QUESTION ABOUT 270 WINCHESTER NECK LENGTH

Why did Winchester make the neck longer on the 270? I had been told it was to keep somebody from chambering a 270 round in a 30-06, but if that was the reason it doesn't work. I know that the longer body portion of the 280 Remington does keep it from being accidentally forced into a 270 or 30-06 chamber.

Tommy J., Texas


There are several cartridges that were developed from the 30-06 case, but the 270 Winchester wasn't one of them. Hard to believe, isn't it? Especially after all these years of "knowing" otherwise, and based on everything you've read up to now. 

What was to become the 270 Winchester began to be created at Winchester in 1923, based on the 30-03 Springfield cartridge case. The 30-03 was the slightly longer predecessor of the 30-06 Springfield, which was the first really dandy military cartridge for the United States. The 30-03 was loaded with a round-nose 220-grain bullet, and the military soon decided it wanted a faster and flatter-shooting round. The bullet was changed to a 150-grain flat-base spitzer, the case neck was shortened a bit for bullet ogive and overall length considerations, and the 30-06 was born. Almost all existing 30-03 Springfield rifles were modified to accept the new round, which required "setting back" the barrel and rechambering with a shorter throat. The 30-03 design went into the "dead cartridge" file until Winchester resurrected it to create the 270 Winchester. By that time, a considerable amount had been learned about the production and heat-treating of cartridge brass. Winchester didn't want shooters to rush out and start using the somewhat less rugged 30-06 military brass. The shorter neck of the 30-06 brass helped to discourage this. The 270 was loaded to 54,000 psi on the copper crusher scale, whereas the 30-06 was about 5000 psi less (depending on the era). The new 270 was released to the public in 1925 in the Model 54 Rifle. The Model 70 Winchester replaced the 54 in 1937, and a combination sweeter than sugared strawberries in whipped cream was born. 

You already know this, but for the heck of it I'm going to say it again: 30-03 means 30 caliber of 1903, and 30-06 is that same 30-caliber thing but of the 1906 design.

Owners of 270 Winchester rifles can be a little cocky about the origin of the cartridge. Thirty-ought-six stuff is everywhere you turn, from 6mm-06 through the 35 Whelan, but the 270 is the only commercial cartridge developed directly from the very first truly modern military round; the 30-03. 

Original 30-03 cartridges are usually expensive items for lucky cartridge collectors. However, for show or demonstration purposes, 270 Winchester brass can be eased open at the neck with most properly readjusted 30-06 full-length sizing dies, and a 220-grain round nose bullet can then be seated to the correct overall length. Leave the round as a "dummy," with no powder or primer.

JDC