The more people that get those rifles, the better the support will be. Nosler and Hornady won’t support the 6.8 Western because they want their own new cartridges to win a competitive edge in the marketplace. If federal would pick it up then that would help move it up faster for sure. Lapua and Peterson would probably look at making brass if the popularity keeps moving up. Right now Peterson and Lapua are stuck with supporting the two Wars or they might be more receptive to adding new cartridges.
Winchester stopped producing 284 Winchester rifles and ammo over 50 years ago but now the cartridge is more popular than it ever was. That is because you can shove a 180 VLD out to a 1,000 yards with incredible accuracy and win matches! Winchester learned it’s lesson with the 6.8 Western. The cartridge and the chamber for it, are deigned to shoot heavy BC bullets out to long ranges with incredible accuracy and energy. The throat of the chamber has a longer leade so that the bullet from factory ammo doesn’t “jump” around as much. The result is that the bullet is better lined up with the bore which results in greater accuracy and velocity. With handloads, the longer leade is not as much of an advantage because we seat the bullet out to “kiss” the lands anyway.
Winchester stopped producing 284 Winchester rifles and ammo over 50 years ago but now the cartridge is more popular than it ever was. That is because you can shove a 180 VLD out to a 1,000 yards with incredible accuracy and win matches! Winchester learned it’s lesson with the 6.8 Western. The cartridge and the chamber for it, are deigned to shoot heavy BC bullets out to long ranges with incredible accuracy and energy. The throat of the chamber has a longer leade so that the bullet from factory ammo doesn’t “jump” around as much. The result is that the bullet is better lined up with the bore which results in greater accuracy and velocity. With handloads, the longer leade is not as much of an advantage because we seat the bullet out to “kiss” the lands anyway.