well i spent most of the day sighting in my.270 that i just bought yesterday.

I have one question, how many times can i fire it before the barrel gets too hot ? after going through 4 rounds the barrel is almost to the point of hot. BTW using remington 130 grain.

 

After the first shot your barrel will be warm and point of impact will normally drift. The way I zero is fire one, allow 2 minutes to cool with action open, then fire another, etc.. for a 3-4 shot group. You want to zero you barrel cold, because your first shot (and hopefully last) on an animal is going to be cold barrel. Unless you have one of the few guns that doesn't change POI when warm. Some barrels need a fouling shot as well. That is, fire a couple to dirty the bore slightly, then fire your zero group. Many rifles will change POI between clean bore shot and fouled.

 

If it is a bolt rifle you will not overheat the barrel if that is what you are asking. If you have a standard barrel what CTD said is true.

 

I should clarify some, it is a ruger M77 mark II bolt action.

i am just worried about damaging the the barrel from it getting too hot.

 

You won't put enough rounds thru a bolt-action fast enough to damage it due to heat.

 

ok so even though the barrel can be too hot to touch sometimes it is ok ?

 

Yup- I'm a firearms instructor in the military and we regularly put 5-6K rounds in a day thru a single M240 (.308 Win/7.62mm Nato) and it's 2 barrels, doing barrel changes for cooling purposes every 200-400 rounds, and our guns barrels last well over 20K before they fail gauging (throat and muzzle erosion) or start to lose pieces of lands (rifling). Your rifle's barrel is not subjected to anywhere near the temps of our MG barrels. I could lite a cigarette off the barrels thats how hot they get. Your Ruger will be just fine...

 

k thanks for the help



shoot away !!! i can consistently peg a quarter at 100 yds and i guess the scope will automatically adjust for 200,300,400,500 yds.

 

Yep, the Ruger M77 is a great gun! I bought my son the Ruger M77 Blackhawk .270 last Christmas, he loves it and it is very accurate. I plan on getting one this year, except .308 caliber.

 

they had the same thing you are looking at a ruger m77 mark II .308. i was seriously looking at getting that one but what sold me on the .270 is that the ammo is cheaper and it can still kill anything in north america .

 

Yep, you can't go wrong either way, both are well-proven, accurate calibers!

 

i went looking around for ballistics performance of both calibers and i came up with this.

.308
150 gr (9.7 g) Nosler tip 2,820 ft/s (860 m/s) 2,648 ft·lbf (3,590 J)
165 gr (10.7 g) BTSP 2,700 ft/s (820 m/s) 2,671 ft·lbf (3,621 J)
168 gr (10.9 g) BTHP 2,650 ft/s (810 m/s) 2,619 ft·lbf (3,551 J)
175 gr (11.3 g) BTHP 2,600 ft/s (790 m/s) 2,627 ft·lbf (3,562 J)
180 gr (12 g) Nosler PHE 2,740 ft/s (840 m/s) 3,000 ft·lbf (4,100 J)

.270
90 gr (5.8 g) HP 3,603 ft/s (1,098 m/s) 2,595 ft·lbf (3,518 J)
130 gr (8.4 g) SP 3,085 ft/s (940 m/s) 2,748 ft·lbf (3,726 J)
140 gr (9.1 g) SP 2,916 ft/s (889 m/s) 2,644 ft·lbf (3,585 J)
150 gr (9.7 g) SP 2,850 ft/s (870 m/s) 2,706 ft·lbf (3,669 J)

right now i am shooting the 130 grain because i think it has the best qualities out of all of the grains available. though if i was going to hunt larger game like moose, elk, bear i would choose the 308

 

Actually the 150 grn will due large animals just fine. I would suggest a nosler tip bullet theo. In 130 grn I use the winchester ballistic silver tips with my ruger .270. There is a guy localy that does guide service in Wy and uses a .270 and has taken Elk with out any problems. CTD is right you can't keep puttin enough rounds down range to damage the barrel, like you where talkin about.

 

You are not going to hurt your barrel like anyone else says.
However depending on the barrel profile/diameter, heat can cause your barrel to lose accuracy when heated up. It can start to string rounds after a certain temperature or number of rounds in a certain amount of time.

 

thanks you guys have been helpful.

i know 150 grain would be enough for everything on this continent. though if i wanted to consistently hunt large animals i would probably go with the 308 in 180 grain for the knockdown power. basically what the 308 can do the 270 can do the same especially when hunting deer.