Buy 6.8 Western now or 7PRC later?

[35remy]

What should I do? There is ammo on the shelves for the Western as I type. The cartridge has more juice than I will need for my hunting, there are affordable rifle options for it, and there are a few bullet options to reload with as well.

BUT… the 7PRC looks like it will best the Western, will do a little more than the 7SAUM, and will have the Hornady marketing machine behind it. That generally means more industry adoption, more rifle and ammo choices, and continued support. The 7 has more options for reloading as well.

BUT… the Western is here now with ammo available. The 7PRC isn’t here yet, and I doubt ammo will be plentiful for a while if it trends the direction the other PRCs have.

BUT… if the 7 takes off like the rocket it may be, I doubt we see further adoption of the 6.8 Western and the cartridge could get sidelined.

Sorry to ramble. Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Unckebob]

The 7PRC is a Long action magnum cartridge that is essentially a modernized 7 Rem Mag.

The 6.8 Western is a modernized 270 WSM and is chambered in short actions. If you get the 6.8 in a factory rifle, you cannot rebarrel to 7PRC. In addition, it is going to have competition from the Army's 277 Fury, I doubt it will offered in rifles not made by Winchester/Browning.

If you think you'll end up with the 7 PRC down the road, why not get a 280AI or 7 RM now and replace the barrel down the line?

 

[EmperorMA]

The difference in “power” between the two is going to be minimal for hunting purposes.

 

[gtriple]

7PRC hands down. It is a medium action magnum cartridge and has the backing of Hornady.

Get a Tikka, then swap it to 7PRC later.

 

[NeverSummer]

The 6.8 western is already dying. The 7 PRC will only hasten that trend.

 

[MJB]

6.8 is here to stay......it's a sweet shooter and light recoil with lots of bullets to choose from via The Hammer line

With Browning and Winchester behind it it's not going anywhere, there are many custom builders using the 6.8 Western in their line.

Between 6.5 PRC, 6.8 W & 7PRC are so close it's like splitting hairs.

 

[Jr4]

The 7 PRC will definitely have more support, than 6.8 western, if you reload or not the 7 PRC will have more options

 

[bmart2622]

7 prc ammo is available now

 

[Tex68w]

7PRC will likely be my next rifle build.

 

[Balderdash]

6.8 is here to stay......it's a sweet shooter and light recoil with lots of bullets to choose from via The Hammer line

With Browning and Winchester behind it it's not going anywhere, there are many custom builders using the 6.8 Western in their line.

Between 6.5 PRC, 6.8 W & 7PRC are so close it's like splitting hairs.

As has been mentioned, the 7PRC is a long action and will offer more performance, so it's not really as close of a comparison as the 6.5 PRC vs 6.8 W, which are both based on short mag cases.

I wouldn't hang my hat on Winchester/Browning not letting the 6.8 die. How many 325WSM and 7mm WSM do you see these days? How about ammo for those cartridges? Even the 270 WSM and 300 WSM are exceedingly difficult to find ammo for nowadays. At least a number of different companies are chambering factory rifles for the 6.5 PRC, which leads me to think it'll be around for at least a bit.

 

[Gila]

I wouldn’t be surprised if Tikka drops the 270 WSM and chambers the 6.8 Western. I would buy one. I stated somewhere that one of the 7 PRC’s “cons” is that it is a long action cartridge. Quite a few production guns are currently limited to 3.4” for a DBM. High BC, heavy, low drag bullets typically use a long throat, fast twist and as such the case needs to be short and fat for more powder space to drive the bullets. The 284 WIN and the 7 SAUM can eek out the performance with a handload, and still fit in a standard long action DBM. The 7 REM MAG can shoot quite a few different hunting bullets and the ammo can be found just about anywhere. If you are going to count inches at a thousand yards, well... F-Class has found that the 284 Win and the 7 SAUM do a fine job out there.

 

[Gila]

7PRC hands down. It is a medium action magnum cartridge and has the backing of Hornady.

Get a Tikka, then swap it to 7PRC later.

I would rather buy a Tikka in 270 WSM and re-barrel to 6.8 Western. Then I can load to what-ever OAL I want to....

 

[Balderdash]

I wouldn’t be surprised if Tikka drops the 270 WSM and chambers the 6.8 Western. I would buy one. I stated somewhere that one of the 7 PRC’s “cons” is that it is a long action cartridge. Quite a few production guns are currently limited to 3.4” for a DBM. High BC, heavy, low drag bullets typically use a long throat, fast twist and as such the case needs to be short and fat for more powder space to drive the bullets. The 284 WIN and the 7 SAUM can eek out the performance with a handload, and still fit in a standard long action DBM. The 7 REM MAG can shoot quite a few different hunting bullets and the ammo can be found just about anywhere. If you are going to count inches at a thousand yards, well... F-Class has found that the 284 Win and the 7 SAUM do a fine job out there.

Unlike a lot of legacy cartridges that were designed to run lighter, shorter bullets at 3.34, which directly effectuates the need to change throats, twists, and COAL to run higher BC offerings at their best potential, the 7 PRC is designed from the outset to run 175-180's out of a 3.34 mag. Not saying you won't gain from chasing lands a bit and extra COAL if you can get it, but as they say, a lot of the dots will be connected for you in OEM guise.

