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Where Will It All End?


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Watching an hunting show on the Sportsman channel. Husband and wife hunting on location in Colorado, with family. 

The husband had taken a mulie with a bow, and she almost taken a mulie with a rifle. But I digress.

 

The fly in the ointment was the fact that Browning company has come out with a rifle chambered in 6.8 mm. I did not know that

I believe they call it the 6.8 Western. 

My first thought was, WHY.  

 

The gun gurus have been hitting the 6.0mm & 6.5mm platforms pretty heavy lately. According to the hype, it will carry a heaver bullet weight ; without giving anything away to the other 6mm & 6.5mm bullet trajectory. Advertised numbers for ballistics approach the

the .308 diameter 30-06's 150 gr bullets, vs.  Browning's 6.8mm 140 gr bullets. 

 

In all honesty, I can see where a new shooter might like the smaller boring. 

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Somebody is ALWAYS be going to be creating the Latest, Greatest, Bestest new round for "Fill in the Blank". Some will stay wildcat cartridges, some will become mainstream cartridges if a major manufacturer decides to make and market it, More so if they also make guns for it. 

I recently watched a youtube video where the guy was talking about cartridges that are on their way out. .40S&W was one, since 9MM ammo has advanced to the point that it does as well as the .40.  .45 GAP is another, for relatively obvious reasons. .357SIG was an answer searching for a question. Curiously,  the .41 Magnum is also on the list. But it has been on that type of list for 40 years or so. To be fair, though, it still has it's followers, and they are rabid about it. 

So chances are that it will NEVER end. And we're all better off because of it.

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Every so often, they come out with the latest cartridge, that is faster, flatter shooting, and so on. That is great!!! Go for it Willie. It helps the firearm industry, and the freedoms we enjoy, and we need that to happen. At this point-in-time it's the 6mm. Tomorrow??? Who knows. 

Having said that...

I just don't have the money to buy the latest, greatest, rifle, in the newest, latest, greatest, caliber. Or, the newest scope, that can do everything for you except cook your supper. I don't upgrade cells phones every time a new improved one comes out, nor do I buy a new pickup every year, or so, that has the latest $4,000 dollar tailgate, that folds out in so many ways that you could live in it.

I read about them, look at them on-line...ponder them, and then go shoot my 30-06, or my pre '64 30-30, or my .45 a.c.p. 1911. 

Besides....how available is the ammunition for that new rifle, right now???? 

I didn't think so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Figger it this way, Charlie.

 

Browning is sponsoring the show and giving them equipment to use on camera and shill. 

 

If'n the 6.8 Western or whatever is so close on paper to a proven round like the '06, then nobody- including the deer- will notice the difference if the hosts use the new cartridge on camera as a way to advertise for Browning unless the hosts specifically bring it up.

 

Those outdoor shows have never been more than serial infomercials where the folks on the show sell their sponsors' gear while going out hunting or fishing.

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Always be some new "Wonder" cartridge coming out.  When I was an active hunter, I relied on the 7mm Magnum and 338 Win Magnum.  Good for anything on this continent.  Oh, forgot, my varmint rifle was a 220 Swift.  Never saw the "need" for anything else.

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It will never end , they need something new to sell . And there’s nothing the matter with that , it’s what people seem to want . But honestly is the game people are shooting going to notice the difference between being shot at 2600 FPS vs 2900 ? . I’d say the biggest advances have been in the projectiles we’re using. 
If you have a 22lr , 12ga and a 30-06 you could probably get away with hunting anything you want in North America. But with all the choices out there what would be the fun in that 

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There's been a 'next greatest thing' in the pipeline from the gun industry since at least the 1850's.  Like the computers in the '90's, there was a time in the firearms industry right after the Civil War where the difference between a round or innovation being the latest and greatest and obsolete could be a matter of months.  After about 1900, things slowed down and, for a while, the development of new rounds was more the realm of wildcatters than factories- but there's always been something cooking.

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7 minutes ago, Buckshot Bob said:

If you have a 22lr , 12ga and a 30-06 you could probably get away with hunting anything you want in North America.

I fell into that reasoning once!  I have a Handy Rifle that I was able to get extra barrels for (back when you could get extra barrels).  So on one receiver, I have a 223 heavy barrel, a 30-06 and a 45-70.  On a second H&R shotgun receiver, I have a 12ga barrel and a .50 cal black powder front stuffer.  Between the two, I figured I was good for just about everything in North America that I would want to hunt.

