New Cartridge 6.8 Western

[Jud96]

Let's get back on the 6.8 Westerner topic. The more I think about it, it may actually be a cool idea and a good cartridge. I think if it were a 7mm it would have been better, but if they do have a good 175gr 27cal bullet this will be interesting. This is basically a 7mm SAUM but designed to run heavy for caliber long range bullets. The SAUM is amazing, but everyone besides long range shooters and a couple brass manufacturers have forgotten about it. I think the Westerner will basically be a SAUM but 270cal and be designed for long range from the ground up, unlike the SAUM.

There's nothing wrong with the SAUM, but from a factory rifle and ammo stand point, it will never be able to reach the potential that we as long range hunters and shooters have given it. The 6.8 Westerner on the other hand will have factory rifles with chamber designs and twist rates designed to function with the long range factory ammunition. We have to remember, the aftermarket barrels, chamber designs, and loadings that we do to cartridges can't be implemented by the manufacturers because they have to follow SAAMI guidelines.

 

[ButterBean]

The 22-250 is a VARMINT cartridge. There are far better choices to hunt big game.

22-250 with a 60g Nosler Partion is a hammer

 

[Muddyboots]

At the end of the day, new offerings like this will allow a lot of non-long range shooters make shots they would not even tried before even though the perennial calibers all have the same capability but without the hype. Rifles with the 6.8 Western will be better equipped for longer shots thus providing better platform for those to reach out further than they ever thought possible. I am talking about mid-range shots out to 500-600 yards in relation to LRH. I think this is a good thing and although I will build what I want most will not and factory offerings like this can only help our sport of hunting and shooting. More hunters/shooters will be introduced to long range shooting and this will help grow this community going forward.

Blasphemy! I bought my first .270 Win 52 years ago and now I am starting to warm up to this 6.8 Western after all. Dang these threads!

 

[Jud96]

At the end of the day, new offerings like this will allow a lot of non-long range shooters make shots they would not even tried before even though the perennial calibers all have the same capability but without the hype. Rifles with the 6.8 Western will be better equipped for longer shots thus providing better platform for those to reach out further than they ever thought possible. I am talking about mid-range shots out to 500-600 yards in relation to LRH. I think this is a good thing and although I will build what I want most will not and factory offerings like this can only help our sport of hunting and shooting. More hunters/shooters will be introduced to long range shooting and this will help grow this community going forward.

This right here. I agree 100%. I have never hunted with a factory loaded round in my life, but I'm the very small minority. I love to reload and work up my own loads, but again we're the minority. The guy who wants to shoot 300+ yards while hunting now can grab a 6.8 Westerner and some long range factory ammunition and be good to go up to elk sized game. The fact is there's dozens of good cartridges out there, but their long range capabilities are limited by SAAMI specs. The exceptions to this are the Creedmoors and the PRCs. Now we have another offering that fits right in the middle of them and that's not a bad thing.

 

[FEENIX]

Let's get back on the 6.8 Westerner topic. The more I think about it, it may actually be a cool idea and a good cartridge. I think if it were a 7mm it would have been better, but if they do have a good 175gr 27cal bullet this will be interesting. This is basically a 7mm SAUM but designed to run heavy for caliber long range bullets. The SAUM is amazing, but everyone besides long range shooters and a couple brass manufacturers have forgotten about it. I think the Westerner will basically be a SAUM but 270cal and be designed for long range from the ground up, unlike the SAUM.

There's nothing wrong with the SAUM, but from a factory rifle and ammo stand point, it will never be able to reach the potential that we as long range hunters and shooters have given it. The 6.8 Westerner on the other hand will have factory rifles with chamber designs and twist rates designed to function with the long range factory ammunition. We have to remember, the aftermarket barrels, chamber designs, and loadings that we do to cartridges can't be implemented by the manufacturers because they have to follow SAAMI guidelines.

Agreed!

