Yep back when I first was looking at the 80s before the testing I told him none were ideal of the 6.8. I talked to him a number of times. I asked him to build two bullets specifically for the 6.8. One specifically to get the maximum range possible while fitting well in the mag and working specifically withe the DMR chamber and the other a hunting bullet like the 80 but with a better design for the 6.8 to increase BC and SD. I had a program I got from Dan Lilja that allows you to work on bullet designs. C and I found the best ratio and balance of BC, OAL, weight, velocity potential came in with a weight of 95-105 grains with 100 being smack in the middle. Gerard worked it from his side and agreed as can be seen. C and myself gave him all the info he needed and what the specifics were. He contacted me right before SHOT and said he was getting close and would contact me when he finished. Last week I got a email from him. They are exactly what I we wanted and he was hoping they would work out to.
GS Custom 100 SP 6.8 bullet:
The BC for the SP which is the LR one goes up with vel. It has a needle point tip. It is .402 @ 2900 which based on his designs and what C and I have gotten should get us to around 2900 from a 16 and from a 18-20 around 300. AT 3K the BC is .410 which makes it the highest BC bullet. This will be the best that a 6.8 at mag length can be had. I ran the numbers on it and at 3K it will be super sonic at 1K. It absolutely destroys the best mag length 6.5G in drop out to 1K and time to target. Even the 16 beat a 20 G out to 600 in all categories and still has less drop at 1K but is barely super sonic. But this bullet will absolutely stretch the 6.8 far far beyond what anyone thought was possible. It will clearly make it the best 600 yard shooter. Compared to the G with a 123 Lapua going 2500 both with a 300 zero the Gs has 57.4" of drop at 600 compared to 74.5 for the Gren. A dif of 17.1" that is huge. Stretch it all the way to 1K and it has 308.9 versus 368 for a incredible 59.1" or 5 feet less drop. It also arrives when the G round has yet to pass 900 yards. Drop the 6.8 down to a 16 @2900 compared to the same G. At 300 it is going 2239fps compared to 2046fps of the G. At 600 it is at 1670 with only 62.9 in drop compared to 1642fps and 74.5 in drop. Still 28 faster with a 11.6"s about a foot less drop. Even going all the way out to 1Kk which is not realistic for either it is still traveling @ 1134 which is technically still super sonic but really transonic. It has 341.6 drop. Compared that to the 20" G with a 4" barrel advatage finally does pass it in vel with a 1224 but in drop its still handliy beat by the SPC GS with 368" in drop which has the SPC beating it by over 2 feet with 26.4 less drop, It also still arrives even out at 1K just a bit ahead of the G. This is what can be done when a bullet is made specifically for the 6.8 in an AR. Other that the 110 HPBT by Hrdy no other bullet has been made specially for the 6.8. Noy until last yeast were even high BC bullets of the match type even made for the .370 Win other than GS.
GS Custom 100 HV
I know some may feel there are enough good choices for hunting bullets but unless you actually see how well there HV bullet perform you would agree there are a set above. First it a true HP and has a BT. The BC is still impressive for this design at .313. It will hit the same vel as the SP. They are accurate to the .25 moa range. Both HTR and I have both shot sub .5 moa groups with the 80s. To give youa bit of background on Gerard the owner of GS customs. Up until the last few years there were a shop that made bullet specially for hunting African game from Gazelle to Elephant. This guy knows what it takes to drop animals of all sizes. They got such a good rep thru word of mouth by PH and Hunters they grew and then started expanding with the SP LR target rounds. Because they are some precise they perform very predictable. They need very low vel to start expanding. It starts at 900-1000. The HP is fully clover leaf expanded by 1600 FPS. These all hold together until 2500-2600 FPS. After that they will not loose more then 12%-15% of there total weight no matter how much the velocity is increased. The way they frag is also very precise. As the vel goes above the 3600 mark it begins to shed its pedals eventually being left with the body which has the shape and performs like a big game solid flat nose. This will continue to punch thru while still creating a substantial damage path. Those light very low SD80 gr HV bullets at 100 yards went thru a 300 lb hogs from shoulder shattering it. It then traversed the entire body from end to end exiting thru the opposite side rear hip shatter it. It punched a clean hole. The entire hog would bounce as the shock wave went thru it. the 100 gr should perform even better. The addition of a BT and a increase in BC will make it work at even longer ranges. Gerard in his email to me said the bullet will be good for any game up to and including ELK. Here is a quote from that email "It is good for game up to elk size and I would be surprised if anyone recovers a bullet from any elk shot broadside or quarter front. Lengthwise shots will probably stop the bullet." This man knows hunting and what it takes to effectively drop game and tends to be conservative on most of his predictions. So as you can see this is a hell of a hunting round. When you consider how few bullets a hunter typically used for actually game even in a full year the extra cost of these bullets is not prohibitive at all IMHO and I plan to make this my main hunting bullet. It may be joined by the 100 AC if they get the diameter correct.
