6.8mm Winchester Western

Greetings all,
I found the latest copy of Rifle Mag on my chair today after my dearly beloved returned from town. In it was an article by Brian Pearce on the 6.8 Winchester Western. This is an ever so slightly shortened .270 WSM intended for faster twist barrels. Factory loads include pointy projectile up to 175 grain. I spotted an article on this round a while back and aside from one breathless enquiry on the Forum about when they would be available there had been nothing. Browning and possibly others are chambering it. Other than the slightly shorter case the difference seems to be in the barrel twist of 1 in 7.5 inches. Why it was deemed necessary to come up with a slightly new case rather than just increasing the .270 WSM twist has me baffled but I suppose this is the USA and nothing that happens there surprises me these days. Winchester previously used the Westerner name for one of their .264 Win rifles and that calibre struggles on life support so we will see what happens to the 6.8 Western. Would I buy one? Hell no but I have too many safe queens already. Brian's rifle shot the 165 Accubond LR at 2,955 fps in a 26 inch barrel, about what my 7mm SAUM does with the 162 AMAX.
Regards Grandpamac.

I've wondered if they're trying to stay ahead on the sales curve for gung ho types, as the American military moves to a 6.8 calibre.

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I have a friend that is really pumped about getting it as he has told me its going to be the civi version of what the military is looking to adopt

I also asked him why not a 270WSM and just go buy one today.

its the creedmore all over again.....

The 6.8 western is just a 270 SAUM

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Originally Posted by Bill999

I have a friend that is really pumped about getting it as he has told me its going to be the civi version of what the military is looking to adopt

I also asked him why not a 270WSM and just go buy one today.

its the creedmore all over again.....

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Greetings Bill 999,
I think that your friend is getting his cartridges scrambled. There is a .277 Fury brought out by Sig Sauer that is touted as a military cartridge but it is much smaller than the 6.8 Western, more like the .308 in size but with a composite case running high pressure. Whether this or anything else replaces the 5.56mm remains to be seen as the US will be out of Afghanistan by the end of the month. It is quite possible that the project could be quietly shelved. After the Boer War the brits developed a new 7mm cartridge with better range than the .303. It was a very modern looking round called the .276 Enfield not unlike some of the new wonder cartridges today. WW1 got in the way and it was quietly dropped as more powerful than needed in Europe. The current situation sounds a little similar.
Regards Grandpamac.

@grandpamac Yeh l seen a bit about that a while ago ,sounds like just another marketing attempt to rope in Ninja Snipers, on the back of the US military brown paper bag, under the desk new platforms/calibers decisions .

I just got back from a series of extended hunting trips over the last couple of months with another Allen Carr build, a 284W built on a early 90's Rem action that was trued,Bolt fluted,Bolt Handle skeletonized & trigger worked.We put a 24inch True-Flite rifle barrel on,that after load testing & accuracy proved was docked & threaded at 22inch for the Suppressor,the chamber was long throated to seat the bullets way out in the little fat cases & gain maximum velocity.

All that was pillar bedded into a Bell & Carlson Ti Stock I have owned 2 of these 284W over the years & found it a highly efficient hunting round ,but always found the only limiting factor in performance was the rifles only had short chambers so the bullet seating limited powder capacity .The rifle comes in at just under 7lbs loaded & is perfectly balanced right between the hands ,so a perfect weight compromise IMO for carry /shooting off hand which due to low scrub in areas l hunt a lot is a important factor.




With a long throat & magazine to match, your rifle you can seat bullets level with the base of the neck giving more case capacity than you would with the standard length throat. All my 284W's loved AR2209, my favorite Hunting Loads for Goats ,Pigs,Chammy & small Deer is the Speer 130gn BT pushed along by 58gn hitting around 3150fps ,my all round loads are the 140gn NP with 57gn hitting 3100fps & 145gn Speer with 56gn for 3000fps. My premium Tahr & Deer load is the proven 140gn Barnes-X pushed along to around 3050fps & the 160grn Speer doing around 2935fps ,l have taken Elk & Moose with those as well as plenty of good Reds here,but in reality the 140grn loads are what l do the majority of hunting with,the 140grn Barnes -X shoot into 14mm & the 130grn & 140grn NP's 18-20mm .

The mild recoil of the 284W IMO is comparable to 7/08 & enables you to watch hits through the scope no problems what so ever ,even this old girl from the the early 60's shows up most of these current Man Bun magnums in the field .

Attachment 174800

Yes I was after one but all the agents I emailed said they weren't going to bother importing, so after looking at the energy levels of the 270WSM with the 150 grain bullet decided that was more than enough so bought one of those.

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Originally Posted by bunji

@grandpamac Yeh l seen a bit about that a while ago ,sounds like just another marketing attempt to rope in Ninja Snipers, on the back of the US military brown paper bag, under the desk new platforms/calibers decisions .

I just got back from a series of extended hunting trips over the last couple of months with another Allen Carr build, a 284W built on a early 90's Rem action that was trued,Bolt fluted,Bolt Handle skeletonized & trigger worked.We put a 24inch True-Flite rifle barrel on,that after load testing & accuracy proved was docked & threaded at 22inch for the Suppressor,the chamber was long throated to seat the bullets way out in the little fat cases & gain maximum velocity.

