Putting together my first long range hunting rig, A Model 70 in 6.8 Western.

[Northern Safari]

I'm new to the whole long range and mountain hunting world and have decided on a Model 70 Extreme Weather in 6.8 Western as my rifle of choice.

Curious if any others here own the same rifle or cartridge for this purpose?

I'm really intrigued by this new chambering. The 165gr Winchester load looks amazing on paper. I'm hoping to use this rifle for goat, sheep, deer and elk.

The rifle is 7.0lbs naked and I'm hoping to keep it as light as possible, are there many sub 1.0lbs scope & ring combos? Ideally looking in the 2-14x to 3-18x range.

 

[Scottf270]

Your chosen rifle and cartridge will get the job done. It could be suggested that moving to something like the 6.5 prc would open up many more ammo choices and rifle options.
There are so many good choices today, there's really not a wrong answer. This truly is the good old days of shooting.

 

[LongWayAround]

6.8 Western | MidwayUSA

Shop 6.8 Western at MidwayUSA! We carry a wide selection of 6.8 Western at the best prices!

www.midwayusa.com

 

[Steve300xcw]

You just might be the first guy I have heard of that actually bought a 6.8 western.

 

[SloppyJ]

I like both choices. A M70 is classic and the 6.8 western seems interesting on the surface if you handload.

 

[Northern Safari]

You just might be the first guy I have heard of that actually bought a 6.8 western.

I like owning the oddballs. I will single handedly keep this cartridge alive haha.

 

[TaperPin]

I'm new to the whole long range and mountain hunting world and have decided on a Model 70 Extreme Weather in 6.8 Western as my rifle of choice.

Curious if any others here own the same rifle or cartridge for this purpose?

I'm really intrigued by this new chambering. The 165gr Winchester load looks amazing on paper. I'm hoping to use this rifle for goat, sheep, deer and elk.

The rifle is 7.0lbs naked and I'm hoping to keep it as light as possible, are there many sub 1.0lbs scope & ring combos? Ideally looking in the 2-14x to 3-18x range.

Congrats on a very nice combination of old classic and modern. If you ever start to wish for a better trigger, replacing my model 70 trigger with a Timney was a very good improvement - much more crisp with zero creep.

 

[Northern Safari]

I've compared the ballistics of all 8 factory ammo offerings from Browning and Winchester and it looks like Winchester's 165 grain Expedition Big Game is the best long range option.

 

[Raghornklr]

I've compared the ballistics of all 8 factory ammo offerings from Browning and Winchester and it looks like Winchester's 165 grain Expedition Big Game is the best long range option.

View attachment 756312

If your gun shoots them well. My 6.8 doesn't care for them but shoots the 175 TGK extremely well.

 

[Ringbill27]

I've compared the ballistics of all 8 factory ammo offerings from Browning and Winchester and it looks like Winchester's 165 grain Expedition Big Game is the best long range option.

View attachment 756312

the 6.8 is really a underrated cartridge. I’m hoping that once the brass manufacturers start making brass hopefully it gets better.

 

[Northern Safari]

If your gun shoots them well. My 6.8 doesn't care for them but shoots the 175 TGK extremely well.

Did you go with a Browning or Winchester rifle? I see the Browning's went with the 1:7.5 twist and Winchester did the 1:8.

 

[Raghornklr]

I actually went with a Christensen 7.5tw

 

[Lou270]

I own 2. A Win 70 that was a 7wsm classic stainless in mcmillan hunter that rebarreled to 6.8W and a Browning Speed SR. Both are very accurate with either 175 browning or 165 ablr factory loads. I think you will be happy

Lou