Jeff Cooper quote

The Colonel is rumoured to have made the following chioce remark:

'Winchester announces a 270 Short, which we need like a V7 automobile engine.'

Anyone care to disagree?

As long as 'need' is included I'll go along with the Col. on this one. It's got to where writers and gunmakers have to invent a niche to justify making another chambering. By the time a shooter 'needs' a .270 Short he should be a handloader that can taylor loads for a 6.5x55 or a 7mm to do anything the Short can do. This plague of 'Magnums' has got shooters trying shots beyond their ability and flinching while doing it.

Bill Van Houten (USA Ret) 'No matter how hard you try, you can't throw a potato chip very far.'

That Mr. Cooper said it? Or whether the .270 WSM fills a useful niche?

With regard to the former, it certainly sounds like something he would say. As for the latter, the .270 WSM will do everything the .270 Weatherby Magnum has been doing for decades, but in a half inch shorter rifle...

Good hunting!

Agreed. My thoughts and reasoning- exactly why I bought a new .30-06 instead of one of the new magnums. I know my limitations.

Yes. I greatly admire the colonel, and have corresponded with him on occasion.

Here's what I like about the new cartridges:

1. They're inherently more accurate, for the same reason the 'PPC' line of cartridges has swept the bench-rest world. Powder is burned more consistently.

2. They're more efficient. Less powder can be used to achieve the same ballistics as longer cartridges, because of the efficient burning in the short, fat case.

3. Actions can be shorter, and therefore stiffer, which contributes to accuracy. And the overall length of the rifle is a bit shorter, which never hurts.

4. They're beltless, and their superior headspacing also contributes to accuracy.

5. Compared to standard calibers, they hit harder and hit farther. If we didn't think velocity and flat trajectory were important, we'd still all be shooting .30/30s.

Finally, this is the 21st century. Cartridge development did not end with the .30/06 or .270. If Jack O'Connor were alive today, I have a feeling that he'd check out the new .270 WSM and 7mm WSM!

The colonel's right, too, about needing new guns to shoot our cartridges in. We're long overdue for new developments in barrel making that will allow accurate shooting for 10,000 rounds in the hottest calibers, and we need new barrel materials that will accommodate velocities in the 5,000 - 7,000 fps range. We need muzzle brakes that will reduce recoil, but not blow our ears off!

to justify making another chambering ... This plague of 'Magnums' has got shooters trying shots beyond their ability and flinching while doing it.

Bill, you are spot on!

New cartridges are little more than a sales gimmick. There hasn't been a major Browning/Mauser/Garand-type development for four decades now.

Inventing a truly new firearm is hard; inventing a 'new' cartridge is easy. Any buying into a different cartridge requires another firearm (or at least another barrel, etc.) and different ammo. This forces the purchase of another firearm and ammo/components/reloading dies. Of course, that new acquisition will require sights, accessories, maybe a new gun safe to hold it all... $$$

Gun and ammo companies can (and seem to) crank out a 'hot new' cartridge every month. Their lap dogs on the publishing side are only too happy to praise this 'hot new' for answering a question that nobody ever asked.

The fact that none of this doesn't make us better shooters, does little to get more people participating, and doesn't promote shooting to the general public never gets mentioned.

Remington, a gun company, sponsors a NASCAR team. So does the NRA. The MBA-types in the gun industry realize that spending advertising dollars on car events is more cost effective (a better CPM) than spending those dollars on shooting events.

That's how pathetic we've become.

Fast X, John M. Buol Jr. Director, HSA

Bill,

Pray tell, WHAT are we to believe the .270 Short can do that a 7mm/08 or a ..260 Remington can't do? For that matter it seems they've reinvented the 7x57mm Mauser.

Well Cooper doesn't need it, he'll just use his .308. I guess we need old Jeff like we need a scope on an antique 30-30.

hi,

just off the topic... what does the '-06' refer to in '30-06' ??

Right now I'm in the process of feeding and training a 7X57 Mauser to shoot up to my standards. Once it will I'll twist the ends of my mustache and sneer at anyone shooting a .270 Short. Bill Van Houten (USA Ret) 'No matter how hard you try, you can't throw a potato chip very far.'

Actually apropos of what this thread is about . The ' 06 refers to the military round adopted in 1906 to be used in the 'Springfield' (US Rifle cal.30 M-1903.) Almost immediately adapted and adopted by civilian hunters. So for all intents and purposes the ' 06 has been been turning in stelar performances for a century. Its been used for everything from prairie dogs and rock chucks to Kodiak and Polar bears And perfprmed well

To be perfectly honest, I think the developement of hunting calibers could have stopped with the ' 06 and no hunter of Western Hemisphere game would be worse off. (Africa/Asia is another story) HOWEVER, I don't own a 30-06. I chose five other calibers. Bill Van Houten (USA Ret) 'No matter how hard you try, you can't throw a potato chip very far.'