All that was pillar bedded into a Bell & Carlson Ti Stock I have owned 2 of these 284W over the years & found it a highly efficient hunting round ,but always found the only limiting factor in performance was the rifles only had short chambers so the bullet seating limited powder capacity .The rifle comes in at just under 7lbs loaded & is perfectly balanced right between the hands ,so a perfect weight compromise IMO for carry /shooting off hand which due to low scrub in areas l hunt a lot is a important factor.




With a long throat & magazine to match, your rifle you can seat bullets level with the base of the neck giving more case capacity than you would with the standard length throat. All my 284W's loved AR2209, my favorite Hunting Loads for Goats ,Pigs,Chammy & small Deer is the Speer 130gn BT pushed along by 58gn hitting around 3150fps ,my all round loads are the 140gn NP with 57gn hitting 3100fps & 145gn Speer with 56gn for 3000fps. My premium Tahr & Deer load is the proven 140gn Barnes-X pushed along to around 3050fps & the 160grn Speer doing around 2935fps ,l have taken Elk & Moose with those as well as plenty of good Reds here,but in reality the 140grn loads are what l do the majority of hunting with,the 140grn Barnes -X shoot into 14mm & the 130grn & 140grn NP's 18-20mm .

The mild recoil of the 284W IMO is comparable to 7/08 & enables you to watch hits through the scope no problems what so ever ,even this old girl from the the early 60's shows up most of these current Man Bun magnums in the field .

Attachment 174800

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Greetings Bunji,
Amazing how a cartridge brought out for a lever action is still relevant and modern almost 60 years after introduction. It has become quite popular for F Open and my son has one and has even shot a deer in the Kaweka's with it. Cases are even back in production. So many cartridges so little time and money. For me it would only near duplicate my SAUM.
Regards Grandpamac.

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Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings all,
I found the latest copy of Rifle Mag on my chair today after my dearly beloved returned from town. In it was an article by Brian Pearce on the 6.8 Winchester Western. This is an ever so slightly shortened .270 WSM intended for faster twist barrels. Factory loads include pointy projectile up to 175 grain. I spotted an article on this round a while back and aside from one breathless enquiry on the Forum about when they would be available there had been nothing. Browning and possibly others are chambering it. Other than the slightly shorter case the difference seems to be in the barrel twist of 1 in 7.5 inches. Why it was deemed necessary to come up with a slightly new case rather than just increasing the .270 WSM twist has me baffled but I suppose this is the USA and nothing that happens there surprises me these days. Winchester previously used the Westerner name for one of their .264 Win rifles and that calibre struggles on life support so we will see what happens to the 6.8 Western. Would I buy one? Hell no but I have too many safe queens already. Brian's rifle shot the 165 Accubond LR at 2,955 fps in a 26 inch barrel, about what my 7mm SAUM does with the 162 AMAX.
Regards Grandpamac.

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• I'm guessing the reason for the redesign is for a couple reasons.
• Shortening the case allows a slightly longer neck and allows the throat design to be changed to allow the modern longer heavy projectiles to be seated out close to the lands. (Similar to Creedmoor, PRC) (This is also probably a pretty good reason why the 7SAUM is significantly more popular nowadays than the 7mmWSM).
• The shorter shoulder also stops accidental chambering of 270WSM in the 6.8 Western Chamber
• Easier to bring hype to a new cartridge than and old one
• If you starting making 170 grain 270wsm loads inevitably a bunch of clueless hunters would buy them and complain they dont shoot out of the traditional 11 twist rifles.

If they can get the BC up on some of the 277 projectiles it will create another middle ground with extremely efficient high bc projectiles that dont need a massive case to launch them like the 230+ grain 30 calibre options requiring large magnums to get them going.

Be interesting if they can get a BC comparable to the 180-195 7mm projectiles.

I launch 170 grn projectiles from my 1;10 twist now...have done so for years.....BC....yeah nah,but look at the SD!!!!!!! the trajectory is surprising as in its no where near as bad as one might think.
that fast twist barrel with the std .270 win chambering would be interesting indeed.

why they have never stuck plastic tip in the 160grn partition is beyond me.....

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

why they have never stuck plastic tip in the 160grn partition is beyond me.....

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170 VLD style .277 pills?

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

I launch 170 grn projectiles from my 1;10 twist now...have done so for years.....BC....yeah nah,but look at the SD!!!!!!! the trajectory is surprising as in its no where near as bad as one might think.
that fast twist barrel with the std .270 win chambering would be interesting indeed.

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BC is efficiency at range ie how effective the bullet keeps its energy. SD is usually pretty good on high BC bullets as it is purely based on weight and diameter and higher BC projectiles are typically heavier for calibre.

Regardless its in a hard spot as its going to have more recoil than the 6.5 options but less efficiency than the 7mm. Id like to see factory rifles being chambered in fast twist 7mmSAUM etc be a slightly better 6.8 Western hahaha In the end its all kind of pointless as almost every rifle will do the job when used within its limits.

