Flattest Shooting Cartridge Ever!

The 50 BMG is an excellent hunting round, if your hunting light armored vehicles…..lol

For general hunting with the cartridges used in this demonstration I chose the 270 win. It gives me the energy and maximum point blank range for my desired game and the terrain in which I live.

Yet another great vid, Ron! As usual, very thorough. About 30 years ago I made one of my dumber mistakes in life when I sold a pre-64 Winchester Model 70 in .264 Winchester Mag "Westerner" - the 26 inch barrel model. It was the only rifle I ever owned that shot flatter then my .257 Weatherby. I'm sure it would be one of the top contenders for the "flattest" at least out to 600 yards. Thanks again!!! (And thanks for including a bit of footage with "Covey!"

What stands out to me isn’t which cartridge is number one. If you step back and look at the results, the 7mm Rem Mag is right there in second place in most of the categories. To me that makes it best overall. The first hunting rifle I ever bought was a Ruger M77 in 7mm, back in 1977. I sure wish I’d kept that beauty!

I find myself looking forward to your videos like I used to look forward to Saturday morning cartoons as a kid.

I appreciate how you mentioned that for long range you need sectional density, low wind deflection rather than flat shooting abilities. Still very interesting discussion, thank you

I was really glad to see the 220 Swift on the list! I grew up hunting whitetails with a 220 and I LOVE it!!! Everyone laughs about the size but let me tell you it does the job really well. It’s all about shot placement.

Great info as always Ron. As an Australian who used to Cull Feral Animals from cats, wild dogs, pigs, donkey's, camels, horses, scrub bull and water buffalo over almost 20 years in National Parks and on Private Properties we would use various calibres. The mainstay calibre we used was the 300Win Mag running a 150 or 165gn Nosler Ballistic Tip but the 270Win with the 130 or 150gn Nosler Ballistic Tip was also used a lot and on the bigger stuff we had the faithful 375H&H and 458Win Mag among multiple others. We always tried to use the best tool for the job if we were stretching out to 600-650 meters the 300Win Mag all day but anything under that we could choose others which would usually be the 270Win or even a 30-30Win.

I have hunted my entire life and have been a hunting guide half of my life and got a 220 swift in a Remington rifle with a fluted staneless bull barrel and I love it . It’s heavy but I have killed 200 lb whitetail and audad sheep with it, it does the job but it’s all about bullet placement with it . People laugh when they see the bullets and say how can you kill a deer with that but it works and I would not be afraid to shoot anything with it . Thanks for all the information you give us .

Dog: “Ron is talking to himself again. I think he needs company...”

Great video! Back in the late 70's, I had a 7 mm Remington Mag. I was going to college in Southern Oregon at the time, which meant I was POOR. I did a lot of long range rockchuck varmint hunting when I should have been attending classes, and with my "poor man's reloader" (Lee Loader - "Pound the round reloader" for you cage fighting enthusiasts), I began to get a little crazy with a bit too much powder sending the rounds. (Cases were starting to crack is how I knew I was using too much powder). I backed off the amount of powder I was using in each round, yet still used just enough to keep from cracking the casings. I say the above to say that opening day of Blacktail Deer hunting season in 1972, a nice 3-point buck out about 50 yards presented me with a 45 degree angle neck shot. (I don't remember now what weight bullet I was using, unfortunately, nor what kind of powder I was using in the round). At any rate, the bullet penetrated the hide, but upon finding neck muscle on the inside -- instead of traveling it's expected path and exiting the neck on the other side -- the bullet did what I called an explosion/ricochet -- it turned sharply and followed the neck muscle layer right into the chest area. Bullet fragments continued to go into the upper chest cavity and destroyed the right shoulder meat. Fragments of the bullet blew past the shoulder and tore up the lungs and guts. I never gutted a more messy, stinky buck in all my life than that one! The main point of telling the story is that you can load rounds way too hot for hunting edible game! (Duhhhh ...). The second point in telling the story is that I had a 3x9 Leopold scope on the rifle and got hit above my right eye from too much recoil TWICE lying down shooting 'chucks on the other side of the canyon. "Scope STARS" are not a nice thing to "see." "Scope POKES" are not a nice thing to "feel". To this day ... 53 years later, at age 75, I STILL have a flinching - trigger jerking problem. Even shooting a PELLET gun until I fire a few rounds! By the way ... I sold that rifle at a pawn shop a few years later because I burned the barrel out with too many HOT Lee Loaded rounds. Longer range accuracy became worse and worse was how I knew.

Another great video Ron! I love your common sense approach and logical thinking. One thing that has a huge impact in these results is the faster twist rifling used in the ‘super-duper long range whiz-bang’ calibers developed relatively recently. The 6.8 Westerner immediately comes to mind. If manufacturers would equip a .270 Win. with a 1/8” twist rather than the standard 1/10” used forever, it could utilize a heavier, sleeker VLD type bullet and get a lot better performance. That goes for a lot of other ‘standard’ cartridges too. And sir, you are totally correct, bullet drop is consistent and can be compensated for easily. Wind drift is variable, and can be in different directions at different ranges along the bullets path.

I have that P.O. Ackley book along with Elmer Keith's "Hell, I was There", had them since the mid 80's and no neither are for sale. Both excellent reading and full of information.

Thanks Ron ! I Love the .220 swift !! Hope it makes a come back !

Excellent video! I am a bench rest shooter, and so was my Dad. We also took numerous trips to Nebraska and South Dakota to hunt prairie dogs. My Dad was always a fan of the 220 swift, and had alot of literature from Ackley. The 220 swift is the only caliber I use for bench rest shooting, and also prairie dog hunting. My bench guns have had 1000's of rounds through them, and my heavy barreled hunting guns (Remington 40X's) have had even more rounds through them. All the rifles still shoot VERY well. No "barrel burnout" like they claimed in the 1950's. Thanks for the interesting video!

I had a 1969 Shooters Bible back when thats how we learned so much about Guns and Cartridges.In the back of it was an article how the Native Alaskans used nothing but the 220 Swift on Caribou.It said it would drop a Caribou faster than any other caliber they had ever used.They said it would drop right on the spot or just spin in a circle and then drop after that.Said it was the cheapest to shoot and the most effective.It was just a 2 page article but was so well written I have never forgotten it the Story and then talking about how it preformed was so amazing.It said the speed at which it hit them just shocked the nervous system.Really glad to hear you confirm what the article said back in that 1969 Shooters Bible.I read it so much the cover came off so finally had to toss it.That 220 Swift is one great hunting round.Enjoyed your video it was eye opener.

Another great video Ron. 58 years with the .270. I'm old school and I'm staying there......lol.

Outstanding analysis and computation young man! I agree with you. Your videos are informational and we'll made!

I do appreciate your knowledge and I learn something new with each video; and this is from a gun guy that's been in the industry for years. Kudos!

Love this breakdown Ron. I own a 338/378, my chrony shows factory loads at 3300 to 3450 with 210 grain partitions but I hand load for a more constant velocity at 3300 to 3350. Still my favorite shooting for all big game