Bison Armory has been making barrels for subsonic 6.8 SPC use for many years now. Ideal bullets for subsonic 6.8 SPC are 180 to 200 grains and are hard to find. The market for these bullets has been restricted to 6.8 SPC Subsonic ammunition in conjunction with 1:7 twist barrels. This market by itself has had limited growth due to the lack of projectiles available because the market is small. This is a classic catch-22 for anyone who wants to hunt and shoot subsonic with the 6.8 SPC.
The introduction of the 6.8 Western in 2021 has made it possible for things to change. With 1:8 and 1:7.5 twist barrels, and case capacity around 75 grains H2O, the 180 and 200 grain .277 caliber bullets have another market. I was able to test fire the 6.8 Western with 200 grain Woodleigh bullets recently and the results were exellent.
Shot from a Browning X-Bolt, the ammunition is capable of 1-MOA performance. At a muzzle velocity close to 2500 fps, the 200 grain bullet has 2775 ft-lb of muzzle energy. Excellent for deer and Elk hunting.
These are long bullets with a substantial bearing surface. The rifle just came in this week and is barely broken in. The barrel is fairly light weight compared with target barrels, yet it held up under shooting and produced good groups.
First group was shot on large highpower target as I didn’t have a 100 yard zero for the new rifle yet. This load was 48 grains of Accurate 4350 loaded to 2.745 OAL with Winchester brass and Remington 9-1/2 primers.
Next up 48.9 grains of Accurate 4350. Gordons Reloading Tool predicts 2477 fps with this combination. The single lone round on the upper left of the target is a 48.5 grain load to check pressure as I pushed the numbers up. The fired capacity of the cases measured 77 grains of H2O. Next time I’ll bring a Lab Radar and confirm these numbers, as well as run the round out to 300 yards. GRT puts this load at 49.8 ksi
We should have the particulars on these bullets from Woodleigh soon. Best guess is that the bullets will be available in 6 to 12 months, given the time required for manufacturing and import from Australia.