I'd be willing to bet a large stack of cash that if/when Tikka does offer the 7 PRC, they'll be pretty much RTG out of the box for a long range hunting rig with factory 175's at 3.34. Heck, I ran 7mm rem mag 175's at 3.4 out of a stock Tikka that were consistently right around an MOA. Gun isn't finicky about powder or charge size, either.

 

[Balderdash]

I would rather buy a Tikka in 270 WSM and re-barrel to 6.8 Western. Then I can load to what-ever OAL I want to....

Not that I don't like short mag cartridges in a Tikka, because I think they are a great fit, but you can run 3.6 COAL in a Tikka without too much trouble.

But I don't think there'd be a need with a 7 PRC in a Tikka, or most other cartridges for that matter. In most cases you don't gain enough velocity to make a big enough difference, and Tikkas don't seem hindered in the accuracy department due to a little free bore because you can't chase lands and tinker. I can't recall messing with any that didn't shoot well enough for long range shooting with factory ammo right out of the box.

I have a 300 win mag 1:11 that I picked up cheap years ago. Was going to make it into something else because, as everyone knows, the 1:11 and tight mag length on the Tikka are way less than ideal for that cartridge. But I ended up never changing it; made the mistake of shooting it and found that the gun shoots 200 grn ELD-X at 3.34 into tiny little groups with ease.

 

[longhorncadillac]

So what did you end up with? I just pulled the trigger on a 7PRC build. I’m finding more and more ammo available. I’ve managed to stockpile two cases so far.

 

[35remy]

So what did you end up with? I just pulled the trigger on a 7PRC build. I’m finding more and more ammo available. I’ve managed to stockpile two cases so far.

I decided to buy a 6.5 PRC that I can convert to 7 PRC in the future. Currently it is a Howa 1500 barreled action wearing an MDT oryx chassis with a Vortex DB tactical FFP on top. I have a JK Armament VersaX 45 ordered to be my light do-it-all can to swap around between my 45-70, 35 cals, and the 7 PRC once it is built. I’m enjoying the 6.5 PRC so far and may end up keeping it and buying another action for the 7 PRC, or just buying the barreled action from Howa if they start chambering 7 PRC. This is the first Howa I have purchased and I have been pretty impressed so far. After polishing things up a bit, she’s smooth and a great shooter with all ammo I have tried. Howa used the long action for the 6.5, and I am able to reliably run the MDT AICS 300WM mags without modification in the oryx chassis.

Ultimately, I was glad I decided not to go the 6.8 route. It’s a great cartridge, but I think the 7 fits what I am looking for much better.

 

[redchinviking]

In the avenues I travel, the 7prc has been available. Found it online three times already since the launch. 6.5 prc on the shelf quite a few times last two years. And I live in small town Idaho! Brass will be a different story but I think hornady knows how big this is and will be dedicating a mass of resources to keep it steady. Time will tell. All I know is this anytime I settle for something less…I regret it. That being said I love my 7saum listen to your gut

 

[Balderdash]

I'm finding loaded ammo for 6.5 PRC, 7PRC, and 6.8. only thing I rarely see is rifles chambered for 6.8.

A local big box store has had 6.8 ammo in stock for a long time; during COVID it was the only ammo on many, many bare shelfs. However, I have yet to see a rifle so chambered in that store, and I walk through their gun area at least once a month. Meanwhile I've seen multiple 6.5 and 7PRC's there.

Curious to see what endures after a few years; such as it is, I'd bet on the PRC rounds making it longer. Seems more ammo, component, and rifle companies have picked them up, and while there might be more .277 offerings in the works, as it stands, there's many more .264 and .284 options available.

 

[Lou270]

Sportsmans shows 66 6.8W models offered from Browning, Winchester, Seekins, Fierce, and Christensen Arms. Shows 44
Models offered in 7mm PRC from Savage, Remington, Ruger, Christensen Arms; Seekins, Fierce. I am sure both will get more added as supply chains continue to loosen up but lots of good options now.

For those of you who think Hornady is better at supporting cartridges than Win you probably forget the 300 rcm, 338 rcm, 30 tc, 338 marlin express, 308 marlin express, 450 marlin and probably several not thinking of. You can still pretty easily find wsm ammo compared to any of those all introduced after the wsms. Not at all picking on Hornady as a big fan, but they are not any better/worse than others

Lou

 

[gerry35]

OP got a 6.5 PRC so congrats it's a fine round too.

6.8 Western vs 7 PRC - the 7 PRC is a step above in power and more like a modern 300 Win Mag in some ways, that's how I see it. I think the 7mm guys underestimate how many 277 cal fans there are who would love a fairly mild recoiling round with excellent performance that can shoot heavies and still use normal weight 277 cal bullets. I know my wife can handle a 270 Win and it's easy to load a 6.8 Western to that power level if needed. With a full power load using a 170 gr bullet at 2900+ fps is going to be a great moose and elk load farther than most will ever shoot.