impossible.

I do still have a 7mm Rem Mag here but have not been able to warm up to the round as of yet even though I know they are good.

 

[DrMike]

Both are excellent cartridges, Gerry. I think it is going to come down to a preference without any particularly compelling reason for the choice. I lean toward the 308 Norma--easy to work up loads, 30 caliber bullet, plus more of an undefinable cool factor in that it isn't quite as common here in Canada. Brass is available--you just have to pick up 200 or so cases for a lifetime supply. Really, there is no bad choice in those two cartridges. It will be interesting to see where you land.

 

[truck driver]

I'm with DrMike on this one also it all depends on your preference. Since I'm not a big fan of the 270 I would go for the 308 Norma because of more bullet choices since you reload you can make it mild or wild. I was considering setting the barrel back on a 300bee and chambering it for the 308 Norma but I don't think it would have cleaned the chamber up enough.

 

[gerry]

I am leaning towards the 308 Norma to be honest. It will be pretty easy to find a take off barrel for my Rem 700 and have it rechambered to 308 Norma. Thinking about it now since it is winter, probably will look doing it in the spring provided we have a bit of extra money kicking around. Have 50 new brass already here.

The 270 Weatherby is a neat round but now that RL 26 can get a 150 gr bullet over 3000 fps safely in the 270 Win that starts narrow the gap a bit between them.

 

[SJB358]

Yeah, I think the 308 Norma is a cool round. The Weatherby does have some extra juice compared to a 270 but honestly unless you are building it to shoot the high BC numbers for LR stuff I don't think you gain a ton.

You can always warp speed some 125 ABs or 130 TTSXs if you want a light bullet as well in your 308 Norma.

I do love 270's but honestly it's 6 and 1/2 dozen... they are both really cool.

 

[IdahoCTD]

Rechambering a factory barrel is going to limit your length options and possibly your twist options because you'll have to use a .308 or 30-06 barrel to do so. A 300wm is a good bit longer and the neck is really large in diameter. To clean it up would require a lot of set back/work on a factory barrel.

If your fully satisfied with your 270win and don't have a speed bug I'd do the 308 Norma. I've shot a lot of 30-338 win mag's over the years (basically the same as the 308 Norma) and they tend to be super accurate.

 

[30-338]

I have couple 30-338mag which is pretty close to 308 Norma mag also have 270 and 270 Wby and some other hunting rifle.

None of those rifles are factory so I got to pick the parts (barrels/chambers). I've yet to build base on velocity since some of my builds overlap like 270 and 270Wby.

Reason I build 270Wby, it fits in with what I like to hunt with.

 

[FOTIS]

300 Bee

 

[Europe]

you have a 270 on the small side and a 35 Whelen on the large side. In the middle-----I agree with Fotis

 

[IdahoCTD]

Since we are on Weatherby calibers.......IMO Weatherby brass is crap for what you pay for it. It's way too soft. There is nothing like torching 3.00 to 4.00 cases in a 30-378 Imp trying to work out loads and then be dissapointed with the case life when you got to an acceptable velocity. There is a reason people improve the 338 Lapua case over the Weatherby's. You can push it to higher pressure, get the same velocity as a 378 Imp based case, the cases are cheaper, and it last longer.

I'd be more inclined to do a 30 Nosler or a 30-26 Nosler over a 300 Bee just because it appears that the brass is made better. I'll probably do a 28 Nosler at some point but only because I acquired some 26 Nosler brass for next to nothing. I would not be happy to pay 2.00+ per case for anything except Lapua or RWS (and I still don't like to do that :roll: ).

 

[FOTIS]

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/852188 ... -box-of-50

 

[Europe]

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/852188/hornady-reloading-brass-300-weatherby-magnum-box-of-50

plus--midway also has Norma 300 weatherby brass and Norma brass is not chopped liver

 

[Dr. Vette]

Since we are on Weatherby calibers.......IMO Weatherby brass is crap for what you pay for it. It's way too soft. There is nothing like torching 3.00 to 4.00 cases in a 30-378 Imp trying to work out loads and then be dissapointed with the case life when you got to an acceptable velocity. There is a reason people improve the 338 Lapua case over the Weatherby's. You can push it to higher pressure, get the same velocity as a 378 Imp based case, the cases are cheaper, and it last longer.

I'd be more inclined to do a 30 Nosler or a 30-26 Nosler over a 300 Bee just because it appears that the brass is made better. I'll probably do a 28 Nosler at some point but only because I acquired some 26 Nosler brass for next to nothing. I would not be happy to pay 2.00+ per case for anything except Lapua or RWS (and I still don't like to do that :roll: ).

