Does anyone have any experience with the .277 Wolverine in AR15?  
Any suggestions on where barrels can be obtained?

I'm considering an alternate caliber for a future AR build and I've pretty much narrowed it down to 300 BLK or 277 Wolverine.

I like both of these because brass can be manufactured from existing 5.56 / 223 which I have plenty of.  Also, these two utilize bullets that I already reload for 270 Winchester, 30-06 Springfield, and 30-30 Winchester.

Just my opinion, but I don't understand the desire for AR calibers based on the 223 necked up.  The case capacity is just to limiting.  The 300 blk does fill a role, easily suppressed and decent performance but if you are going to go through the trouble of anything other than the 223/5.56 get a bigger case(again 300 blk is a exception if your going to suppress it)  Peformance gains are only at short range vs the 5.56 and they don't come close to the 6.8 or grendel performance wise.  Those bullets that your using in the 270 won't work well in the .277 and the 300 blk is also going to require different bullets than the 06, the 30-30 bullets assuming they feed should be good to go.

Thanks for the info.

I'm also looking at the 6.8 SPC a bit as an alternative.

What I'm looking for is something that is better suited for medium game (e.g., white tailed deer or hog) hunting but is still based on the AR15 platform.  I'm not wanting to jump up to the AR10 platform for the 308.  Case / component availability is another factor.

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they will require mags,bolt and barrel(just build a new upper and buy a few mags!)   but the 6.8 and 6.5 grendel are probably as good as it gets in the AR 15 platform.  If you want to shoot game bigger than deer or won't shoot over 200 the big bores are good as well.  Brass for all of them is found pretty easy but its not cheap, probably better of buying 100 rounds of factory ammo shooting it then start reloading.  Of the big bores here in PA the only one you can buy off the shelf ammo for is the bushmaster.

I thought about getting one too, but with how popular the .300BLK is I decided to got that route instead. I have a 458socom & a 300 Weatherby Mag so I already buy enough expensive ammo as it is. All that being said some of the subsonic suppressed 277W videos were impressive.

I would look at the 6.5 Grendel it's becoming a very popular round and is going to give you the performance you want, with less expensive ammo. i have a 300blk and I was not impressed this deer season even under 100yds it struggles taking down big whitetail, next year I will probably go 458 SOCOM, but if I weren't restricted to a pistol with an under 16" barrel 6.5 Grendel would be my choice. In fact I am building one of them in a rifle platform as well.

A lot of people don't realize that even sub-16", 6.5 grendel is incredibly efficient and effective. A 12" grendel will probably do anything you want out of an AR15-platform hunting rifle as well or better than the alternatives in the same length barrel (if same then with the option of cheap steel plinking ammo). There is a lot of recent info floating around about velocities and ballistic coefficients. 

I have a 300 BO 16" because I wanted to hunt whitetail on the AR platform, and didn't have confidence in .223 for a clean kill.  Most shots in NH are at or inside 100 yards.  We have a lot of guys who "brush" hunt up here with mini-30s, sks, m1 carbines, 30-30, etc. and the 300 is basically in this group.  

I also have been interested in the 277 and another project.  I want a more distance oriented AR (without jumping to the ar10 sizes) and have been waffling between 6.8, 6.5, and 277.  Be interested in what others post

I got both a 300 blk and a 277 Wolverine..  I like both... The 277 is the first wildcat i have played with and have enjoyed working up loads and bullet choices for it..   Its right now my favorite of the 1 due to a bit more speed than the blackout...  Going to try in on some of the local feral hogs soon...

I have a .277 and a 6.8.  I've taken 11 deer with the 6.8 and really like it...but it (and the 6.5) requires proprietary mags and bolt.  The .277 does a lot of what the 6.8 can do.  It's very efficient, and off the top of my head only loses about 150fps to the 6.8.  I believe the .277 will be a great 200-yard whitetail cartridge for my boy's first deer rifle.

I'm a fan of my 6.8, and wouldn't say "no" if someone wanted to give me a 6.5.  But frankly a lot of people don't need that kind of horsepower, because they're not shooting deer at 300+ yards.  And inside of 200 or so, the deer won't know the difference between the .277 and those two cartridges.  But the owner will notice that mags and bolts are easier to find.  

