I may or may not regret going all in with this caliber, but it seems like it fits such a good spot for me since I prefer to not shoot at anything beyond 500 yards. I kept going back and forth between 6.8 Western and 7PRC and ultimately went with what I liked that was in stock when I was shopping. I guess we’ll see how the caliber does down the road, but for now I’m pleased. For what it’s worth, I do eventually have plans to work on some custom loads for it. Depending on the scale I used…rifle, scope, and bipod attached came in between 8lbs. 4oz. to 8lbs. 10oz. So even with my suppressor attached it’s only going to be about 9lbs. which is acceptable. Planning on taking it out to the range this Friday to sight it in.
Item list:
Browning X-Bolt Speed Suppressor Ready 6.8 Western
Steve, let us know how it shoots and how you like it. Jim has had some good things to say about the 6.8 Western, but it doesn’t seem to be getting the marketing support I hoped. I am in a similar position, but choosing between 6.8 Western and 300 WSM for my next rifle. I had been leaning to the 300 WSM, but very interested to hear how you like the 6.8.
Mark, take a good look at the 300 prc specs before you buy the 300 wm. If you’re a handloader you can best the 300 wm with about the same recoil. I don’t have one yet but been reading about it. You can basically duplicate the 338 Lapua with a lot less punishment.
I’m not sure how much good breaking in a barrel does but I went ahead do what I’ve done in the past. I’ll shoot 2-3 rounds, clean the barrel, let it cool 5-10 minutes. I repeat this 3 times while doing a rough sight in at the same time. I brought two types of factory ammo with me Winchester Copper Impact (162 Grain) and Browning Long Range Pro Hunter with the Sierra Game King Tips (175 grain).
I shot two groups with the Winchester and four groups with the Browning. Regardless which ammo I used my 5th shot was more or less a flyer. Not sure if the barrel is just too hot by the 5th shot or what but it was consistently outside the group. I circled the 5th shot in the pics below. I only shot 40 rounds through it today, so I’m going to head back out on Friday to see if anything changes.
Not bad. Must be heating up. You can try letting it cool down between shots. If it still throws that 5 th shot after that I would recheck all the mounting screws first. Then check that the barrel is not contacting the stock as it gets hot. Can’t wait to see the next groups.
Have you shot it yet? I have a browning hells canyon in 270 and it shoots lights out with Hornady white tail I never even tried any other loads because the cheap stuff I bought to break barrel in shot .5-.75” groups. I am very interested in your scope though. I’m curious how accurate it dials up to longer ranges. If there are any issue with the turrets Jim’s said his locked up during his video.
Yeah if you’re getting half inch groups with cheap factory ammo I wouldn’t change a thing, LOL.
The pics above were the first time I shot it which was today. So far the turrets on the scope seem to be fine. The glass isn’t on par with my other scopes (Zeiss, Nightforce, or Delta) but I’d imagine it’s the ranging tech inside the scope I’m paying for. I’m planning on doing some more fine tuning this Friday. I haven’t even set the zero stop yet.
Yeah, about that trigger. I’ve never owned a Browning rifle before, but Jim’s not wrong when he talks about Browning triggers. It came from the factory set at 4.2lbs. I lowered it as low as it would allow, down to 3.1lbs and it’s still takes a little too much effort to pull if I’m being honest. So I’m looking into replacing it if possible.
You picked the 6.8 Western? (I’m not questioning the choice, I’m just not sure from the original comment…I guess I’m obtuse since it seemed clear to everyone else.)
If it’s a hunting rifle, I feel like the 5th shot flyer isn’t really an issue. It seems like solid groups to me. Are those 100-yd groups? 200-yd? other?
If you’re going to eventually hand load, seems like ammo commercial ammo variety/availability/cost shouldn’t be a problem, which seems to be the only real problem with 6.8 Western.
𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞! I’m excited for you,.
Those were at 100yds. Yeah, now that I’ve had it for a little I’m very happy with it. And I do plan on eventually reloading these so that does eliminate one of my initial concerns regarding factory ammo availability.
I went back out today and had plans on testing accuracy a little more until I got to the range and realized I left my paper targets on the kitchen counter. Luckily I had already packed my chronograph and my steel targets were in the trunk, so it wasn’t a total waste of time. I used the same ammo as earlier in the week and saved these shot strings.
@Krazyhoff I think you were asking about the scope earlier. It worked really well. I used the pre-set profiles they had in their library for the ammo, and the scope was right on when I dialed the distances.