All of their bullets are custom individually turned on a CNC lathe. They are the most dimensionally accurate bullets made by anyone. Every one I have had from him measure exactly for length when you accounted for the little tit at the base which is a byproduct of a turned bullet. Every bullet was exactly .277 on the bands and exactly 270 on the grooves. Every one weighed exactly to the grain within .01 grain. The bullets take such little force to go down the bore yet still providing a seal you can push them down a barrel and out the end with nothing but a dowel rod. Try that with any other bullet. You can if you want to seat them into the lands and they will not raise pressure because of this. I have tested this and it is correct. He was very impressed with the 6.8 and the vel and powder it got from such a small powder charge and short barrels. He was impressed with the vel we got but he had actually predicted close to that when I gave him my 90 TNT velocities.
I have ordered some of these bullets and as soon as I get them will load some up and get some to H to do likewise. If they work out as expected I may be willing to make a larger purchase if others would like to purchase some. I don;t know how many know but its a really big deal to find any bullet maker let along one of this quality that is willing to make a bullet for you without any minimum order amount at all. Barns is 5000 and that is @ full retail price. Others companies its like 90-100K worth if they even will take to you and you have to eat the cost of the dies and tooling as well. I want to support people like this as much as possible. When you consider that the SP round if all goes well will be by far the highest performing bullet ever for the 6.8 and can make this a a true 1K shooter as much as the 308 and Grendel are but with far less drop.
Gerard just sent me the retail price while I was typing this up SP whihc are actually listed as 99gr are $68 per 100 and the HV version is only $50. Given where USA bullet prices have gone these are actually no more than Barnes TSX or TTSX in 6.8 and the HV are actually less by a good amount.
Prices from Midway USA:
85 and 110 TSX are $31.00 per 50 or $61.00 per 100
TTSX is $34 or $68 per 100.
GS SP $68 per 100
GS SP and Barens TTSX both $68
GS HV $50 per 50 They are more costly as they are much more time consuming to make to these tolerances But then again you are never going to shoot that maiy once you have your load as they are meant to kill animals. Other than comabt hog hunting that a few get to do reguarly most would not shoot more than a box a year at most.
The SP are a real deal. As they are the same price as TTSX. I had always figures teh SP were harder to make but Gerard daughter Gina explained it to me and the HP are the real work. Go figure.
GS Flat rate for Airmail to USA is $13.00
You should also be able to get the in the US from Northern Light Trading Company
http://www.gsgroup.co.za/NLTCorderhv.html but they are in Alaska as they are the ones that use big game bullets and super LR so I am not sure if the shipping will be much dif. But hey for you few that are in the big Northern state you may finally get something shipped cheaper than we do. :lol:
Well now i have a good idea of what bullets I will be using:
LR and for best groups : GS 100 SP
Hunting: GS 100 HV
Tactical: 85 TSX and 100 Accubond
Plinking Target Practice: SSA 90 gr HPBT
5 bullets max. Not to bad and I could honestly drop to 2 real use and one plinker.
