New SAAMI cartridge - 6.8 Westerner

GooseGestapo said:

Garandimal;
I believe you mean 40 megawatts.
Navy’s new laser weapons run 35-55mw.

I’ve got a 40watt LED landing light on my Piper Cherokee. It’s really bright, but only thing it kills are bugs... With an impact at 115mph...

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I'm guessing it's a reference to the original Terminator movie where the T-800 walks into a gun store and asks for a "phased plasma rifle in the 40 watt range". Arnold Schwarzenegger was a little less skilled at English back in those early days so it's quite possible that the script said megawatt and he goofed the line, but regardless it has entered pop culture ever since.

Anybody know what the H2O capacity is for this case and how is this different from a 270
Wsm?

Here's an article in Outdoor Life on the new 6.8 Western.

The New 6.8 Western is a Versatile Big-Game Hunting and Long-Range Shooting Cartridge from Browning and Winchester | Outdoor Life

Garandimal said:

6.8 WESTERN:

A Nosler 165 gr. ABLR, ahead of ~ 60 gr. of RL 22, for ~ 2,950 fps...?

Would:
- Produce ~ 23 ft-lbs of recoil from a 24" Bbl'ed 8.5 lb rifle.
- Have a MPBR(+/-3") of ~ 300 yards.
- Carry 2,000 ft-lbs out to ~ 425 yards. (for the big stuff)
- Carry the 2,000 fps/1,500 ft-lbs freight out to ~ 675 yards.
- Be supersonic out to ~ 1,500 yards.

Stuff it into a M70 EW/SS and throw in a Partition bullet at that wt. for the woods...?

Very interesting...



GR

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Sounds like, dare I say, the perfect Grizzly & big cat setup.

Sorry if someone's already mentioned. I looked but didn't see it, do we know what the parent brass is? I'd hate to adopt a cartridge like this and get left hanging in the wind without a way to make brass if need be.

The WSM's aren't too bad, but things like the WSSM's and 30AR give me pause.

Gtscotty said:

The Ron Spomer article says the parent case is .270 WSM.

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That's good news. There's plenty of that brass around. It's not cheap, but it's avaliable.

BreechFace said:

The big benefit it has is there is a lot of 270win shooters out there that will jump on the option of a short action 270win, I would imagine.

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Why? What benefit would a 270 Win gain from 1/2” shorter bolt throw and a few ounces of weight that would have them “jump on the option”. I am curious why you see this as a substantial advantage?

A few days ago I seen ammo at targetsports, it was $38 something so not bad.

Once upon a time, the 25-06 was for varmints and pronghorns, the 270 Win was for little deer, the 30-06 was for big deer, elk and bear, and the 35 Whelen was for very big things indeed.

But then marketing folks and their gun writer propagandists decided that because a very, very few people were capable of shooting animals at very long distances, they could sell things for shooting at very long distances to people who shouldn’t, but they would tell them that they could, if only they had the right rifle/cartridge...

They definitely have this cartridge hyped up. I’m curious to see how the market holds up for it. If they are going to come out with new chambering they have got to get it together with ammo and reloading supply availability. Seems to me that it could be a nice option if it’s properly supported for someone who doesn’t have a 6-7 mm rifle for mid weight work.

A .270 WCF... Plus.

But seein' as I'm already wed to the .270 WCF/150 gr., and shoot generally less than ~ 350 yards...

... the advantages are out of my envelope.

Especially in Louisiana and East Texas.




GR

I'd like to see it necked up to 7mm.

A 7mm "short" action (I know this new cartridge longer than the standard 2.800" short action but it still can be a more compact rifle) that can handle 162gr-175gr bullets

I see the 6.8 western necked up to 7mm western being the perfect cartridge of leaving off where 284win stops (150gr bullets fit this cartridge best as heavies)

Gtscotty said:

... It is interesting to me that Winchester is using an 8 twist and Browning a 7.5 twist. I wonder if 8 is enough to stabilize the heaviest offerings like the 175gr TGK?

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In their announcement, Winchester mentioned to, "Check the Bbl. stamp," for the twist rate of any particular Winchester rifle, as 1:8" - is the initial offering.

