Talk me out of 6.8 Western

[CVA-444]

I'm leaning heavy towards the 6.8 Western. I just wanted to see if anyone had suggestions I hadn't already pondered on. The 3 I've been kicking around the most are:

6.8 Western
7 SAUM
7 Mag

 

[ARlife4me]

Muzzle blast will be horrific and a brake will make it worse for you and anyone else near you! The only brake that won't make it worse is a linier style. The only way for you to amass brass is buy ammo and ghat won't be cheap. If you have or know someone that anneals you could get 270wsm brass for the headstamp reference.

 

[CVA-444]

Muzzle blast will be horrific and a brake will make it worse for you and anyone else near you! The only brake that won't make it worse is a linier style. The only way for you to amass brass is buy ammo and ghat won't be cheap. If you have or know someone that anneals you could get 270wsm brass for the headstamp reference.

Muzzle blast tends to come with the territory with speciality pistols. I've got one in 444 Marlin and it most definitely barks.

 

[ARlife4me]

Muzzle blast tends to come with the territory with speciality pistols. I've got one in 444 Marlin and it most definitely barks.

Way different powders in that cartridge than the 6.8w. I want a 7.5 or 10" 45-70 pistol for a companion to the rifles.

 

[7mm man]

6.8W is a great choice. Low recoil, great long range ballistics. Brass will become more available as time goes on.

 

[ncwg2boatguy]

6.8 western is probably here to stay. I was like alot of folks (why?) until my son bought me one for Christmas. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about its performance. Its not far off 7PRC and beats 6.5 PRC and its not fussy to load for. Better .277 bullets are showing up because of it also with weight and B.C to make it shine. 150gr Nosler AB and Berger 170gr both shoot great.

 

[Will.284]

Edit. I'm clueless when it comes to this handguns. I wasn't aware when I posted what he was referring to.

For guys talking negatively about the 6.8W. Unless you've actually owned a 6.8 Western, why not stop hating on the cartridge? Its actually great.

I e got a Winchester 6.8 western and absolutely love it factory ammo is readily available in my area and I've got 250 new brass so I'd say go with the 6.8

 

[7mm man]

I was able to smoke Accubond 165gr ABLRs at just a hair under 3000 fps. Devastating bonded bullet at a weight that is respectable.

 

[lancetkenyon]

You will need a new bolt head. Not a big deal.
.260 Rem = .473 case head
6.8 Western = .535 case head

Will the feed rails of the standard action allow a magnum case to feed? I don't know much about Savage actions.

Is there a reason NOT to keep the .260 Rem?

I think you will waste some unburnt powder in the short barrel, so consider that it might not get a full burn and therefore be of no benefit out of a 14". A smaller charge weight cartridge might do just as well.

Is your buddy who loads your ammo going to work up a load for the pistol? Or jist make some generic ammo?

 

[tysonmax]

I was able to smoke Accubond 165gr ABLRs at just a hair under 3000 fps. Devastating bonded bullet at a weight that is respectable.

I have as well. 2970's out of a 22 inch barrel with n570. Also great success with Hammer 160's and n565 & n570. Averaging 3,050fps.

 

[Montanaatheart]

ADG is running 6.8W brass later this month, in case that's what's stopping you.

 

[choprzrul]

270 WSM
300 WSM
325 WSM

Any of those should do the trick.

 

[CVA-444]

You will need a new bolt head. Not a big deal.
.260 Rem = .473 case head
6.8 Western = .535 case head

Will the feed rails of the standard action allow a magnum case to feed? I don't know much about Savage actions.

Is there a reason NOT to keep the .260 Rem?

I think you will waste some unburnt powder in the short barrel, so consider that it might not get a full burn and therefore be of no benefit out of a 14". A smaller charge weight cartridge might do just as well.

Is your buddy who loads your ammo going to work up a load for the pistol? Or jist make some generic ammo?

I have 4 speciality pistols:
444 Marlin
6.5 Grendel
10mm Auto
And now the 260 Rem

For what I want (at the distance I shoot) the Grendel does everything the 260 will. I want to get a bigger caliber specifically for western hunting primarily Elk and Mule Deer. ALSO… I just want to build something haha.

As far as loads go. My buddy will work up whatever I want. He has helped me build custom loads for the 444 and 10mm already. As far as the rebarrel his son is a gunsmith and is helping me with that, and we have discussed all the necessary modifications to go to the 6.8 or something else.

At this point I'm pretty set on the 6.8. Just wanted to test the waters to see what input others had that I may not have thought about yet.

 

[Teri Anne]

I've got a new to me savage striker in 260 Rem. I'm wanting to re-barrel it and make it a dedicated Elk handgun. 6.8 Western is stuck on my mind but I know brass isn't easy to come by and it has pretty much started life as a dead cartridge. I've got a guy that hand loads for me regularly, so I could have loads made up. I'm looking at going with an xcaliber 14" barrel with TI pro 2 brake.

Change my mind!

What short action caliber Elk capable to 400 yards in a 14" barrel would you push me towards?

The only way to get 6.8 brass is to buy either Winchester or Browning ammo, shoot the factory on the range and then load your own. I like the Nosler 270, 160 gr Partitions, others like the 170 gr Ballistic Tip. I have found the Ballistic tip to be a bit finnicky accuracy wise but otherwise the 6.8 Western, which is actually a Magnum type round, is deadly accurate. I'm shooting a Winchester XPR with a 24 inch barrel so have no idea what it will do in a handgun. Chances are that you will burn most of the powder as a brilliant fireball outside of the barrel out of a 14 inch barrel.