The 6.8 Western, By Jesse Werner

[Lou270]

I am not sure WB cares if others pick it up. As noted they have a pretty robust offering and they apparently are able to sell all the ammo / rifles they are able to make. I know the ammo moves off the shelves around me when it shows up. Christensen arms, Fierce, and Seekins all chamber off the shelf rifles in 6.8W. So, while there is no Ruger which is nice for the budget crowd there are some very quality and available alternatives to the Browning / Winchester offering.

I am not surprised Ruger has not picked up the 6.8W yet as they seem to have a partnership with Hornady. I am a little surprised Savage has not yet though maybe the pandemic/7prc delayed it. As for ammo, check out choice ammunition if want something other than browning/win. Guys in the FB groups have been having very good luck with it. Federal said they were gonna load it in podcast I listened to but not sure when. They just got bought out so that may delay things as well. Some guys say Hornady never will since competes with prc line, but I am not sure. Hornady is a ammo company not a prc company. In any case, I hope they do or at least do a heavy 277 cal bullet so we uber loyal 277 cal fans have another option. Keep bugging the manufacturers so they know we want it!

Lou

 

[HunterFlint]

I am not sure WB cares if others pick it up. As noted they have a pretty robust offering and they apparently are able to sell all the ammo / rifles they are able to make. I know the ammo moves off the shelves around me when it shows up. Christensen arms, Fierce, and Seekins all chamber off the shelf rifles in 6.8W. So, while there is no Ruger which is nice for the budget crowd there are some very quality and available alternatives to the Browning / Winchester offering.

I am not surprised Ruger has not picked up the 6.8W yet as they seem to have a partnership with Hornady. I am a little surprised Savage has not yet though maybe the pandemic/7prc delayed it. As for ammo, check out choice ammunition if want something other than browning/win. Guys in the FB groups have been having very good luck with it. Federal said they were gonna load it in podcast I listened to but not sure when. They just got bought out so that may delay things as well. Some guys say Hornady never will since competes with prc line, but I am not sure. Hornady is a ammo company not a prc company. In any case, I hope they do or at least do a heavy 277 cal bullet so we uber loyal 277 cal fans have another option. Keep bugging the manufacturers so they know we want it!

Lou

Hornady has said that they will never support it and they offer zero products for 6.8 Western. Yes, it competes(favorably) with the 6.5 PRC and is just a tad behind the 7 PRC, closer than they like. Hornady doesn't make any high BC bullets in .277 and they only load their high BC ELD-X bullets in Hornady chamberings. IE: 7MM PRC gets the 175 gr. ELD-X, but the 7mm RM gets the 162 gr. Ditto the 300 PRC vs RUM. If you are a .270/6.8 shooter you can avoid anything Hornady just fine.

 

[DisplacedHusky]

Thanks for putting the final polishing on this article Justin, looks great!

Thanks for putting the final polishing on this article Justin, looks great!

Great article. Have you shot much factory ammo in your Browning and what kind of groups are you getting?

 

[Tumbleweed]

Great article. Have you shot much factory ammo in your Browning and what kind of groups are you getting?

I have not. I'm a handload only type of guy. FWIW, the overwhelming favorite and best shooting box ammo seems to be the 175 grain Browning


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[Chainshaw]

I keep going back and forth between 6.8 Western and .280ai for my next rifle. I don't reload, so future ammo availability is a concern.

 

[Unckebob]

I keep going back and forth between 6.8 Western and .280ai for my next rifle. I don't reload, so future ammo availability is a concern.

I have had a 280AI and will probably have a 6.8W , but I am a handloader.

Although there is some 280AI ammo out there, it is not plentiful and is often expensive. I see no evidence it will disappear.

Getting access to every factory load is often very difficult. If you don't want to reload, I strongly recommend buying a nice stock of ammo to support your planned shooting before you buy the rifle. Hornady ammo is cheaper than the Nosler and is available at Scheels. 280 Remington ammo will work and is cheaper. As a handloader, it is relatively easy to get brass and bullets.

6.8W buyers are 100% dependent on Winchester/Browning for ammo. I doubt they will stop supporting the cartridge anytime soon, but you won't ever have the choice of loads that a 7mm RemMag will have. I will buy my 6.8W barrel when I can buy 200 pieces of brass. My Cabela's usually has at least 1 load in stock.

 

[Balderdash]

I keep going back and forth between 6.8 Western and .280ai for my next rifle. I don't reload, so future ammo availability is a concern.

Long term availability being a concern for a non handloader, I'd go 7PRC or even 7mm RM. Nothing against the other cartridges, but as of right now they're both much more niche.

