If you wish to introduce a profitable new big-game cartridge as of late, it’s bought to be the quickest, hottest, hardest-hitting, new load ever created, proper? Nicely, truly, no. Browning and Winchester’s 6.8 Western rifle cartridge works off the idea that in case you take a protracted, modern, heavy bullet and fireplace it at an affordable velocity, you’ll get simply nearly as good down-range efficiency as ultra-fast bullets which might be much less streamlined. And, you’ll get that efficiency with much less recoil.
So their engineers took a take a look at the .270 Winchester Brief Magazine., which got here out in 2002, earlier than the pattern of longer, extra aerodynamic bullets took off. They lowered the case shoulder to permit for an extended bullet in a short-action rifle. That additionally meant much less propellant loaded into the spherical.
“The problem in 6.8 Western was all about steadiness,” says Kyle Masinelli, director of New Product Growth for Olin Winchester. “It was the steadiness of taking a father or mother case in .270 WSM and truly taking away powder capability to make it extra highly effective down vary. It appears counterintuitive, however that was precisely what was completed. If we examine it to our prime performing 270 WSM cartridge, the 6.8 Western has 10 % much less propellant, however has 12 % extra vitality at 500 yards. Plainly we cheated physics considerably, however we actually simply used it to our benefit by optimizing case capability and bullet weight. Much less propellant additionally equates to much less muzzle blast.”
It’s additionally notable that the rifles chambered for this cartridge have quicker twist rifling than the outdated .270, utilizing both 1:8 or 1:7.5 twist.
Browning and Winchester are touting this cartridge as a long-range searching and goal capturing load, more likely to attempt to seize a few of the pleasure created by the 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5 PRC, and clear up for a few of the criticism (albeit misplaced) that these cartridges don’t provide heavy sufficient bullets for taking down bigger sport like elk or moose. With the 6.8 Western’s heavier bullets, Winchester says it’s bringing 16 % extra vitality than the 6.5 PRC at 500 yards and 67 % extra vitality than the 6.5 Creedmoor. And the 6.8 Western can tackle a few of the massive boomers at lengthy vary as effectively. In actual fact, Browning’s 175-grain Lengthy Vary Professional load has extra vitality at 500 yards and past than most 180-grain manufacturing unit hundreds in .300 Win. Magazine.
Winchester is claiming 24 ft-lb of recoil in an 8-pound rifle, which is about the identical as a 7mm Rem. Magazine., which is its true ballistic competitor (based mostly on bullet weights, diameter, and muzzle velocity).
6.8 Western Ammo and Ballistics
When it was first launched in 2021, there have been two bullet choices, the 165-grain Accubond Lengthy Vary and the 175-grain Sierra Tipped Sport King. Now, there are a number of extra choices, however Winchester and Browning are nonetheless the one ones loading it. Manufacturing facility 6.8 Western manufacturing unit ammo choices embrace:
Beneath you may see the ballistic tables for the Sierra Tipped Sport King and Accubond Lengthy Vary hundreds.
6.8 Western Accuracy
A key to creating a profitable long-range searching cartridge is accuracy. With out that, all else is null and void. Thankfully for the 6.8 Western, it delivers. We’ve carried out accuracy testing with two completely different Browning rifles chambered in 6.8 Western—the light-weight X-Bolt Mountain Professional, and the heavier-barreled X-Bolt Western Hunter. We used a five-shot-group accuracy protocol for every rifle, utilizing a minimal of 5 teams whole for an accuracy combination.
Freel used the X-Bolt Mountain Professional on an aoudad hunt within the border mountains of Texas and likewise did accuracy testing at ten under zero in Alaska. The sunshine-barreled Mountain Professional averaged 1.18-inch teams with the Browning 175-grain Tipped SGK load and 1.27-inches with Winchester’s 165-grain Nosler ABLR load.
We additionally examined the X-Bolt Western Hunter totally, recording 20 teams as a part of a take a look at of mid-priced searching rifles. The highest 50 % of recorded teams averaged .93 inches, and the general common group dimension for these 20 teams was 1.28 inches. The Browning 175-grain Sierra TGK load averaged 1.21 inches total however displayed a decent customary deviation in group dimension.
For five-shot teams out of hunting-weight rifles, these outcomes are good, and we consider the accuracy potential of the cartridge is even higher—if extra producers get within the sport or hand loaders tweak it to their liking.
Has the 6.8 Western Succeeded?
Somewhat greater than a yr after its introduction, Browning has 18 rifle variations chambered in 6.8 Western and Winchester has greater than a dozen on prime of that. So clearly, each corporations are working laborious to help the brand new cartridge. However the 6.8 Western hasn’t changed veteran cartridges just like the 7mm Rem. Magazine. or the .270 WSM simply but.