 

They aint the most expensive or prettiest guns in the safe, but they shoot straight and can get the job done.

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Beware of a future where new products for guns/ammunition is not being explored or the doing so would be against the law.

 

If it doesn't fit your need or want - don't spend money it.

 

But don't deride others who want something new/different.

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10 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

I’m guessing that those shows are somehow supported by the manufacturers who want to promote a new cartridge.  Nobody is going to sell more guns if the sportsman is shooting a 30-06.

I believe you are correct. 

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3 hours ago, Michigan Slim said:

How boring life would be if everyone said, "Eh, this .270 is going 'nuff".

That being said, eh, my .270 is good 'nuff. IMG_20191116_201515_01.thumb.jpg.bcecec63d6b4395b99abe7b36921d5d3.jpg

Well, Jack O'Conner also thought so! 

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9 minutes ago, Warden Callaway said:

I hear the new short magnums burn the barrel out quickly due to high pressure.   

It’s not the pressure, but the heat.  More powder burning in the barrel, more heat, fast erosion.  I think some of the barrel burners are under 1500 rnds barrel life. 

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Regardless of the diameter, it is hard to go wrong with any 308/30-06 case based cartridge for NA big game. Just find an appropriate bullet for the application. 

The 7, 8 and 9.3 Mausers will get it done too.

 

The high bc bullets these new fangled cartridges are starting to be designed around don’t offer any advantage til 350-400 plus yards. I don’t know that the average hunter shooting a box a year or less of factory ammo would see any advantage.

 

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I agree with you.  Sometimes my son will see these new fangled calibers and guns and try to get me to buy them.  

 

He has hit me up for the 450, 6.5, 300 to name a few.   I tell him I don't want another caliber.  It's hard enough getting ammo for what I have, much less a new caliber.  I tell him his 30.06 can drop any deer we have like a bad transmission,  so no need for other calibers.  

 

He tries to convince me by telling me how far they can shoot accurately.   I remind him most of our shots are 150 yards or less.  I remind him his 30.06 can do that also.  

 

To make it worse the gun stores even get weird pistols in like the 5.7 and try to get me to get one.  If the 45acp can't do the job, maybe I should go home.  

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Ya All is Missing the Picture ,,, the 6.8 has been around for decades in the form of .270 Winchester ....

The new uses the same bullets .... Nothing New .

It may prompt the development of new Bullets for this caliber and I see this as a plus . Charles Newton developed Big Beltless cases in Calibers of .308, .358, 

He also worked with calibers of .323, 338, 375 and .277 ( 6.8 ) he didn't like the performance of bullets in .323 and .338 on game the bullets blew-up at the speeds he attained . He decided that the market for a .375 was to small to be viable. and the the .277 was so vastly " Over-bore " with the powders then available as to be unsuitable ... He made his own .277 ( 6.8 ) bullets. as his work proceeded the introduction of the "Very fine 270 Winchester" . 

As an aside he and my Dad where good friends and corresponded regularly. 

Like John ( Jack ) Conners I too am a fan of the .270 Win. 

 

Jabez Cowboy 

 

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1 hour ago, Warden Callaway said:

I hear the new short magnums burn the barrel out quickly due to high pressure.   

That is an advantage of the 6.8 western, it doesn't burn throats like the 270wsm.  Recoil is reduced as well.  Basically it is a remade 270 with 30-06 energy, 6.5 trajectory, in a short action with AR possibilities.  It is an irrelevant cartridge to most of us since we don't hunt at 500 yards.  I'm for it as it continues to add to overall .277 barrel and bullet demand.

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6 hours ago, Michigan Slim said:

How boring life would be if everyone said, "Eh, this .270 is going 'nuff".

That being said, eh, my .270 is good 'nuff. IMG_20191116_201515_01.thumb.jpg.bcecec63d6b4395b99abe7b36921d5d3.jpg

 .....weird looking bong :P 

 

GG ~ :FlagAm:

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13 minutes ago, Gunner Gatlin, SASS 10274L said:

 .....weird looking bong :P 

 

GG ~ :FlagAm:

Is that just because it's a left handed one?..........:lol:

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