6.8 Western

[Mrkdiver]

I'd like to know what everyone's thoughts are on the new 6.8 Western. I know it's a brand new but it like a very promising cartridge.
Thanks

I think it's good. You don't have to get a custom barrel to get the benefit of twist and heavy bullets, it'll be on the shelf, plus now there will be a bunch of new 270 bullets for those that already have a fast twist barrel

 

[Doublezranch]

I thought they had actually launched it under another name

Previous to 1971, they called it the
6.5 x 300 Weatherby-Wright-Hoyer.
Zoom in on the picture and it will give you the history up until then.

 

[JD300WM]

Any new cartridge being released right now is going to suffer tremendously from the soon to be political climate and the almost year long run we've seen on ammunition and components.

 

[ducky]

I'd like to know what everyone's thoughts are on the new 6.8 Western. I know it's a brand new but it like a very promising cartridge.
Thanks

I don't know what I think of it as I don't shoot anything but the .270 Win. However, I think it's better that Winchester introduced a new SAAMI speced cartridge than just putting high BC bullets in existing cartridges. How many idiots would shoot factory ammo requiring 1:7-8 twist in thier old .270 WSM or Weatherby1:10 twist rifles then blame manufacturers when their rifles start keyholing?

 

[Deleted member 115751]

I like it and think it's a step in the right direction.I know it's not needed and the 270 win,270wsm and the 270 weatherby can do anything it can do with the correct twist barrel but I like it.I think buying a factory rifle that can shoot any .277 bullet available is great.I will be buying one and reloading the Berger 170 eol bullets and see what happens.We just need some great brass to go with it!!!

I like it too for the same reasons you outlined. If they had pulled such a gimmick for the 7 mag or the 300 win mag my reaction would have been....meh! But the .277 caliber bullet has not received a lot of attention in recent years. It has been really stuck in a rut for an awful long time. I like that bullet diameter and the prospect that a good rifle chambered in 6.8 western might be able to replace my 270 win, 7 mm mag and 300 win mag intrigues me. I could sell most of the rifles I own chambered in those other calibers and keep only the best one of each. That would allow me to clear up the clutter in my gun safe and also give me the cash I need for a really nice 6.8 Western chambered rifle that can be my new jack-of-all-trades!

 

[Wv shooter]

I really like browning rifles and am glad they are building fast twist rifles even if it is 270 short action I sure hope is has long chamber to seat bullets out my question is why not a 284 western would this not been better or will this be the next one then the 30 western I can't even buy primers and they are talking about new calibers

 

[sheepdawg]

This new round was born at the wrong time and it will suffer because of timing and current events.

My thoughts exactly. Ammo and reloading supplies are very difficult to find at these times. I recently jumped on the bandwagon and had a 6.5 PRC built for me and over the last six months I have been trying to build up my supply of ammo for it. I think I only have six boxes. I did find more but was solo and the store would only sell me two boxes at a time.

I am interested in this cartridge for two reasons. They are as follows:
I am a huge fan of the .270 and have killed everything between a jack rabbit to a moose with it.
I want something a little heavier than my 6.5 prc for elk.

I will be watching this cartridge over the next few years to see how it survives in the market. If ammo and reloading supplies are not an issue, I will purchase one. Not that I need another rifle but its what I do.

 

[Denigan]

Just another Super Duper Pooper Scooper round that is going to have the same fate as the Remington 8mm Magnum.

