.270-8x68 with 180 grain Woodleigh bullet

Ok... I've followed the thread on the .270-300WM with great interest. Now I am finally going to do "mine".
This is the first post for my new toy. I'm hoping to get it out of hock by winter. I'm starting with a Remington long magnum action that will be trued and have a new bolt before screwing the barrel onto it. I got the barrel on here some years ago before I even thought about heavy bullets. I've lost the seller's name but the barrel is already chambered in .270-8x68. It is a 1-10 twist. The case capacity of the 8x68s is greater than a .270 Weatherby. Of course I never even inquired specifics about the chambering because I couldn't find brass for it ANYwhere, at the time. It might be a .270 Booboo. I have acquired .338 Norma cases with the intent of doing a .270-.338 Norma! Now I can find Norma, Lapua and RWS 8x68s cases! Eventually I will gather up all the .338 Norma cases I have and sell them.
If it's a Tooley chambering then it is improved with a 30 degree shoulder. Some of you may recognize that name. He is a benchrest shooter of some note. One of the things he did was make up non-belted "magnum" cartridges for long range hole boring from the 8x68s. I've read that some shooters in England still shoot them. They were collectively named "Booboo", as in 7mm Booboo, etc, because the initial reamer maker somehow made a mistake. Hence, Booboo, but the name apparently stuck.
Should we need to adjust the headspace when the barrel is installed I will go with a 40 degree improved chamber. The Booboo is a Tooley proprietary chambering and I already have the everything with a gunsmith. Then again there is something exciting about that 40 degree shoulder!
My go-to bullet was to be the 165 Matrix. I'd even corresponded with Matrix to see for sure that I had a slim chance of them stabilizing in the 1-10 barrel. Then Matrix changed hands. The .270 dies didn't come with the business and the original owner doesn't plan on making them for anyone but himself. The dies cost way too much for the new owner to bust into that caliber. So I am "stuck" sort of.
Two questions: 1) Has anyone even heard of the .270-8x68 chambering? Does anybody have experience with the 180 grain .270 Woodleigh bullets?
I've written to Woodleigh for load data. On Midway there were several reviews where people claimed to be able to stabilize them in 1-10 twist barrels. They are flat base spitzers, by the look of them. The Ballistic coefficient is a whopping .513. I'm looking at strictly hunting bullets. From info I have seen a Weatherby has pushed them to 3000 fps and they were stable, as in they grouped well. For an elk bullet out to 6-700 yards here at 8600-10,000 feet I should be golden.
Whew! So that's my start. No pictures yet. Been trying to get to this for YEARS!

I have never heard of that cartridge. I do have a lot of experience with Caliber .277 is several different cartridges. With 1/10 twist you are limited to 150gr and below. I know people will swear they have great results with heaver bullets in 1/10 but my experience is that to stabilize heavy bullets you need a 1/8 twist barrel. I have a 270 WSM with 1/8 barrel that is amazingly accurate and is sending the Berger 170 EOLs at 3050fps. If I wanted to go bigger I would go with a 27 Nosler with a 1/8 and the 170s. The 150gr ABLRs shoot ok and would work with your twist. Is the dies and brass for a 270-8X68 not going to be cost prohibitive?

I have a 6.5x68 Schuler Imp with a 35 degree shoulder. It's basically a 6.5-300wm without a belt and uses better RWS brass. I also have 2 6.5-300wm's and 3 7-300wm's but I shoot RWS brass in them too.

Starting from scratch the 270wsm or 27 Nosler would be hard to beat.

I drew-up a bunch of wildcats on the 8x68 Schuler case several years ago. But not a .270 version, as I am not a .277 caliber fan. I'll be checking back to see your results.

But, like was stated by IdahoCTD, because they have since released the new Nosler cartridges, it would just be a lot easier to buy one of them, because they will produce basically the same performance.

MudRunner2005 said:

I drew-up a bunch of wildcats on the 8x68 Schuler case several years ago. But not a .270 version, as I am not a .277 caliber fan. I'll be checking back to see your results.

But, like was stated by IdahoCTD, because they have since released the new Nosler cartridges, it would just be a lot easier to buy one of them, because they will produce basically the same performance.

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The barrel is chambered and at 26", it's a dang 1-10 and I hesitate to shorten it. I understand the trials of doing a wildcat. RWS cases are a bit pricey @ about $3.50 each but they are notorious for durability. My thought is to see what will happen as I wear out the barrel. Then I can rebarrel it in a faster twist if I want to.

I had corresponded with Marshal Ambrose when he still had Matrix. He said many of his customers used the 165 in 1-10 barrels with complete satisfaction but he didn't recommend it. Following that up is the info from Berger that your BC actually increases with the faster twist.

