6.8 Western /7PRC case questions

Looking into doing a budget build in 6.8 western or 7PRC. Not planning on hunting with it . Just something to shoot at longer ranges.
It would be off a Remington 700 donor.
Is the case on the 6.8 western considered a standard case in short action or is a magnum short action? I'm assuming the 7PRC would be the magnum L/A case.

Longer range goes to 7 PRC.

Summa724 said:

Looking into doing a budget build in 6.8 western or 7PRC. Not planning on hunting with it . Just something to shoot at longer ranges.
It would be off a Remington 700 donor.
Is the case on the 6.8 western considered a standard case in short action or is a magnum short action? I'm assuming the 7PRC would be the magnum L/A case.

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To answer your question both are .532" bolt face.

Both cartridges need to be in a medium length action at least or long action preferably.

The only thing that makes the 6.8 western even remotely viable or "cool" for anything other than hunting is 3 bullets. One from Berger that's rarely in stock and weights 170gr. And one from Sierra thats 175gr. And a 150gr offering from badlands bullets that's probably the most interesting of the 3. Also fast twist .277cal barrels are not very plentiful. 6.8 western is essentially a 270wsm with a faster twist barrel in Saami dress.

Go with a 7prc or 7 sherman short or 7 sherman max or 7 sherman mega or 7wsm or 7saum or 7rum or 7stw or 28nosler or 284win or 280ai or 7-08 or 7saw or etc.........long before you mess with a 6.8 western just for punching plates at distance! 7mm has 30x the bullet selection and barrel selection. A 180gr 284cal berger at 2875fps has won a crap ton of 1000yd matches for a reason. Also the 190-195gr bullets in 7mm have a BC that rivals things in 338lapua class bullet territory.

What cartridge was your rem700 action originally chambered for?

7 PRC would be my choice of the two. WAY better bullet selection and availability in 7mm. FWIW, I've never been a 270 fan.

DUCKMAN11 said:

To answer your question both are .532" bolt face.

Both cartridges need to be in a medium length action at least or long action preferably.

The only thing that makes the 6.8 western even remotely viable or "cool" for anything other than hunting is 3 bullets. One from Berger that's rarely in stock and weights 170gr. And one from Sierra thats 175gr. And a 150gr offering from badlands bullets that's probably the most interesting of the 3. Also fast twist .277cal barrels are not very plentiful. 6.8 western is essentially a 270wsm with a faster twist barrel in Saami dress.

Go with a 7prc or 7 sherman short or 7 sherman max or 7 sherman mega or 7wsm or 7saum or 7rum or 7stw or 28nosler or 284win or 280ai or 7-08 or 7saw or etc.........long before you mess with a 6.8 western just for punching plates at distance! 7mm has 30x the bullet selection and barrel selection. A 180gr 284cal berger at 2875fps has won a crap ton of 1000yd matches for a reason. Also the 190-195gr bullets in 7mm have a BC that rivals things in 338lapua class bullet territory.

What cartridge was your rem700 action originally chambered for?

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I haven't purchased it yet.

I got a Winchester xpr in 6.8 western and love it !!! Couple years ago my wife called me at work and said I want a 6.8 western in a Winchester so I bought her one , scoped it bought 700 rounds for it , clean it etc and sometimes she lets me carry it hunting!!

I'm about to build a 7mm SAW, found a .284 Ace barrel on Red Hawk in 8 twist, Rem varmint contour and 26" finished length. I'm doing it in a Tikka action but any long action would work. I know it's a short action cartridge but I have the Tikka and bolt stop and SA+ magazines which should work perfectly. I say long action only to be able to accommodate longer bullets and OAL which may exceed SA magazines. If you're making it a dedicated range gun then a SA single shot receiver might be an option.

I'm a .270 fan through and through, the .270 Win was my first elk rifle. I'll be building a fast twist .270 Win and WSM in the future. Simply because I like the .277 diameter and I like the headaches that come with being a contrarian.

That said, if I didn't already own a .270 WSM I'd not build one. Brass availability is the biggest issue with all the WSM cases at the moment. If you want easy access to quality brass, then the PRC is the better choice.

You could always just neck the 7 PRC down to .277 and have fun.

ducky said:

I'm a .270 fan through and through, the .270 Win was my first elk rifle. I'll be building a fast twist .270 Win and WSM in the future. Simply because I like the .277 diameter and I like the headaches that come with being a contrarian.

That said, if I didn't already own a .270 WSM I'd not build one. Brass availability is the biggest issue with all the WSM cases at the moment. If you want easy access to quality brass, then the PRC is the better choice.

You could always just neck the 7 PRC down to .277 and have fun.

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Excellent idea !!

6.8W works in a 3" magazine. The 7prc requires a 3.34"'magazine (LA). All the makers offer heavy 277 bullets except Hornady. The 7prc holds 8-10 more grains of powder to get about 150fps more velocity out of same bullet weight. I prefer the lighter recoil of the 6.8W as the downrange performance is plenty good for my purposes. The 7mm does have more bullets but there are plenty for 270 at this point to keep you busy

Lou

I thought a lot about the 6.8 especially because of the twist to facilitate long heavier bullets but I didn't want a magnum round and I can be very effective with my 270 Win with up to 150 grn bullets for hunting. If I were hunting larger critters like elk at longer ranges then the 6.8 with 165-170 class bullets at close to 3k would certainly be better. A necked up 6.5 PRC might be an interesting idea although I would need to compare case capacity to see if it's viable as compared to a 7 PRC necked down. Just a thought but for the longer range elk application I would opt for the 7mm PRC. Just me thinking out loud.

Look at the 284 Winchester, for punching paper and ringing steel out to about 1600 yards it is in my opinion the superior choice over the 7 PRC. You will load less powder, 55-56 grains H4831 will run a Berger 180 at 2825-2875 from a 26-28" barrel. Barrel life will be better by a lot because you are burning less powder. Lapua brass is readily available and lasts easily 10 loadings as you aren't pushing the 284 hard to get the performance. Recoil is less, because you are burning less powder. Same action length, 3.34 works for both. I just don't see any way the 284 doesn't win over the PRC for target shooting. If I was going to hunt with it I think I would still stick with the 284, it is still carrying about 1100 ft/lbs at 1000 yards, at sea level and 75 degrees no less. But the PRC is faster and flatter right? Who care's when you HAVE to compensate anyway with holdover in the reticle or dialing a turret. Does adding a couple minutes more on the turret at 1000 change anything for you? OK, so the PRC will have slightly less wind drift but you have to read the wind correctly and compensate regardless of PRC or 284. 6.8, unless I was committed to factory ammo like the guy above and was able to buy a barrel life worth of it with the rifle I wouldn't touch it with a stick. I think it's a great cartridge but lack of bullet selection readily available and brass have it in the firm no-go category for me.

I really like my 7 PRC. It's accurate and has good velo. I shoot 180gn Berger VLD Hunters @ 3020 fps (Handloads) out of a 24" CF Proof Barrel. The thing about these PRC's is you get custom perfomance from factory ammo. However, I have found the factory ammo to be about 100 fps slower than the box claims.

I to have 2 7 prc's one is a bone stock ruger and an absolute tack driver the other is a savage with a 22 in cf barrel by Oregon Mountain a pure precision cf stock a custom bolt by ptg custom hand loads running 2986 fps with single did it sd's . It's my present go to rifle