 

[shooterntn]

Roy Weatherby invented the 6.5x300wby in the 1950's, and did a soft launch, but nobody wanted it then. I can't remember what they called it then, but the post ww2 aversion to anything metric just killed it. Now, it is the fastest 6.5 cartridge on the commercial market. The 28 nosler is within about 2% of the 7mm stw with significantly more powder and recoil, and a significantly shorter barrel life. They knew when they made the 7mmstw that they could add more powder and eek out just a tiny bit more velocity, but it would have come at the expense of recoil and barrel life for nominal returns. Wildcatters have been making fast twist barrels and shooting heavy for caliber bullets for at least 70 years, so it isn't a new concept. We just keep revamping old ideas. The 6.5 prc has existed in the form of a necked down 300saum for a decade anyways. People necked down the 300wsm to 6.5, 7mm, even .25, about 10 minutes after the wsm cartridges hit the shelf. I don't know what the next actual innovation will be, but they have historically come from wildcatters improving a decent design to something spectacular, and the industry just piggybacks

 

[shooterntn]

But what about the 7rum, and 7mm tejas? You can't leave these 2 out if you are talking speed. And from my experience I'll take stw anyday over 28. And not have to replace my barrel after 1100 rounds.

 

[Deleted member 115360]

But what about the 7rum, and 7mm tejas? You can't leave these 2 out if you are talking speed. And from my experience I'll take stw anyday over 28. And not have to replace my barrel after 1100 rounds.

I've heard of barrels that lost accuracy after 400 rounds of these nosler screamers. I think we have only recently hit a point where that kind of barrel life would be considered an acceptable thing. We are a far less practical bunch every year.

 

[drake2h]

I agree with the general sentiment expressed above. Intriguing option for those in the factory market that have an affinity for the 270 but want to build on their LR skill set. I'd be hesitant to recommend one to a friend, though, until it's a little more established and sure to last (ammo availability, etc).

 

[sheepdawg]

I always like to revert back to the 30-06. Now, I'm not that old, but I cannot shake it. I am primarily a whitetail hunter, although I do hunt bears and am hunting in the west. I have almost all of the Weatherby cartridges covered in my gun safe, I've got 3 different 6.5 cartridges, wait, no...4, and I think they are spectacular for whitetail deer. In fact, I think the 6.5cm is as good as a cartridge will ever be for our medium sized southern whitetail, and serves well in timber stands as well as bean fields and creek bottoms, and kills deer dead when you hit them correctly, but no matter how many rifles I own, I grab my 30/06 more than anything else. That is probably the oldest big game cartridge I own, and I'm not even shooting AI. It just works. It kills deer like magic. It is a no fuss option that you never have to think about. It is remarkable to me how much they got right with it, well over 100 years ago, and then Roy Weatherby showed up 30 years later and made cartridges in his basement before color television that the best rocket engineers are still chasing today. Cartridge innovation has not gone through an actual major innovation since Roy Weatherby.

You nailed it. A few years ago I was having dinner with a well known respected guide in Wyoming. I asked him, with your 50 years of guiding western big game, what do you use for hunting? He told me he only shoots two cartridges. They were the 30-06 and the 270.

I own more rifles and calibers than I should. But like you, I seem to always grab my Model 70 in 270 win. It just plain works and I have confidence in it. It kills everything I have ever pointed it at. Now, I am not taking long shots either. I don't really need to take shots over 350 yards. The last elk I killed was only 70 yards and my moose was only about 100 yards.

We, as gun geeks, get all wrapped up in terminal ballistics, etc. but for me, confidence in the rifle and cartridge is the MOST important aspect that many overlook. The fact that a rifle shoots an inch or two flatter only matters on paper on the range. When it comes down to putting game down, I reach for what I know works.

The 6.8 Western sounds appealing but if I were to buy it, it will take decades before it becomes my "go to rifle". At this point and stage of the game in my hunting life, it is highly unlikely that any new cartridge will surpass the confidence I have in my .270 win. But it is just what I like to do and I have spent thousands chasing something that will never materialize.

 

[lightshooter]

It seems like a good option to me. Modern times are trending towards heavy for caliber bullets. So a lot of these new case designs address the problem of those heavies not fitting in actions. I embrace a world where we have options. Not saying I'm going to run out and get one, but if I was in the market for 270wsm I would consider the 6.8 Western instead.