Imagine if the old guys using 303s with the tips cut off worried about any of this haha. Oh well tinkering is fun :ORLY:

maybe....but the 160 partition will function in std 1;10 twist...taking a great bullet and tweaking it slightly to make it more slippery seems better idea to me.

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

maybe....but the 160 partition will function in std 1;10 twist...taking a great bullet and tweaking it slightly to make it more slippery seems better idea to me.

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The issue is to make it more slippery is that that means it has to be longer and that means it may need a faster twist. Obviously this can be ballanced but theres a reason those snub nose 160 6.5 projectiles used to stabalise out of the slower twisted 6.5x55s but they wont stabilize some of the 140-150 class eld/vld projectiles.

But if your happy to shoot a pooseventy whats another nail in the coffin hahaha @ryan songhurst

I will see if have chart of my fence posts.

@nor-west When l was guiding & had the long Range hunting bug bad l owned a 270 WSM,7mm Mag,7mm SAUM ,300WSM & 300 Wby Mag in my LR line up,that l used around the World on most game you can think of . I got up to 38 hunting rifles & decided to do a cull & only use my favorite calibers/guns ,so all l had left was what l considered ideal hunting/scope combo's ,in the LR rifles all l have now is my Winchester Extreme Weather in 270 WSM & a custom SAKO 75 300 Wby Mag both perform perfectly for our Kiwi hunting .

The 270 WSM performs very well in the field for Kiwi hunting giving around 150-200 fps over a standard 270 with the same barrel length, meaning as we love to do in Kiwi Land once you dock your barrel for a suppressor you are still getting max 270 velocity.In the field that means you can still use shoulder holds all the way out to 400 yards, as it only drops just under 4 inches . I do not abide by the current fad of using the heaviest bullets available because it looks good on paper, in the field l want as much velocity as l payed for, not trying to turn the rifle into 303 speeds, in the field speed kills & you dont have the time to sit down with your computer & work out how many clickies or whether you reset the clickies last time & get the wind metre out & have a look etc etc WANK. As a guide l can tell you 85% of all the good trophies l have seen were extremely cagey animals on the move, thats why they grew so big, of course shooting behind high fences is different ,but then your most important bit of Kitt is not what rifle but the salt lick & food you had left out .

With my favorite all round 270WSM Hunting load is the 130gn InterBond l am running at just over 3200fps out of my 22" & it shoots into 20mm .We currently have the best designed billets ever, giving performance in the field 1-2 graduations in weight over what just a few years ago was the norm ,yet people want to handicap themselves having sheets of flame & getting booted like a mule using DG class bullets on our VERY light skinned game & wonder why their shooting has gone to shit or they do not enjoy it any more .

Even in my 300 Wby Mag for over a decade now l have settled on premium 150 -180grn for my LR hunting & have shot game around the world with it .My favorite Alpine tops load is either a 165 grain Hornady SST pushed along at 3300fps or Swift's 180-grain Scirocco II pushed along at 3,200+ fps & carry over 4,000 ft.-lbs. of energy. I happily shoot the 150-165 grn without a break or suppressor & that is how l prefer to carry it in the Alps to save weight & length & where you are lucky to shoot more than 3 shots a day.We just got back from a hunting trip where the 300Wby took Tahr & Chammy out to 414 mtrs with that 165grn load ,the ability to anchor the game to the spot ,taking away a lot of the risk of it going over a drop off & being lost has been a game saver many times over the years & not a 200 -225grn to be seen .

Old Faithful 300 Wby Mag 165grn SST Smoking a Tahr & anchoring it to the spot in the Alpine Tops

Attachment 174809

Attachment 174815 had to pinch the BC from its nearest relative....which strangely enough has identicle SD. .277 Vs .284 so will be very close....I could push velocity up to closer to 2700fps,some suggest even 2800fps is possible....Im happy with moderate load so think velocity used will be about right.

and I dont do clicky thingy....this is a bush load,point and shoot...have 140grn interlock for the 300-400 yard once a year occasions its needed.

For those who have used both is the recoil on a pruned 270wsm shooting at 270win speeds the same or is does the additional burn powder produce more recoil? Assuming weight is the same


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Originally Posted by Bill999

For those who have used both is the recoil on a pruned 270wsm shooting at 270win speeds the same or is does the additional burn powder produce more recoil? Assuming weight is the same


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Greetings Bill999,
The three elements of recoil are Velocity, Projectile weight and powder charge. Increase any and the recoil increases. Felt recoil is a different matter. A .270 WSM or 9.8 Western producing .270 Win ballistics will have more recoil as more powder is needed to get them in the larger case.
Regards Grandpamac.

you forgot stock design....and rifle weight.....and noise......

2800fps would have 7" drop at 300 yards if was 3" high at 125 ....not to shabby at all. ol Nick Harvey had great things to say about this loading. it beats old 180grn load in 30/06 by quite a bit with its high SD.... you would need to up 30/06 to 200 grn to match it.
thats a round nose...so shows how good heavy for calibre can be even without pointy,slippery bits.

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

you forgot stock design....and rifle weight.....and noise......

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That's the felt recoil bit. Stock pitch alone makes a huge difference to felt recoil.
Regards GPM.