.277" 169 wildcat bullet

[royinidaho]

Gentlemen,

There is a large elephant in the room that everbody seems to be ignoring. Is there a reliable source yet for either the 169.5 or 195 grain wildcat bullets yet?

Short answer is No for the 270 AM.

Wildcat is already in the expansion mode and will be adding more floor space and bringing on employees. They have to move to a differently zoned area.

They have quite a back log of 7mm 200 gr bullet orders.

Things will progress rapidly after the move which may even be in progress or already happened. I'm not positive though.

A personal thought - I think the 195 is a bit heavy for the 270 AM. I believe Richard's original intent was a 180 class bullet. He 'just happened' to have some long jackets that resulted in the 195s w/o trimming. I'm hoping I'm recalling things correctly.

While doing some testing we put together a 180 grain bullet. I guestimated a warm load for it. It came out with a MV of 3300. No pressure signs and it felt good but the J4 jacket wasn't up to par.

 

[azsugarbear]

Roy,

Thanks for the update. I would love to try some of the 180 gr. bullets. I shoot a 277 AM based on the 338 Lapua case. It really seemed to like the 195 grain pills. It also shot the 169.5 grainers well, but at a MV in excess of 3,400 fps. I thought I would get better barrel life with the 195's. If I rebarrel to another caliber of bullet, it opens up my choices of bullets with some major manufacturers. I don't want the cost of a rebarrel, but not being able to shoot my rig is a tremendous loss. Keep us posted.

 

[royinidaho]

az,

The 277 AM is a definite step up from the 270 AM mostly due to the much hardier Lapua brass.

I have rode this barrel pretty hard, headed towards 900 rounds and other than getting harder on the original 195s and the new lot of custom jackets she still has her original accuracy potential.

Also I've discovered no growth in COL to maintain the accuracy from the the new barrel settings.

 

[joecool]

A personal thought - I think the 195 is a bit heavy for the 270 AM. I believe Richard's original intent was a 180 class bullet. He 'just happened' to have some long jackets that resulted in the 195s w/o trimming. I'm hoping I'm recalling things correctly.

QUOTE]

Roy I have to disagree with that, mine still shoots them great as it has a low round count down the barrel. I have taken a elk with this bullet and it worked great.

195 grain bullet with a .8 BC at 3100 whats not to like?

 

[azsugarbear]

Joecool,

If memory serves me correctly from the other threads I have read on the 195's, the problem with them does not start until approx. 400+ rounds down the barrel. Until then, there were few problems reported, but after that higher round count the bullets started to come apart. I know it was a problem with the Lilja 3-groove barrels, but I can't remember if other designs also came down with the same "affliction". I am right at 350 rounds on my Lilja 3-groove in 277 AM, so I am holding my breath. Of course, without any 195's to shoot, my worries are academic anyway.

 

[joecool]

Yep that what I read too, that's the reason I don't shoot it that much. Lucky for me it's not my only APS rifle.

 

[7mmRHB]

Roy,

If your 150 NBT is losing .066 points of BC, I suspect its getting pretty rough treatment from your bbl. It may still be very accurate but the jacket is being damaged !! Whether it's the three groove or a dry lake bed throat from the 900 rounds you've put through it, who knows.

------ RHB