Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting The 6.8 WESTERN...

It was designed for the shorter bullets of its time.
The bullets and twist.
With the Weatherby being the only other option in that caliber,
It was twisted the same.

So, no one wanted to make bullets that wouldn't work in the barrels available.

In turn no one made barrels for bullets that didn't exist.



25 caliber has the exact same quandry.

The problem is, the larger the caliber, the heavier the bullet has to be to match the b.c's of the calibers before it. Then you need an even larger case to bring the velocity back up. That's why I've never been a fan of .30 cal etc. By the time you get into the high b.c. 30 cal bullets, you're pushing a lot of weight compared to a 6 or 6.5mm. If you're into magnums etc, then fine....

The 270 WSM is a fantastic cartridge. Rick Jamison had patents on it and successfully sued Olin/Winchester for patent infringement.

I don't know all of the details of the settlement, but it was believed that Jamison may have gotten royalties for every rifle sold that was a "WSM".

The 6.8 Westerner will save Winchester/Browning from paying Jamison in the future by tweeking a great cartridge and making it more useful for today's trends of shooting higher BC bullets.....just a thought.

Dan

I hate myself knowing I’ll eventually buy one simply because I currently have variations of .270 from Win to WSM to Weatherby. I’m too curious even though it’s a re-tread of nearly every other .270 but able to use higher BC bullets which in 45 hunting years has not made a single bit of difference in the game I’ve taken. I’ve set up several guns for 800yd plus shots and end up selling them because I like to hunt close more than shoot far.

You guys gonna piss off Ol bacon throat!! He’ll be googlin BC’’s and runnin numbers all night!! Haha 😂😂

Poseur Larry has graph charts taped all over his trailer walls, covered in moly fingerprints.

So the 6.8 Westin is a wsm retread . Wow

Cool I guess. When I was into shooting antelope, deer and elk way out there (450 yards or so) the regular 270 with 150 grain Partitions, Hotcors and Spire points seem to do a fine job. A guy should be able to get that close to an animal before he takes a shot. For long range target shooting aren't there already plenty of options? Say a properly twisted 280 AI? Many others also.

A redesign using proven pieces to get the desired outcome....No need to reinvent the wheel. Did you look at the pic in the link I posted pretty obvious differences

What about the 6.8 SPC?

Who adopted it? As far as I can tell it was an experiment that some special forces members wanted, but didn't get picked up by the military.

Gonna stick with the 270 bee I have. Pushing a 150 grain with a .528 bc at an honest 3300. Maybe a newbie cartridge can do better but not to much at any reasonable range. Edk

The country of Jordan uses it in their Steyr AUG. Maybe a few others...

I looked at the SAAMI specs and what do I see? A 7mm Rem SAUM neck down to 0.277". When the WSM and SAUM were new on the market, the "experts" said the SAUM case was better for short actions then the WSM. I guess this proves they're were right, 15+ yr later. The 7mm SAUM w/ 8" twist seems to be having a resurgence amongst the LRH group w/ those 185+gr. high BC bullets. Olin/FN didn't have to look very far for their "new" cartridge, did they? -Mark

It’s a cool design. Hoping to see more bullets follow and keep pace.

Can't tell if that's a complaint or just an observation or jealousy from a 7mm fan

Mike

I’ve been begging weatherby for a new twist on the 7 wby mag

That's a re-barrel away I wouldn't hold my breath waiting on a factory job.



Mike

If I was in the market for a 3” magnum cartridge it would be the 6.5 PRC all the way. IMO better design and better selection of light to heavy weight bullets. In addition currently offered in and will be in the future offered by several more rifle manufacturers and custom rifle makers. I see the Western as a distant memory over time. Just my opinion.