Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Any Word on the "6.8 WESTERN"...?

GR

Don't know about this one. I had to look over the diagrams of the 270 WSM carefully to see what the difference is.
Not much. What's it for?

Cheers,
Rex

The only thing I see on that sheet is that it calls for a 1-8" twist. Maybe it will lead to some heavier .277 bullets.

I know some people will get excited about that, same as they would for a faster twist .25 that might lead to better long distance .257 bullets, but being jammed in between perfectly good 6.5s like the PRC and good 7mms like the WSM (whether it made it or not), it's a bit of an answer in search of a question .. at least for me.

Tom

At the top right hand corner of the page it says "Instrumental velocity 175-gr @ 2840 fps."

What will they think of next?

I have a lot of respect for the 270WSM.

If starting over, it would be on my short list of one caliber hunt everything in the West. 280AI also very high on the list.

years back (I think it was Speer) made a 170 grain round nose for the .270 Winchester.. I actually had a purpose for them and bought a box but never used them. My thinking was that if I wanted a .30-06 I should have bought one.

The 6.8 Western reminds me of those days.

I had a 270WSM and hunted with it for a year or so. Mine was a Remington 700 Boone&Crockett edition, and was a very nice looking rifle, almost too nice to hunt with. It was accurate, and the thing shot like a laser out to my 300 yard target. Killed a deer or two with, and ended up selling it and getting another rifle to play with. It's one of those I wish I had back, partly because of the rifle, and partly because of the cartridge.

Like the 6.5 CM, it is spec'd to the nearest 10 thousandth. I suspect any new cartridge that is introduced in the future will be that way. Factory ammo will be very accurate like the 6.5 CM.

What are the differences in this and the 270 WSM, I am not seeing any major differences? If I ever shoot the barrel out on my 270 WSM I will get a 1-8" or faster. The 6,8 looks so close to the WSM that there could be another Rick Jamison type law suit.

This one has a rebated rim but other than that not much different from the WSM.

Seems like this round is an answer to the "problem" of slow twisted 270 WSMs. Why not just twist 270 WSM (and 270 win) barrels faster? 22-250's and 223's used to have slower twists. Now they typically come in faster twists. Same with a lot of the 7mm rounds.

Why not .23 and .29???

Since they are both Olin/Winchester rounds, I don't think that we have to worry about that.

P.O. Ackley already did the .23 when they wouldn't let him hunt some things with a 220 Swift - but it never took off.........

Actually the 270WSM has a rebated rim too, and by exactly the same dimensions as this 6.8 Western, .535 rim, .555 case head.
This 6.8 W just has the shoulder and neck moved back about .080" vs. the 270WSM which reduces case capacity a bit. I really can't figure this one out. I MUST be missing something. Since shoulder diameter on both are .5381", it looks like the 6.8West would chamber in the 270 WSM, but with grossly excessive headspace. Both show the datum diameter to be .445, with the 6.8West being 1.650" from the case base and the 270 WSM being 1.730".

What am I missing that keeps this from being a safety issue waiting to happen? Why couldn't a 6.8 West cartridge be chambered and fired in a 270 WSM chamber (assuming a CRF action, like mine, yikes)?

confused,
Rex

It is the "6.5creedmooring" of of the .270WSM. Shorten the case and move the neck back so long VLD type bullets can be seated out to utilize maximum magazine length. Specify 8" twist for VLD bullets.

In development it was known as 6.8 Browning.

Bring it on! That 175gr .277 cal bullet is going to have an SD of 0.330 or better and a G1 BC of 0.710 or better, coming out at 2840 fps! You have to go up to a very sleek 265gr bullet fired from a .338 Lapua or 33 Nosler to get that kind of SD, BC and ballistics.

And this 6.8 Western isn’t going to recoil anywhere near those big .338s ... more like a .270 WSM!

Bumping this up in hopes someone can compare the 6.8 Western diagram in the OP to a standard 270 WSM diagram (as I did) and see if they concur with me that it looks like the newer round could chamber and fire (perhaps dangerously) in the older chamber. I must be missing something because I can't imagine it would go to market if this is true.

Thanks,
Rex

Who cares? There are tons of cartridges out there that can be racked into the chamber of a different cartridge. If some dumbass tries to chamber a cartridge named 6.8 Western into a rifle marked .270 WSM, isn’t that natural selection? #darwin

Well I reckon that's a good point. Not sure why I found that so concerning.

Regards,
Rex