https://www.gohunt.com/read/skills/browning-launches-new-6.8-western-for-2021#gs.qaw887






More energy than a 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 PRC and 7mm Rem Mag… plus increased penetration. That’s what you get with the new for 2021 Browning 6.8 Western cartridge! Browning and Winchester set out to build one incredible long-range hunting cartridge and what they created was something that hunters will love.

The new 6.8 Western is a heavy for caliber offering that can perform under long-range hunting situations as well as long-range shooting applications.

This new cartridge is absolutely ideal for hunting and produces match-grade accuracy and works wonders when it comes to terminal performance for big game across the entire spectrum of yardages. I received and tested a Browning rifle this past fall chambered in 6.8 Western and instantly built the rifle for an upcoming mule deer hunt. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a tag, so I set this up for a friend to use. While on the hunt we took some time to get my friend comfortable with the gun practicing at targets from 1,000 yards and randomly ranges all the way down to actual hunting yardages.

A few days later he was able to take a one-shot kill on a great mule deer at 690 yards. Since setting up this gun, I've had it out in the desert a bunch where I work on validating all my rifles and the performance and accuracy are unmatched.




Why the 6.8 Western?

A 6.5 is great for accuracy, but in certain situations, it is not really enough for solid hunting applications. In years past, if you ever wanted something more, you would need to step up to a bigger magnum. So now, you have a solid option for hunting with plenty of knockdown power.

With browning’s 6.8 Western you get the ease of shooting out of a 6.5 but you are getting magnum energy with a 6.8 Western. At the same time, you get a do-it-all gun that is not overkill for whitetails, but plenty of gun for Western hunting such as mule deer, elk, caribou, etc. Another highlight is you will get less recoil but still packs a punch.

The 6.8 Western is the perfect marriage of a high-performance X-bolt rifle with a high-performance cartridge.

Browning utilizes faster 1:7.5” twist rates to stabilize these heavy for caliber bullets which is a faster twist rate than what was traditionally used for this caliber.

Key features:

   Heavy for caliber bullets with high ballistic coefficients
   Magnum performance out of a short action rifle
   Fast cycling with a reduced rifle weight
   Less recoil than magnum cartridges

6.8 Western Specs:

The 6.8 Western will be offered in 165 grain Accubond LR and 175 grain Sierra Game King Long Range Pro. The 6.8 Western is a 270 WSM with a shortened case.

While testing the 6.8 Western I was getting 2,830 fps with an extreme spread of 25 fps from a Magnetospeed chronograph. I found this really great as the FPS was very true to what was printed on the box. Also, the G7 BC of the 175 grain bullet is 0.311.

Cartridge design allows this to fit in a short action - which means a lighter rifle but still has magnum performance. And an interesting part, the bullets weights that the 6.8 Western uses is near big magnum bullets weights with solid BC numbers. 6.8 Western has increased penetration vs existing .277 and 6.5mm bullets.

Maximum bullet weights

   6.8 Western with 175 grain bullets
   22% heavier than 6.5 PRC and 6.5 Creedmoor (143 grain)
   17% heavier than 270 Win and 270 WSM (150 grain)

Energy at 500 yards

   6.8 Western = 1,771 ft/lbs (3,125 at the muzzle)
   10.4% more energy than 6.5 PRC (1,604 ft/lbs)
   13.9% more energy than 270 WSM (1,555 ft/lbs)
   59% more energy than 6.5 Creedmoor (1,111 ft/lbs)


For 2021, there are 21 Browing rifles available in 6.8 Western. A few notable rifles are listed below:

   X-Bolt Hell's Canyon Speed
   X-Bolt Max Long Range
   X-Bolt Hell's Canyon Long Range
   X-Bolt Hell's Canyon Long Range McMillan
   X-Bolt Western Hunter

Fixing more things that aren't broken......

Yet this will develop a fanboi following and make them money, so good for them I suppose.

This is the stupidiest shit ive ever seen in this climate.