Weatherby brass - made by Norma
Nosler brass - made by Norma
Norma brass - you can guess this one.

If you're looking to change your brass, find a cartridge that has Lapua brass, and go from there. If you're moving from Wby to Nosler due to brass quality, you've gained nothing.

 

[truck driver]

A little off base but the last brass I got from SPS for the 7mm Rem though it was marked Nosler I do believe it came from Silver State since it had Silver State on the bag.

 

[Europe]

Since we are on Weatherby calibers.......IMO Weatherby brass is crap for what you pay for it. It's way too soft. There is nothing like torching 3.00 to 4.00 cases in a 30-378 Imp trying to work out loads and then be dissapointed with the case life when you got to an acceptable velocity. There is a reason people improve the 338 Lapua case over the Weatherby's. You can push it to higher pressure, get the same velocity as a 378 Imp based case, the cases are cheaper, and it last longer.

I'd be more inclined to do a 30 Nosler or a 30-26 Nosler over a 300 Bee just because it appears that the brass is made better. I'll probably do a 28 Nosler at some point but only because I acquired some 26 Nosler brass for next to nothing. I would not be happy to pay 2.00+ per case for anything except Lapua or RWS (and I still don't like to do that :roll: ).

Weatherby brass - made by Norma
Nosler brass - made by Norma
Norma brass - you can guess this one.

If you're looking to change your brass, find a cartridge that has Lapua brass, and go from there. If you're moving from Wby to Nosler due to brass quality, you've gained nothing.

Your absolutely right, my error, thanks for pointing this out-----

 

[IdahoCTD]

Norma does make some Nosler brass but it's made to Noslers specs not Weatherby's, there is a difference. Norma does make some good brass but IMO the Weatherby calibers aren't the good ones.

I know full well what good brass is and typically build calibers because I can get good brass. One of the last rifles I built was a 6.5x68 Imp because I could get 6.5-300wm performance without a belt and using RWS brass. Another is my 30-338 Norma Imp that I form cases for from 423 Dakota brass made by Lapua. Although the 300/338 Norma brass is OK it's not Lapua (probably a lot like 28 Nosler brass if I had to guess though) and I'll go through some pretty extensive case forming to make it happen. I also bought 1200+ 423 Dakota cases at .30 to .50 each. I might actually finish my 6.5 Creedmoor now that I'm on the waiting list for Lapua Creedmoor brass.

I've been over most Weatherby calibers for 20 years or so. I still have my 30-378 Imp but never shoot it and probably haven't shot it in well over 10 years. I did build a .460 Weatherby a few years back to shoot a couple black bears off of bait with but that only lasted a month and I was over it. The barrel is in the corner and the brass sits on a shelf.

We are getting way off topic here though. Gerry is deciding on a caliber.

 

[gerry]

Interesting discussion so far.

I don't have any desire to have a 300 Weatherby especially in a fairly lightweight gun, I have shot them and can shoot them well but honestly I would like less recoil.

The Nosler rounds would be interesting except brass is at least $4.00 per round plus tax here which is more than I would like to pay. I have had a 308 Norma a number of years back and never had a problem with the brass so it appears to be good stuff and probably better than the Weatherby rounds.

I will look at what RWS and Lapua actually make and see if there is something that interests me.

 

[JD338]

Gerry,

The 30 Nosler is calling your name.

JD338

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

I am leaning towards the 308 Norma to be honest. It will be pretty easy to find a take off barrel for my Rem 700 and have it rechambered to 308 Norma. Thinking about it now since it is winter, probably will look doing it in the spring provided we have a bit of extra money kicking around. Have 50 new brass already here.

The 270 Weatherby is a neat round but now that RL 26 can get a 150 gr bullet over 3000 fps safely in the 270 Win that starts narrow the gap a bit between them.

Gerry I am going to have to agree with the consensus of going with the 308 Norma Mag.

Plus you have a 7mm Rem Mag that will do what a .270 Weatherby Mag will do and with heavier bullets besides.

Be sure to post up pictures -

Dale

 

[truck driver]

Gerry, you said something earlier that I didn't pick up on, quote; I have not been able to warm up to the 7mm Rem mag.
Need to elaborate on what you dislike about it since I'm having a similar problem with mine.
I bought it after selling my 300Bee because of the recoil .
I've been considering running a 7 MSM reamer into the chamber but waiting to see how the ones that own them here are fairing with them or maybe a 28 Nosler just not sure till I finish load development to see if the barrel is good on my rifle.