Rebarreling a 270wsm?

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Hey guys,

The other day while mowing I was listening to the Mancast and thinking about a gun that I was gifted years ago. I chose it based on how it looked not knowing much about the caliber other than it was new at the time, sounded cool, and would do what I wanted. The gun is chambered in 270 WSM with 1-10 twist 24" barrel.

I live and hunt in western Oregon, specifically the coastal range and the Cascades. Thick steep rugged terrain, short brushy shots, and big open clearings that temp me to take shots I probably shouldn’t. Often due to the terrain I find myself in I favor one of my other rifles with a shorter 20" barrel over my 24" 270WSM’s. This has sparked an idea and questions for you all and Jim @backfire.

How would a 20’’ faster twist 1-8 maybe 1-8.5 barrel do on a 270WSM? Would my velocities drop to near a standard 270 Win and would the faster twist allow me to step into heavier bullets 160grn-180grn? Giving me a short brush/ truck gun in a fast flat shooting caliber with heavy higher BC bullets? Would it be 6.8 Western ish?
I could be wrong in my thinking as I still have limited knowledge of all this and a lot to learn, but it seemed like an interesting idea to give an old gun a new life.

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Fine question and I’m not sure. I don’t own a 270wsm so I don’t know if I can answer that.

However, if you’re rebarrelling anyway, why not just rebarrel to 6.8 western? Then you have more capacity, a cartridge with more of a future, faster twist, and you can still load it down if you want less recoil.

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You feel the 6.8W has a good future in store?

I’m still a bit hesitant with that one. I think it’s a fine cartridge, but just not convinced about how well it’s going to do given everything that’s going on with it so far

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I feel like the 6.8 western’s future is a lot more certain than 270wsm. Really, I can’t see companies chambering that cartridge for new guns anymore because of the twist rate. So it’s a good cartridge but I expect it to just continue to slowly decline.

I don’t know if 6.8 western will ever go fully mainstream but now that Christensen, Winchester, browning, and ADG brass are on board, I feel like momentum is SLOWLY building. I see them in stores regularly.

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