277 Wolverine General Thoughts and Experiences?

[Tokarev]

Supposedly quieter than 300BLK in subsonic use.

Higher velocity with lighter bullets than 300BLK in supersonic use.

Looking at apples to apples (120-130gr bullets) the 277 and 300BLK don't appear to be all that different ballistically.

Where the 277 shines is with 90 grain to 100 grain bullets. The small case capacity really does a good job with velocity. On paper it looks like the 277 rivals the 6.8 with 90 to 100 grain bullets. Available reloading data says the Wolverine is running to within 90% or so of what the SPC will do.

Another plus, and a huge one in my book, is no proprietary magazines for the 277. While there are some good 6.8 mags on the market they're expensive, heavy and only hold 25 rounds. Or they're really long.

I have a barrel and some ammo on order. Fingers crossed the cartridge will live up to the promise.

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[constructor]

Where the 277 shines is with 90 grain to 100 grain bullets. The small case capacity really does a good job with velocity. On paper it looks like the 277 rivals the 6.8 with 90 to 100 grain bullets. Available reloading data says the Wolverine is running to within 90% or so of what the SPC will do.

90% sounds good huh until you figure out 90% means 200fps slower. Doesn't sound that good when you say it like that. Facts are good as long as both being compared use the same weight bullets, same length barrels run at the same peak pressure. Exaggerating the performance of one handloaded and comparing it to factory ammo of another would not be fair. Seems there is lots of that going on across boards here lately.
Hype and fanboys are normal, after a bunch of people get the product they find out the truth kind of like the guys migrating away from the BO after they find out it really doesn't drop hogs that well.

[mig1nc]

I was recently reading an article about 6mm MAX, which is interesting in that it uses 350 Legend as the parent brass, keeping the 556 bolt dimensions while gaining powder capacity.

Has there been any thought of an evolved Wolverine using the same 277 projectiles but necking down 350 Legend brass like the 6mm MAX?

[Tokarev]

I was recently reading an article about 6mm MAX, which is interesting in that it uses 350 Legend as the parent brass, keeping the 556 bolt dimensions while gaining powder capacity.

Has there been any thought of an evolved Wolverine using the same 277 projectiles but necking down 350 Legend brass like the 6mm MAX?

Mad Dog Weapons has a cartridge offering called the 27 GPC. I think GPC is General Purpose Cartridge.

Anyway, it is based off the 6.8 SPC and is essentially an Ackley Improved. Mad Dog gave the cartridge a sharper shoulder and less case taper to increase powder capacity. I've never messed with this cartridge so don't know how it actually performs and therefore can't comment on performance over standard 6.8 SPC.

I'd guess an easy way to do something .277 based would be to take existing 24 Nosler cases and size them up to take a 27 bullet. Just looking at load data, the 24 Nosler will push a 105/107 grain bullet to 2,600 FPS from a 24" barrel. The standard 6.8 SPC will push a 110 grain to a little over 2,500 FPS from a 20" barrel. So not any real performance increase but there is the benefit of using the existing .378" AR bolt. I assume the same 27 GPC case dimensions could be used but with the 24 Nosler rebated rim.



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[Sid Post]

This cartridge was designed for easy reuse of 5.56 brass and other components.

If you want more than it can give, you lose a lot of that benefit. Personally, if I were going to wildcat beyond a simple 5.56 alternative, 6.8SPC and 6.5Grendel brass are easy places to start with lots of load data available.

I considered a 30HRT but in the end, opted for a 300H'AMR being an easier 5.56-oriented option. I also looked hard at a 7mm Raptor though, I really wanted to see the 257 Raptor become a reality but, rifle builder had some COVID deaths in the family so, that one never materialized. I still might do a 7 Raptor one day though.

[Tokarev]

Another big one appears to be that the 277 Wolverine will not chamber in a rifle built for 5.56.

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[SomeOtherGuy]

Another big one appears to be that the 277 Wolverine will not chamber in a rifle built for 5.56.

That's great if true, but remember that the 300BLK was originally claimed not to chamber in a 5.56. Turns out that's only true with certain bullet shapes, seating depths, and absence of bullet setback in the case.

It's great to see innovation and I don't want to be a downer. This seems to have the most promise with those lighter bullets and 16" or longer barrels. The 90-100gr bullets don't have great BCs though. The .223 Rem case is pretty small and all these wildcats are eking out the last .1% of benefit. An extra 5 grains of case capacity would make a big difference, and 10 would be huge. Obviously that doesn't seem to be possible with the standard size magazines and bolts.

[Tokarev]

An interesting new creation is the 22 Nosler and this case might become the next big thing as far as wildcatters are concerned. With its rebated rim it would only require a new barrel and a 6.8 magazine. Maybe we'll see something like the 6mm Hagar or some type of 6.5 target cartridge based on the Nosler case.

Of course one of the big draws to the 300BLK and the 277WLV is the availability of cheap 223 parent cases.

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[Waylander]

I still don't see why the 6.5mm and especially the 6mm wildcats in the .223 case haven't taken off with the better BCs you get.

[Tokarev]

I still don't see why the 6.5mm and especially the 6mm wildcats in the .223 case haven't taken off with the better BCs you get.

That's probably because the case would have to be shortened even more to make use of the long 6mm and 6.5mm bullets; further reducing the case's powder capacity.

With that said, the 6mm Mongoose looks interesting although it partially relies on a longer barrel to achieve decent velocities.