 

[can1010]

I have loaded the prints in my quickdesign and quickload and if you load both the WSM and western to the same oal. with the same bullet the usable case capacity is only 1.5 gr difference which only adds 15 fps for the same pressure. the 270 WSM doesn't really shine till you get past 3.050 oal. where you can take advantage of the extra capacity. so for the short actions the 6.8 western is the better option

 

[Overkill338]

Overkill by the way I wasn't calling you stupid, just stating your wife was smarter. Glad you got her shooting. Mine did for awhile and then came kids and she just doesn't want to shoot no more. Kinda sucks because I've been a custom rifle builder for 30 yrs and shoot all the time. I built her a .222 for her first rifle and she shot it well. Awhile back if you asked me what to get your kid or wife I would of said 260 or 7mm08 but now I only say 6.5creed.
Shep

Last Christmas I got our 16 y/o the Ruger American Go Wild, in 7-08. I have been blown away by how well that inexpensive rifle will shoot!

My wife worked her on deal. I was picking up the sons 7-08, and she seen a Savage Axis Stainless she liked. I didn't argue, even though I loathe the Creedmoor lol She bought it. Also, another inexpensive rifle that shoots amazingly well!

Edit: Last thing I will add, is I'm all for new things. I'm a fan of the .325 WSM, so far be it for me to bash.

@FEENIX I wasn't bashing anything, I was discussing something. Obviously no one gives two about another .270, when the original is just meat bruising turd, with no real bullet selection, thats held on by grandpa's nostalgia.

 

[25WSM]

Those cheap Ruger American rifles can shoot pretty good. I've seen some shooting much better than 1/2 moa. Not bad for a cheap Tupperware stocked rifle.
Shep

 

[bearcat2]

The .30 TC is supposed to be the same improvement over the .308, that it basically copied, too, right? So the 6mm CM means the .243 is junk now. Throw a .284/.338/.358 bullet in it and suddenly, the 7-08/.338 Fed/.358 Win is pointless? Not discussing barrels that the original chambering could benefit from, but the cartridge itself.

By the way, I'm not attacking your opinion. Just making a healthy debate.

With all that said, it would be fun to build a .260 with a 8 twist, some free bore, and run it at 63 psi like the CM, instead of the 60k saami gave it.

The 260 in custom ARs was cleaning up the competition. This is why the 6.5 Creedmoor came to be. It was built as a long range competition caliber that would chamber, and feed reliably in an AR while shooting heavy, high BC bullets. They did a few tweaks to it so it isn't a 260AI, but it is pretty dang similar. But with successful marketing it is chambered in about any gun you can buy off the shelf and has an absolute plethora of ammo choices on the shelf at any sporting goods store (not now, but when they can keep them in stock).

Basically they did enough tweaks to a wildcat to patent it, chambered it in factory rifles with the right twist, came out with factory ammo with heavy high BC bullets and did a good job marketing. You can do anything a 6.5 Creed can do with a 260, but when it came out you couldn't do it with factory ammo in your average factory rifle.

 

[Buckys]

I am ready to hear more about the 6.8 Westerner as well. The more options the better, as far as I'm concerned, and my first love was a 270win so I am happy to see what the 277 can do when it's not hamstrung without fast twist barrels and without a large variety of 150+ bullet offerings.

I love my 270wby and I'm hoping to see something like a 270rpm in 1:8".

I probably need to have a 27nosler, too, since it got the party started.

 

[Overkill338]

Delete

 

[Overkill338]

It is the 6.8 Western
Not "Westerner"

 

[tribb]

The new 165ablr would be a good fit in the new cartridge. But it's not enough to make me go to a 270. Nothing wrong with the good old 270. Yep. Nothing wrong with the good old 308 and 3006 either. Except they are boring. In building custom rifles for 30 yrs and I've built one 308 and one 3006 and I don't even own a 270 reamer because not one person asked for one yet. The guy that bought the 308 already called me and said he should of listened to me and did a 6.5creed. But he already had a 30 dollar die set. And some used brass. So he stayed with 308 for those reasons.
Shep

"Boring"? "Only accurate rifles are interesting" said the man T. W.

 

[slikmrc]

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