Jim: I have watched your original and then follow up video on the 6.8. Last year it was one of your top picks. Now that the 7 PRC is out, does it still hold that place for you?
I am very interested in it. I currently have my braked ultralight one-gun that I love for everything, in 300wsm.
I have recently found out that I can reform 300wsm into 6.8 brass and that has me even more interested. I really like the short action, the short barrel capability, the newer .277 bullets coming out, and… the bright future of .277 caliber given the govt future of the caliber.
Great question. I’m curious to hear Jim’s answer. You know we all have that favorite caliber that for some reason we love even if we can’t totally explain why. Call it personal preference. For me it is the .277. Perhaps it’s my age (51) and hearing the stories of Jack O’Connor.
Growing up, I always wanted to hunt, but my dad was a self-described city kid who wanted nothing to do with the field. I used to spend time during the summer up at my uncle’s place in Idaho. I still remember my summer friend showing me pictures of a Nevada antelope he took with a 270 Win. I thought it was the coolest thing.
I’ve owned guns my whole life, but I finally started hunting a few years ago when my oldest son was in high school and showed an interest. He shot trap for his school’s team, so more comfortable with shotgun, we started with birds, but have moved into big game. Of course, I got a rifle in 270 Win, which I still love. As I have learned more about things like twist rates, ballistic coefficients, cartridge designs, etc., I want to step up. I don’t have a particular preference about long or short actions and I just starting handloading, so factory ammo availability is less a concern. (Real hard to find primers in my area though.) I was looking at 6.8 Western vs. 300 WSM, but now that the 7 PRC is on the market, I’d like to hear Jim’s take.
I went back and forth on what to get next and decided on 6.8 Western. I was initially planning on 7PRC, but since it’s so new, who knows when the factory rifles I was interested in would be in stock (I wanted to stay under $1,500). So when I found the Browning X-Bolt Speed available for the price I got it for I jumped on it. It was exactly what I was looking for. A short 20" threaded barrel with a pretty stiff stock and a color pattern I liked. With my suppressor on, the recoil is basically non-existent which is great for following your shot. I changed out the factory trigger to a Timney and it now feels like it’s ready to go and I still stayed under what I wanted to spend… If you’re reloading, then 6.8 factory ammo availability doesn’t really matter. Although I’ll say in my area of the country I rarely see any PRC ammo on the shelves either, not even 6.5 PRC. Ultimately, I think 7mm PRC will be more popular, and down the road I may get one, but for now I’m pretty content.
6.8 Western is a superb cartridge design. I also have a fascination with .277.
Browning has done a pretty bad job at marketing thr cartridge. In fact, they even sell “fast twist 270” rifles now so you can put the heavier bullets in the 279 and not need a 6.8 western, which is just horrible for thr marketing of a new cartridge.
The biggest problem with 6.8 western is that the Browning/Winchester loads are pretty bad. I saw standard deviations of 26, which just won’t work for long range shooting which is what this was designed for.
So the future? It looks a little bleak. Few companies have jumped on board to support it and even Browning isn’t really marketing it well. 3 years later, there isn’t any quality ammo or brass being made for it.
Amazing design, but I’m concerned about its future.