“The 6.8 Western is certainly considered one of our quickest rising in regard to cartridge gross sales, however with a brand new cartridge like this it takes a number of years to get sufficient firearms produced to satisfy demand,” says Nathan Robinson, advertising supervisor for Winchester Ammunition. “Having simply introduced the 6.8 Western in 2021, we’re very a lot nonetheless inside the progress interval for this cartridge, but demand has exceeded our expectations and we’d be promoting far more if we may make extra firearms quicker.”
Additionally, it’s a difficult time to introduce new searching cartridge. Ammo availability has been scarce for years and plenty of shooters are extra eager about getting ammo for weapons they already personal than they’re with experimenting with a brand new rifle and cartridge. Discovering ammo on cabinets has additionally been a problem for all however a handful of searching hundreds. A fast on-line search confirmed that many on-line retailers had been nonetheless out of inventory on 6.8 Western ammo.
“As a result of latest progress in searching participation and total ammunition demand, availability has been spotty for many kinds of ammunition for the final two years or so,” Robinson says. “Whereas the 6.8 Western is not any exception, Winchester is dedicated to supporting this new cartridge and has been producing a large quantity to make sure that those that have acquired new weapons chambered in 6.8 Western will be capable of use it for upcoming searching seasons.”
Subject Testing the 6.8 Western
For the reason that 6.8 Western has been launched, we’ve be capable of shoot a wide range of completely different hundreds on hunts everywhere in the nation. We’ve taken a number of massive sport animals with it. Right here’s an summary of area efficiency with the completely different hundreds and rifles.
175-Grain Sierra Tipped Sport King in 6.8 Western
Simply days earlier than my moose hunt, I opened a pre-production field of ammunition because the fumes from the supply truck nonetheless hung within the air. I plucked one of many cartridges out of the field and rolled it round in my hand, wanting on the 6.8mm (.270 cal) 175-grain Sierra Tipped Sport King bullet. That’ll do, I believed.
This newer Sierra bullet has a G1 B.C. of .617. It’s designed to hold vitality at lengthy vary, however constructed to carry collectively for shut photographs on massive animals. Sierra broke into new .277″ territory with this bullet, as earlier chamberings didn’t have quick sufficient twist charges to stabilize such a protracted projectile in that caliber. Their Tipped Sport King requires a tighter twist charge—1:8 within the Winchester rifles or 1:7.5 in Browning rifles (lighter .270 bullets are adequately stabilized in a barrel with a 1:10 twist).
I took a fast journey to the native rifle vary to zero my gun. I used to be capturing a Browning X-Bolt Western Hunter, and as ordinary, I instantly eliminated the muzzle brake. With my very first shot, I used to be pleasantly stunned on the delicate recoil of the cartridge, despite the fact that it was pushing that new 175-grain bullet at a recorded 2835 fps. I zeroed the rifle at 200 yards and the manufacturing unit hundreds averaged just below 2-inch, 5-shot teams at that vary.
There’s loads of people who will argue that any .270 caliber cartridge is simply too small for moose. They’re fallacious. Alaska Yukon moose are massive, however they aren’t very tough to kill. They’ve massive bones and thick hides, however additionally they have gigantic lungs, and though they normally don’t drop instantly (even with massive cartridges), they aren’t indestructible the best way some individuals make them out to be. Now, I ought to level out that the actual load I used to be utilizing was positively greater than “simply one other .270”. With this new 175-grain bullet, on the velocity I measured, from an vitality standpoint on the muzzle, it will actually sit between a .30-06 and .300 Win. Magazine. capturing 180-grain bullets. However the 6.8 Western has a greater B.C., and higher sectional density than a .308 diameter bullet. I had no doubts within the cartridge, however I used to be interested in bullet efficiency, which in addition to shot placement, is probably the most essential issue in relation to placing down massive animals.
A pair weeks later, I held the rifle regular atop a tripod as a bull grunted his means by means of a stand of burnt timber towards my gentle cow calls. My buddy and I had been attempting to find eight days, we’d handed up a number of small bulls, and he killed a dandy. I wanted meat for the winter, and at this level within the hunt, I didn’t have the posh of passing one other bull. I tracked the moose by means of my riflescope, solely about 100 yards away now, ready for a gap by means of the patchwork of charred spruce bushes. I moaned out a cow name and the bull stopped, with a gap in regards to the dimension of a basketball exposing the again of his entrance shoulder. I shot and the bull spun and took a number of steps. I shortly shot once more, after which as soon as extra. Lastly, with solely his shoulder uncovered, I fired a fourth shot, dropping him. A volley like this might sound extreme or indicative of less-than-lethal efficiency, however that’s simply how moose are, they not often go down instantly (even when the primary shot is deadly). Particularly in such tight quarters, its finest to maintain capturing in case your first shot wasn’t nearly as good as you thought. After we walked as much as the bull, I discovered that my first shot had been excellent, with one other a number of inches away, additionally by means of the lungs. The third shot had hit a department and ricocheted into the bull’s antler. The fourth shot punched sq. by means of the scapula.
