6.8 Western — New Winchester & Browning Big Game Cartridge
There’s a New Sheriff In Town
Grab your wallet. Winchester and Browning are making you an offer they hope you can’t refuse. Another new centerfire big game cartridge. The 6.8 Western. That’s no typo. It’s not a 6.5mm. It’s a 6.8mm. That’s metric-speak for .270. And it might deliver what no 6.5mm can — heavier bullets that put more energy on target with similar or better trajectories.
Winchester and Browning, the co-conspirators in engineering this new 6.8 Western cartridge, are probably not going to refer to it as the new sheriff in town, so I will. Sorry. With a name like Western I couldn’t resist.
Joint cooperators Winchester and Browning are offering rifles and ammunition in 6.8 Western. The two brands have been collaborating ever since Winchester discovered young John Moses Browning in the early 1800s. The Winchester M1885 was the first of many Browning designs Winchester would build.
Quick Assessment
If you want to cut to the chase, the 6.8 Western is a short-action round based on a slightly shortened 270 WSM and optimized for long, high B.C. bullets. It will nearly match or exceed the performance of the 6.5 PRC, 270 Win., 7mm SAUM, WSM, and Rem. Mag., and similar rounds. It’s stepping on the heels of the 300 WSM and Win. Mags., too., pushing .277” bullets from 160- to 175-grains 2,970 fps to 2,835 fps from fast twist barrels. Handloaded, traditional 150-grain .277 bullets should yield 3,100 fps and 130-grainers 3,300 fps. The real advantage of this cartridge is pushing bullets from a short-action that match the B.C. of the heaviest 6.5s but with 20 to 25 more grains mass for more downrange energy on target. If you think a larger caliber bullet punches an appreciably larger wound channel, the 6.8 has that advantage over the 6.5s, too.
In short, the 6.8 Western splits the difference between the mid-range 6.5s and 7mm magnums. with similar recoil. It’s a close match to both the 7mm Rem. Mag. and 6.5 PRC, making it a good choice for hunting all of North America and most of the rest of the world.
The 6.8 Western, center, is a .270 made by shortening the 270 WSM. Loaded with long, heavy, high B.C. bullets in fast twist barrels, it hits harder and deflects less in the wind than its parent and its old cousin, the original 270 Winchester.
Should you get one? Heck, only you know that. If you love and can afford new rifles or don’t already have something in this class, go for it. Be the first on your block to own one. If you’ve long wished your 270 Win. could stabilize high B.C. bullets, the 6.8 Western might be ideal for you, too. If you’re short on cash and time and already have a suitable 6.5mm or 7mm or even a 300 Win. Mag., there’s no need to spring for this one. There’s also the possibility/probability that Winchester/Browning may some day modify the 6.8 case for .284, .264, and — I doubt it but you never know — .257s. Wildcatters certainly will.
More Details: 6.8 Western Has It All
Why the 6.8 Western? It’s the 21st century. The emergence of high B.C. bullets and efficient, low-recoil cartridges like the 6.5 Creedmoor have changed the shooting landscape. No longer is muzzle velocity the Holy Grail. Efficiency is. Long, sleek bullets that retain maximum energy and resist wind deflection are the new normal. But if you combine high B.C. projectiles with high velocity, you get the best of both worlds. Throw in heavy-for-caliber mass, and you improve terminal performance on big, tough game, too. The 6.8 Western does that in a modern package that’s been designed to check all the boxes:
✔️Short Action
✔️Fast twist
✔️Heavy-for-caliber bullets (165-, 170- and 175-grain)
✔️High B.C. bullets (.563, .620, and .617 so far)
✔️Metric caliber designation (marketing magic)
✔️Tolerable recoil (slightly less than 30-06 with 180-gr.)
✔️No belt!
✔️Minimum taper, sharp shoulder
✔️Bonus: touchstone to tradition. (The original, screaming 264 Win. Mag. was first chambered in a special M70 rifle with 26-inch barrel called The Westerner. That one got buried by rumors of barrel burning and, more likely, the release of the Remington M700 rifle in the new 7mm Rem. Mag. It was called the Westerner because it was seen as flat-shooting, long-range medicine for open-country mule deer, pronghorn, sheep, and elk. Just like the 6.8 Western.)
I pulled the 165-grain Nosler AccuBond Long Range bullet from this 6.8 Western to discover 64 grains of a fine ball powder and one long, sleek bullet. No wonder it resists wind deflection and delivers so much downrange energy.
Quick Ballistic Comparisons
For some perspective on 6.8 Western performance, let’s compare it to several other cartridges, zeroing each of them so bullets rise no more than 4 inches above point-of-aim to establish Max Point Blank Range. We’ll list drop/drift/energy in a 10 mph right-angle wind at 500 yards plus Recoil energy is in an 8-pound rifle.
Numbers paint the picture. The new 6.8 Western fits nicely between the old 270 Winchester and 7mm Rem. Mag.
I’ve worked with a Browning X-Bolt Western Hunter chambered 6.8 Western since last November, shooting dozens of groups, steel plates, a whitetail buck, a coyote, and lots of paper targets. It performs as advertised. This was the first buck I collected while hunting with the 6.8 Western. I’ll show you the next one at the end of this article.
Here’s the Winchester XPR Sporter in basic black and 6.8 Western.
One 175-grain Sierra GameKing from the 6.8 Western Browning X-Bolt dropped this magnificent buck where he stood. It was a ridiculously long way from where I sat. But conditions were perfect, I had a secure rest, wide open country, no wind, guide calling my shots, and Leupold V6HD 3-18x44 precision scope that was delivering bullets right where it pointed. One shot and a long walk later… there I was, up close and personal with what could be the largest whitetail taken with a 6.8 Western to date.
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