I know Winchester introduced it and their short actions have a longer magazine box, but I wish they would have made it more user friendly to the R700 short action box length. Semi Custom production rifles like Christensen Arms that use the R700 footprint for their rifles aren't able to take advantage of these new calibers as much as say the Winchester rifles and such. For some reasons these same manufacturers don't chamber any of the Remington short magnums much either. I would love a Christensen Arms in 7mm WSM, but don't see that happening. For these reason I'm looking at the 6.5 PRC in my near future. That being said, I hope the 6.8 Westerner doesn't suffer the same fate as the 7mm WSM did with market timing. No matter what is said, I don't see any loaded ammo or components available in the near future while the press is hot about this new cartridge. I think the 7mm WSM may be the best caliber brought out during the short mag craze and Winchester's stutter with getting it out to the public almost killed it from the start.
Probably not high on their priority list. I seem to recall that 700’s can be modified for a longer mag without futzing up the footprint. Maybe it’s time to abandon the 2.8” magazine.
Max SAAMI OAL is 2.955 just like the PRC.