I used to be blissful to see that each lung photographs had been full pass-throughs. It appeared that the bullets held collectively effectively—even at comparatively short-range—as a result of I didn’t discover any petals or shrapnel within the physique cavity. The ultimate shot had fully damaged the scapula, however didn’t yield the form of catastrophic meat harm on the affect facet that you simply’d count on from a bullet coming aside. In actual fact, I recovered the bullet below the conceal on the again facet, and it nonetheless weighed 102 grains, a weight retention of 58 %. Contemplating the vary, velocity, and what it impacted by means of (a bull moose’s shoulder), I used to be impressed. —T.F.
165-Grain Accubond Lengthy Vary in 6.8 Western
I acquired my 6.8 Western ammo in nondescript preproduction field final summer season, a few month earlier than heading to Alaska for a blacktail deer and mountain goat hunt. And identical to Freel, I used to be capturing a Browning X-Bolt Western Hunter, and mine was topped with a Leupold VX-3i 3.5-10mm scope.
The Accubond Lengthy Ranges are bonded, boattail bullets with polymer suggestions. As their title implies, they’re designed to broaden reliably at lengthy ranges and decrease velocities, (right down to 1,300 fps.) The 165-grain ABLRs have a muzzle velocity of 2970 fps and a G1 BC of .620. From the bench I used to be capable of common simply over 1-inch, 5-shot teams at 100 yards.
On the vary the rifle dealt with and functioned properly, as you’d count on from an X-Bolt, and I felt assured within the rifle and cartridge going into my hunt. From there, I proceeded to place the platform by means of the wringer.
Southeast Alaska was on tempo to set rainfall data by the point I arrived in August. And just some hours after stepping off a aircraft in Juneau, I used to be mountaineering up by means of the Tongass forest’s old-growth timber after blacktail deer. By the point we reached the alpine, the rifle and optic had been soaked, they usually stayed that means for the following a number of days. My searching associate Bjorn, an expertise southeast Alaska outdoorsman, carried a hefty Ruger .338 Win. Magazine.—his go-to rifle in bear nation. Half the time he used it as a strolling stick within the steep, slick terrain. The X-Bolt weighed proper round 7.5 kilos and was a lot simpler to hold within the mountains, although I nonetheless used it as a strolling stick occasionally and managed to slide and fall simply as typically as Bjorn.
On the final day of our hunt we lastly noticed a blacktail buck on a hillside under us. He was about 200 yards away with a doe, on a steep downhill angle. As I bought set as much as shoot, the doe slipped into the woods however the buck paused on the treeline, quartering away from us laborious, wanting towards his doe. It was now or by no means. My shot took him squarely by means of the hip and he tumbled right into a strip of timber under. Bjorn discovered him piled up nearly 150 yards downhill. The bullet had handed clear by means of the deer.
Later within the fall I took the 6.8 Western to northern Wisconsin for the deer season opener. Only a few hours into opening morning I noticed a pleasant buck following some does by means of a stand of thick popple about 90 yards away. He disappeared for a number of moments however I may nonetheless hear him crunching by means of the leaves. I noticed a flash of antler after which I gave a loud bleat and the buck stopped in a capturing window for simply lengthy sufficient.
At my shot, he bounded about 30 yards and crashed down. The bullet entered behind his entrance shoulder and buried into the far shoulder. I discovered it, completely mushroomed, simply beneath the conceal on the offside—wonderful efficiency at medium vary. —AR
162-Grain Winchester Copper Affect in 6.8 Western
In November 2021 I hunted for elk in Colorado with Browning’s X-Bolt Mountain Professional Lengthy Vary rifle loaded with Winchester’s Copper Affect 162-grain hundreds. The bullet is strong copper, and it designed for what Winchester calls an “outsized affect diameter.” The spherical as an marketed muzzle velocity of 2875 and a G1 BC (Ballistic Coefficient) of 0.564.
On my hunt in Colorado I shot a pleasant 5×5 bull inside 100 yards whereas he was on the transfer. As he walked by means of the junipers, I floated my crosshairs over his shoulder and fired. The primary shot broke each shoulders and exited. Extremely, there was minimal meat harm, proving the bullet stayed collectively as a copper bullet is designed to do. I shot the bull as soon as extra, a coup de grâce shot fired from 20 yards. We discovered that slug whereas quartering out the bull and surprisingly, it didn’t absolutely mushroom at such an in depth vary (given the affect velocity), however it did maintain collectively.
As fro the rifle, the X-Bolt Mountain Professional Lengthy Vary simply could be the very best X-Bolt I’ve ever shot. In 6.8 Western with a 26-inch barrel, the rifle weighs 6 kilos 12 ounces. The carbon inventory, Cerakote barrel, and crisp set off deliver customized options to a inventory rifle. A comfortable butt pad and the Recoil Hawg muzzle brake take the chunk out the gun. —A.R.