I do see a fair amount of 6.8 ammo available right now, but AFAIK, that cartridge hasn't been picked up by many other loaders and the aftermarket support is comparatively less. Previous kicks at short mag based cartridges have pretty well all faded into levels of obscurity. Even the 300 wsm, which was by far the most popular of short mags, is comparatively difficult to track down and its more expensive than other standard rounds.

The 280ai is fantastic, but it's pretty rare that I see loaded ammo for it on the shelf or not on back order. It's performance is so near the 7mm RM or PRC, that it's not worth the extra hassle to obtain cartridges, IMO.

The bottom line is that if you want longevity, you'd be best served to select a cartridge that was/is a military round or one that has been picked up by competitive shooters. Hunter centric cartridges have a tendency to be more proprietary loadings that fade after the newness wears off.

 

[Sled]

Long term availability being a concern for a non handloader, I'd go 7PRC or even 7mm RM. Nothing against the other cartridges, but as of right now they're both much more niche.

I do see a fair amount of 6.8 ammo available right now, but AFAIK, that cartridge hasn't been picked up by many other loaders and the aftermarket support is comparatively less. Previous kicks at short mag based cartridges have pretty well all faded into levels of obscurity. Even the 300 wsm, which was by far the most popular of short mags, is comparatively difficult to track down and its more expensive than other standard rounds.

The 280ai is fantastic, but it's pretty rare that I see loaded ammo for it on the shelf or not on back order. It's performance is so near the 7mm RM or PRC, that it's not worth the extra hassle to obtain cartridges, IMO.

The bottom line is that if you want longevity, you'd be best served to select a cartridge that was/is a military round or one that has been picked up by competitive shooters. Hunter centric cartridges have a tendency to be more proprietary loadings that fade after the newness wears off.

This guy speaks the truth. Why not make it easy on yourself.

 

[Lou270]

6.8W will be around for long haul. It is a modern 270, like the 7prc, et all are modern versions of their repective calibers and is gaining traction with hunters. Lot of loaded ammo and component bullets for it. As others mentioned not a competition round so the boutique brass guys are slower to pick up but they will in time. That is only downside. You can still buy new rifles chambered in 270 wsm and new ammo despite the shine getting knocked off the wsms by the prcs and people saying it is dead. The 270 support runs strong in the hunting community and Winchester does a good job supporting it. Not knocking 7prc as it is marvelous but how many 7mm magnums were the flavor of the day. The 28 Nosler was it a few years ago now the 7mm-ophiles think it sucks and want a prc. What happens when the next 7mm mag with some minor improvement comes along…

Lou

 

[Balderdash]

6.8W will be around for long haul.

 

[z987k]

6.8W will be around for long haul. It is a modern 270, like the 7prc, et all are modern versions of their repective calibers and is gaining traction with hunters. Lot of loaded ammo and component bullets for it. As others mentioned not a competition round so the boutique brass guys are slower to pick up but they will in time. That is only downside. You can still buy new rifles chambered in 270 wsm and new ammo despite the shine getting knocked off the wsms by the prcs and people saying it is dead. The 270 support runs strong in the hunting community and Winchester does a good job supporting it. Not knocking 7prc as it is marvelous but how many 7mm magnums were the flavor of the day. The 28 Nosler was it a few years ago now the 7mm-ophiles think it sucks and want a prc. What happens when the next 7mm mag with some minor improvement comes along…

Lou

As much as I like it, I don't think it will be. Unless it gets more support outside winchester/browning, which doesn't look all that likely.
I see it going the way of the RCM's or the 7wsm. Technically out there, but eventually brass will be impossible to find.

 

[Lou270]

Who really knows. The only really popular big game round introduced in last what 60 years is the 6.5 creedmoor. It was around 8-10 years before it took off and other people started loading it. Plenty of other rounds took off faster with bunch of options then faded. Federal did say 6.8W was on their roadmap in blog I listened to at shot last year. Not sure if this year or not or how getting bought out by czech company affects things. In any case, hunters like the 270 cal and think there is nice niche for a modern version.

Lou

 

[z987k]

Who really knows. The only really popular big game round introduced in last what 60 years is the 6.5 creedmoor. It was around 8-10 years before it took off and other people started loading it. Plenty of other rounds took off faster with bunch of options then faded. Federal did say 6.8W was on their roadmap in blog I listened to at shot last year. Not sure if this year or not or how getting bought out by czech company affects things. In any case, hunters like the 270 cal and think there is nice niche for a modern version.

Lou

I do like how Winchester is fast twisting their 270win.