As I said in my original post Midway had 5 reviews of the Woodleigh 180s where most guys posting had 1-10 barrels and getting around 1" groups. Hunting accuracy but probably not good enough to stretch it out. The bullets are not that streamlined though, with only a .513 BC.

sedancowboy said:

I have never heard of that cartridge. I do have a lot of experience with Caliber .277 is several different cartridges. With 1/10 twist you are limited to 150gr and below. I know people will swear they have great results with heaver bullets in 1/10 but my experience is that to stabilize heavy bullets you need a 1/8 twist barrel. I have a 270 WSM with 1/8 barrel that is amazingly accurate and is sending the Berger 170 EOLs at 3050fps. If I wanted to go bigger I would go with a 27 Nosler with a 1/8 and the 170s. The 150gr ABLRs shoot ok and would work with your twist. Is the dies and brass for a 270-8X68 not going to be cost prohibitive?

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Dies will be consistent with any custom die. From what I can see Whidden will be less than $200. Sure, that's about 5 times what a set of standard Redding dies costs. If you get the micrometer competition dies they're comparable.

I've got 2-.270 Winchesters and a .270 WSM. All have factory 1-10 barrels. I love the caliber. The real popularity of heavier for caliber bullets for the .277 is a relatively new phenomenon. I like it. However, it's not possible to go back and remake decisions we've already made. The barrel in question is 1-10 and chambered for .270-8x68.
I am at 8600 feet and hunt higher. There is a chance that heavier bullets will stabilize here even with the 1-10 twist. My guess is getting the heavier bullets to the 3000 fps range will be the ticket to even marginal stabilization with the 1-10.

Well this sounds interesting-

I have shot 1-10 twist barrels with the matrix with very nice results. I have for the life of me and about 300 rounds and 60 combinations NOT been able to get the Berger 170s to shoot well in a 1-8 twist 270-300 win mag.

The Nosler LRAB in 150 will shoot lights out in a 1-10 270 AI at about 3200 fps

Of course the Cutting Edge 140s are what I settled on, and they just came out with a 125g Maximus for more expansion and with your velocity capability that could be interesting in a 1-10

As sometimes happens plans have changed. My barrel will be chambered in a .270 WSM. The ongoing and extra cost of the 6.8x68 was a show stopper for me. I'm into shooting, not tinkering. The revelation came as I was able to set up my reloading area after I moved. I have a TON, literally, of reloading components to use up. I'll go for a faster twist on it if I'm able to shoot it out. My goal is do some loading this winter, reprove what I find next summer and shot the heck out of what works!

The Hock said:

.....Following that up is the info from Berger that your BC actually increases with the faster twist.

I think it also helps terminal performance.

.......As I said in my original post Midway had 5 reviews of the Woodleigh 180s where most guys posting had 1-10 barrels and getting around 1" groups. Hunting accuracy but probably not good enough to stretch it out. The bullets are not that streamlined though, with only a .513 BC.........

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Never had one, but plugged into an online calculator the measurements from Midway, and it indicated 1-10 should be good.

My guess is that .513 BC is a soft number.

Have fun!

L2R 110 grain (all .277), 130 grain, 150 grain and 180 grain Woodleigh.
Haven't loaded the 180s yet, just got them.

Finally loaded some 180s in 270 Winchester. Posting here in case it helps somebody. Only loaded 7 so far. Stringing high with cold barrel.? Used imr7828 ssc . 50 to 52.5 hodgdon data. Gonna load a few at 51 and 52.5 and try those next.

Hey! How did I miss this thread earlier!?!? I've played with the 180 woodleighs in a standard 270 Winchester! Got a chronographed 2600 fps with low es from a 22 inch barrel using Winchester brass, magnum primers, and reloader 25, no pressure signs at all. As has been stated, the 10 twist will stabilize but not optimally. Couldn't get better than 2 inches, was a fun experiment, called it a day. very cool project you've got going here

Calvin45 said:

Hey! How did I miss this thread earlier!?!? I've played with the 180 woodleighs in a standard 270 Winchester! Got a chronographed 2600 fps with low es from a 22 inch barrel using Winchester brass, magnum primers, and reloader 25, no pressure signs at all. As has been stated, the 10 twist will stabilize but not optimally. Couldn't get better than 2 inches, was a fun experiment, called it a day. very cool project you've got going here

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Shot today, see pictures.
I am going to load 5 more each of 180s using 51 grains and 52.5 grains, IMR7828 ssc. Going to move out to 150 yards and see how that goes. My range is set up at 75 and 150...out to 400 plus cause I use trees to make my bench spots.

Nice. Velocity?