Sounds like they were already tooled for 1:8", but are willing to respond to heavier bullets down the road.




GR

Hog huntin Harry said:

Sounds like, dare I say, the perfect Grizzly & big cat setup.

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A 180 gr. NP as long as my thumb... at ~ 2800 fps.






GR

Gtscotty said:

I have been thinking about adding a fast twist .270 to the stable with these new bullets coming out. Other projects are ahead of it, probably because good deals on used rifles have evaporated, but a 7.5 or 8 twist barrel nut pre-fit for Tikka or similar would let you play with the heavies in a high pressure cartridge, but also shoot any other reasonable bullet weight or factory ammo just fine. I already have dies and several varieties of bullets left over from my various .270s, so no real road blocks to getting started, even in this ongoing component drought.

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Came up w/ this: A .270 WCF w/ the 6.8 W throat, and a COAL (3.600") that'll fill a M700 magazine.

~ 4.5% more powder capacity for a 150 gr., or std. capacity for a 165 gr. ELD bullet seated to the base of the neck like a .270 WCF/130 gr..

Add to that a 1:8" twist rifling.




GR

I still want to neck it down to 6.5!

horsemen61 said:

I still want to neck it down to 6.5!

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Wouldn't that be a 6.5 PRC...?




GR

So in my specific case this caliber is actually a great setup for me. I have 3 .270s that love the 130-145 grain bullets of which i have stocked up along with reloading components for .270. If i can stock bullets for the same diameter i can tune different loads for different causes and i can load down 6.8 with some 130 grains and a light powder charge to get extra practice with whatever rifle along with load up real heavy bullets in the 6.8 diameter for real large deer and elk.

Garandimal said:

Wouldn't that be a 6.5 PRC...?




GR

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No the 6.5 PRC is based on a .375 ruger case iirc

the 6.8 western is based on a changed .270 wsm case so not the same but close I reckon

Looks like the 6.8 crowd is jumping on the .284 Win bandwagon? I suppose it was just a matter of time now that the .284 Win has made a comeback.

I'm working on a .284 Win build at the moment, but I'll be sticking with the 7mm because of bullet availability and because I also shoot a 7mm-08 and 7x57.

Newtosavage said:

Looks like the 6.8 crowd is jumping on the .284 Win bandwagon? I suppose it was just a matter of time now that the .284 Win has made a comeback.

I'm working on a .284 Win build at the moment, but I'll be sticking with the 7mm because of bullet availability and because I also shoot a 7mm-08 and 7x57.

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Are you building it on a short or long action?

horsemen61 said:

No the 6.5 PRC is based on a .375 ruger case iirc

the 6.8 western is based on a changed .270 wsm case so not the same but close I reckon

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It's the same concept, a case almost identical to the short magnums but shorter to accommodate long, high BC .264 bullets.

Did anybody else see the 6.8 Westerner write up in the March American Rifleman? I though that it was a great explanation of the whys and wherefores of the cartridge until he started comparing ballistics between the 3 Winchester 270's. He compared factory offerings between the 3 of which I have no reason to doubt his numbers. In a nutshell he listed 270W 150 gr. MV at 2900 fps, 270 WSM 150 gr. at 2960 fps, and 6.8W 165 gr.at 2970 fps.

However, I found the velocities that he chose to be suspect. First off, its been my experience that 270 WSM with 150's is anywhere from 150 to 200 fps faster than 270 W, much more than the listed 60 fps. Then, how can 6.8 W shooting a heavier bullet from a case with a smaller powder capacity actually be faster than the 270 WSM? Even using his numbers the 6.8 W drop is only 0.7" less at 500 yds. I realize that his job as a modern day gun writer is to sell a product, in this case the 6.8 W, but think that he was "stretching" the truth to make his point.

I've been working with one of my sons handloading for his 270 WSM. He has a very accurate 150 Partition load at 3050 fps, and Federal Premium 150 Partitions chrono at 3150.

I guess that it all boils down to if you need .277 high BC 165 and 175 gr. bullets. If you think that you do, go for it.