Mags and bolts aren't hard to find(online) for the 6.8 or 6.5 but they are more expensive, especially the bolts.  They 277 looks impressive for what it does in that case.  I wonder if the 22 nosler is going to spark a bunch of wildcats and later factory offerings.  Won't use the same mags as the 5.56 but will use same bolt.

Me to!  I stumbled over this thread looking for info on the 22 Nosler.  

My 277 WLV was assembled late 2015.  I'm much more impressed with it vs my two 300 BLK, assembled at the same time.  I did get a nice WLV barrel, the blk rifle is generic cheap internet barrel.  

I'm only going by accuracy at 100 yards with good bullets.  I've yet to get a deer with either (one attempt with the 300 BLK).  My M1A had no such trouble and definitely did the job on the two I got, so I'm good.

For me the next thing was to be a 6.8 SPC, and with that why not a 22 Nosler.....................  

It was that slippery slope that put me in the WLV camp rather than the many other AR cartridges available.

Sold my 300BO to build a Wolverine. Still have the BO dies in the cabinet.

The Wolvy can do anything the BO can do. Muzzle & 300yd energy is right together for supers... Subs are a function of mass at a set velocity so heavier bullet wins that game.. Except it won't go boom when loaded into a 556 chamber.



Part in bold: Already is. I and another guy have 35cal wilds that we can use 22Nosler brass with. Ordering some brass soon. I believe a guy is working on a 7mm variant as well, IIRC.

It's not Hornady brass but it will get the job done.

18" middy mocked up, never assembled. Someday.

I have the 6mm Mongoose by the same company from what I have seen this round rocks.
I have been working up some loads and the case is just fine for pushing quality rounds down range
I have yet to try the 277

Rebuilding mine now
13" tan rail

Mad Dog Weapons Systems is now a SAAMI member.  We can only assume that SAAMI approval of the 277 Wolverine is close at hand.

Shameless plug, I've got an 18" barrel in the EE

Por que?  Decided the cartridge isn't worth the effort?  Doesn't meet your performance expectation?

Sounds amazing on paper but it was just "one of those projects"
Sat on the bench for 12+ months with no traction, never mounted in an upper let alone shot.

I bought it for a 300yd hunting cartridge. 3 young kids and I haven't been hunting in years.

I just want to focus on other projects, sorry to see it go

I know how that goes.

The cartridge does look really good on paper. I have recently ordered a barrel and I'm pretty anxious to load some ammo and try it out.

I have 300blk, 6.8, and 308.  I thought hard about 6.5 Grendel, 6.8, and 277 and went 6.8 due to factory ammo availability.

300 black is best if you want a 8" or 10" barrel.  Should kill deer to 200 yards with supers.  I have not fallen in love with 300 black.  its main function is suppressor use or PDW in my opinion.  

277 is better than 300 black, but not as good in short barrels.  277 ammo is hard to come by.  You would have to reload and give up power and range to Grendel and 6.8.  It should be fine to 200 yards on deer.  Maybe even 300yd.

6.5G and 6.8 are splitting hairs to me.  Both need special bolts and magazines, but that's no big deal.   Both should be good on deer to 400 yards WITH THE RIGHT AMMO.  I consider 6.8 better for hunting and Grendel better for long range paper.
6.8 has more factory ammo for hunting.  It throws bullets as heavy as 120gr over 2500fps from a 16".  Mine likes factory 95gr TTSX's at 2,775 from a 16" and groups 5 shots from 5/8" to 2" @ 100yd depending on how clean the barrel is.  Hornady HPBT match is 1 MOA.
6.5 Grendel is getting more options for ammo, but less selection than 6.8.  Despite less selections, the few factory offerings are all you would need anyway.  Wolf makes cheap plinking ammo even.  Over 400 yds, Grendel walks off and leaves the 6.8.

Right now it is especially for those who don't handload.  But Mad Dog is trying to rectify that.  He's got a crowdfund thing going on and is trying to raise money for 277 Wolverine headstamped brass and some SAAMI testing equipment.  

That's the "downside" to these two cartridges.  Does anyone make a decent 6.5 mag?  6.8 mags from Barrett or PRI are good stuff but they are somewhat expensive.