Anyone know the fate of the 6.8 western?

[Frank in the Laurels]

..another wasted promotional gimmick, if you bought one I'd suggest you buy as many casings as you can find, no matter what the cost compared to what you will if you don't...

 

[Quintus]

One thing I will say about the 68, it did push bullet makers to kick out at least a few .277 heavier options so my next 270Bee will be a 7.5T.

 

[Rifleman97]

Man I have been waiting for the ADG brass to hit so guys can put it to the test. Although im not a a fan of cartridges less that 7mm, for some reason i want to see what this 6.8 can do. It's kind of talking to me. Is there any reason this would be a choice over the 270wsm? I'm not hip on the WSMs but I've read the choice for longer ranges would be the 6.8? Don't know why?

6.8 western has a faster twist rate from the factory, and a slightly longer throat I believe so it can handle the heavies better. This has never affected guys who build custom as they just choose the twist rate they prefer, and the throat length they want. But for a factory rifle, the 6.8 western is better than the 270wsm for those reasons.

Also just remembered, the 6.8 has the shoulder pushed back and the case shortened so it can have the bullets seated long and still fit in a short or medium length action. The 270wsm seated long needs a medium or long action.

 

[Hand Skills]

Cool thing about 6.8w is you can neck down 7saum and shoot.

Kinda like how you can neck down 300wsm brass to .270wsm and shoot it.

I like the .270wsm at 3.150" OACL myself.

If a guy is concerned about support or factory ammo, just build a .270win Centurion Edition

Fast twist barrel and a 3.5-3.6" mag box, and you'll be right there with the 6.8w in performance.

Happy 100th birthday, .270 win

Here's to more!

 

[Lou270]

I have too many nice 270 wins to want another "standard" but as a long time 270 fan may do a fast twist "270 Centurion" for the 100 year anniversary. Have bunch of different heavy 277 bullets to feed my 6.8Ws anyway and can only use one at a time there

Lou

 

[fseaman.js]

Curious about what the fate of the 6.8 western will be. Anyone have any hot tips on if shot show is going to have any 6.8 news? I want to rebarrel my 6.5prc and this is a top contender, but without some more support I'm likely to go to a different route.
Cheers

I think the 6.8 Western will be with us for a long time.

Will it become a "classic" like the 270? Only time will tell.

Will there be ammo and components for a long time? I think so because it's not that different from several other chamberings in the same category. 300 RUM based "short magnum" that are near or same length as a good ol' 308. So brass makers only need small adjustments to make a run of 6.8 Western vs 270 WSM.

This points out something "important" to rifle manufacturers and reamer makers. The twist, throat, freebore, stuffing angle and all those little "specs" are written into the specifications listed with SAAMI and CIP.

A change as simple as the twist 1-8 for a 6.8 Western vs 1-10 for a 270 WSM to CIP, SAAMI and manufacturers is a big thing. For us, specifying a custom gun or replacing a barrel, not such a big deal. We choose the twist that lets us shoot the intended bullets "best".

Throating or the space for "longer" bullets can also be a big thing for manufacturers. Custom or replacement barrel? Again, not an issue for us.

I know because I've been lucky to have the conversation with a ballistician at one of the manufacturers, that the assembled cartridge has to fit within the limits of the target action. So the 6.8 case dimensions were altered to accommodate longer bullets but still fit the targe actions, basically 2.8" COAL. Just changing the twist of the 270 WSM to 1-8 and using longer bullets would "solve" the same problem but then... NOT NEW

You won't go wrong building a 6.8 Western. You won't go wrong building a 270 WSM 1-8 twist. For both if the rifle can accommodate COAL longer than 2.8, there is no "difference".

Choose which ever rocks your world more.

What action?

 

[Idaho Lefty]

I keep hearing this but Win has had more success than anybody. 270, 243, 308, 300 historically. The 300 wsm still has more sku than 6.5 prc and 270 wsm has more than 7prc. They have had their stinkers like wssms and 7wsm but so has hornady…rcms, 338 marlins, 450 marlin and bunch of others you can't get ammo for at all. At least Win will give you a run of 325 wsm power points In recent times, not popular here but the 350 legend is wildely successful and 6.8W had a big punch from 7prc but staggering back up. Just annoys me that people think Hornady is the only company than can do something but that is very near sighted

Lou

The Volume of Sales of, the 7 PRC is getting, pretty Large with, Lots of, New Rifles and Pre-Fit Barrels being, Chambered, for It !
So,. there's "Formidable opposition" as to, Volume of Sales for the 6.8 W..
But IF, a 6.8 W. is desired,.. Buy ENOUGH, Brass, Bullets and, a Good set of, Dies for it, for WHEN / If, "sale's" do Get,.. "Spotty" to be, safe.

 

[Lou270]

The Volume of Sales of, the 7 PRC is getting, pretty Large with, Lots of, New Rifles and Pre-Fit Barrels being, Chambered, for It !
So,. there's "Formidable opposition" as to, Volume of Sales for the 6.8 W..
But IF, a 6.8 W. is desired,.. Buy ENOUGH, Brass, Bullets and, a Good set of, Dies for it, for WHEN / If, "sale's" do Get,.. "Spotty" to be, safe.

100% true for any. No doubt, the 7prc is doing great. But is is not just "stealing" from 6.8W. It will do same if not more to 6.5 prc, 300 prc for those who are enamored with the highest possible BC of match bullets which fuel the high end rifle churners during the long range trend we have now. All of these will be hard to get in a down turn like covid when all you could get was 308 and 223 or common stuff like 30-06/270 at times. This is because a couple of years of popularity is nothing compared to the world wide number of rifles out there for rounds that have been popular for 50-100 years. For ex, I didnt see 6.5/300 PRC ammo or brass at all during Covid until the big classics were regularly back in stock. Actually 6.8W was the only non 308/223 ammo due to intro during the pandemic and probably caused a bunch of rifles to be sold in that cartridge initially

Lou