Hornady SuperFormance InterBond .270 Winchester
The
270 Cal .277 inch diameter 130 gr InterBond® bullet from Hornady (item
#27309) has a published G1 ballistic coefficient of .460, with a sectional
density of .242. The bullet itself falls into the class of premium bonded
hunting bullets along with the Nosler AccuBond and the Swift Scirocco.
Although it would be a lot more convenient if all bullets and loads gave the same accuracy in all rifles, that's never been the case and never will. We don't like to hear that of course, but what works in “my” barrel might yield similar accuracy in your barrel, better, or perhaps won't group well at all.
There is good reason for finding the load your rifle likes and sticking with it. If all we did was take the same animals of the identical weight, age, overall health, at the very same range with the same shot placement over and over again, the selection process would be simpler. That isn't the case, for hunting shots are never truly identical, no two wound profiles in live tissue are either, so the best that can be hoped for is a reasonable compromise.
This is even more important when the game could be anything from a 160 pound or so blesbok to a substantially heavier, more robust waterbuck or wildebeest. Factory published ammunition velocities are invariably inaccurate, regardless of who publishes them for a reasons of ambient conditions, barrel and chamber variations, barrel length, and so forth.
In my Browning X-Bolt Medallion .270 Win with a 22 inch barrel, the “2950 fps” 140 grain Accubonds averaged 2878 fps across the screens. The 3200 fps Hornady SuperFormance loads hit 3125 fps. In the most recent round of testing with four different .270 rifles, the two most consistent shooters were the Weatherby Vanguard Series 2 Sporter and the Browning X-Bolt. While the Weatherby did far better with 140 grain AccuBonds, the tables were turned with the Browning that grouped inside one inch, consistently, at 203 yards with the Hornady SuperFormance loads.
This load, out the Browning X-Bolt 22 inch, has a maximum point blank range of about 309 yards assuming a six inch kill zone. Shooting tighter than 1/2 MOA at 200 yards from a hunting rifle with a lightweight profile barrel with hunting ammunition doesn't happen every day. That's what it does with this X-Bolt, though it hardly means it will do it automatically with another .270. The Hornady SuperFormance Interbond is as flat-shooting as any factory .270 Winchester ammunition that can be had and, at least in this X-Bolt, one of the most accurate 200 yard factory loads I've tested. It is well worth anyone's time trying a box to see exactly what it does for you.
©1999 - 2013 Randy Wakeman. All Rights Reserved.