Seems like a nice cartridge, great for reloaders. It won't come to anything commercially though.

So it’s like a 270 WSM but somehow different?

Introducing a new cartridge in 2021 is a brilliant move, this may be the only ammo is stock anywhere because nobody’s ever heard of it or have a rifle chambered for it.

And it's as nonexistent as every other cartridge on the shelves.

I saw this a little earlier today, curious about the recoil...

Based off its numbers I’d say it’d be stout.

Why not call it 270 wssm?

Why ?

I'm glad that's their priority

Yay....more non existent and expensive ammo.

Talk about DOA.  Aside from the fact it will be difficult to find, what does it do better than the other hunting calibers on the market?

Arguably worse timing than the 6.5BC.  I wonder if they think this is sooooo much different that it will be a hit?

I had 4 ftf out of my last box of browning 9mm. They wouldn't fire upon second strike either.
No thanks, Browning.

I thought to myself this morning, boy I sure wish more firearms manufacturers would come out with more cartridges, because there are such massive gaps in performance envelopes these days and ammo is so cheap and readily available.

I mean options are good but it doesn’t bring anything and I mean anything to the table that’s not already there.

So a rebranded 7 SAUM in .277?

Impeccable timing!!!

Why not just build a .270 with a fast twist barrel?  Then you could load those long 175 grain bullets into a .270.

Oh look! The .264 Win Mag all over again.

It’s pretty much a 270wsm.

There are some hunters who always blame their equipment for their performance.   The guys who shot a deer in the gut and then blame the round when they don't recover the animal.   I'm convinced some of these rounds are designed for guys like that.

I'm not mad about it. I have been shooting 270wsm for years but recently backed down to 6.5CM and love it mostly. My only gripe was I wanted a heavier bullet. This fits right in between and I have a ton of 270wsm brass.

I guess they better offer a case of ammo whenever you purchase it, though.

People will always try to use equipment as a crutch for ability.

I would like to see more tests and comparisons.  Not a fan of 6.5G or 6.5CM.
Wonder how it compares to Sig's 6.8 Fury, which is very high pressure.

IMO they even alluded to such in the article "One shot kill on a mule deer"

I would fucking hope so. It's not a fucking elephant.

More dumb crap.

I'm guessing they are trying to capitalize on all the new 6.8 bullets.

Butwhy.gif

So its a shorter .270WSM. Got it.

I don't think manufacturers quite understand what magnum means....

pffft....

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I’ll stick with my 300 weatherby or 325wsm for those applications.

Of the WSM cartridges, the 270 was the first to die.  I'm afraid the 6.8W won't do any better.

Have you ever squeezed the trigger on a .460 Weatherby?  

6.5 isn’t solid enough for hunting applications.


Uhhhh. Fuckin 6.5 Swede’s been killing moose since it’s inception over 100 years ago and it’s weak as fuck compared to the modern 6.5 cartridges. Shill harder.

I thought the 7MM WSM was already dead? I like the 270 WSM. Wonder if they'll offer the 6.8 in a BAR?

The shape reminds me a lot of the "old" WSM cartridges.

He lost me at "you can use the data on the box for ballistic information". Yeah altitude doesn't matter.

Exactly.

There should be a website that randomly generates cartridge names like 6.3 Thunder, .312 Alaskan, 8mm Lestrade, mixes them in with real cartridge names, and quizzes you to spot the fakes.

Okay but why?


Just use 300wm.

I read that earlier and my first thought was what are the real world ballistics?

My second thought was that the rifle in the pic looks like a 26" bbl.


Third thought was that any cartridge that throws shade on a 7mm mag is impressive...if it can really do it.

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The rifle in OP's post is not something I would want to hike with.

Probably not a great time to introduce yet another boutique round.

Better buy all the brass you can now, it will be unobtanium in 10 yrs time...

That being said, a .277 cal 175gr bullet just sounds gnarly.

The most important part of new cartridge development is the name....

You might be right. Most of the rifle rounds on the shelf locally are 350 Legend and the different Noslers.