Winchester Ammunition launched the Expedition Big Game Long Range ammo line in spring of 2017, and as soon as I got my hands on it in 6.5 Creedmoor I fell in love. Across a dozen or more TTAG review guns, the EBGLR load was the most consistent and accurate load in at least three quarters of those guns and was in the top two or three loads in the rest.
It’s really good looking, consistently-loaded ammunition topped with high ballistic coefficient Nosler AccuBond Long Range projectiles.
My only complaint since the line’s launch is that it was only available in three or four cartridges, which expanded over the last three years to include: 6.5 Creedmoor, .270 Winchester, 7mm Remington Magnum, .30-06 Springfield, .300 Winchester Magnum, and .300 WSM.
I kid you not, every time over the last few years that I received a .308 Winchester rifle for testing I tried to find some Expedition Big Game Long Range ammo and was reminded that, oh yeah, they don’t make it in good ‘ol .308. Well…now they do!
Winchester Ammunition has just released EBGLR in .308 Winchester, 6.5 PRC, and in the new cartridge from Winchester and Browning called 6.8 Western, which looks pretty awesome on paper.
Find out more on the Winchester Ammunition website HERE and find it for sale at Brownells HERE. Winchester Ammo’s press release follows:
Expedition Big Game Long Range™ 308 Winchester: Improved Performance From a Time-Honored Cartridge
EAST ALTON, Ill. (February 16, 2021) — Almost as popular as its older brother, the 30-06 and, as surely tested, the 308 Winchester have for generations given big-game hunters outstanding performance in a compact cartridge and shorter-action rifles.
Now, Winchester® Ammunition raises the bar by pairing the tried-and-true loading with the superbly reliable and supremely accurate 168-grain AccuBond® bullet in the Expedition Big Game Long Range™ 308 Winchester cartridge.
Expedition Big Game Long Range offerings are loaded with the AccuBond Long Range bullet, which features a polymer tip and extended ogive and boattail, making for high-ballistic coefficients for improved long-range capability. Maximum retained weight and deeper, controlled penetration are brought about by the bonding of the lead alloy core to the bullet jacket. Additionally, the bullet jacket is engineered for reliable expansion at long ranges without failing at close ones. When it comes to terminal performance, Expedition Big Game Long Range gives the hunter massive knockdown power and surer kills.
Look for Winchester Expedition Big Game Long Range AccuBond Long Range chambered in 308 Winchester at a retailer or dealer near you.
Winchester Expedition Big Game Long Range is built for the toughest big game wherever your hunting takes you.
About Winchester Ammunition
Winchester is the largest small caliber ammunition enterprise in the world and the leader in delivering innovative ammunition products to hunters, sport shooters, law enforcement and the U.S. Warfighter. The 155-year-old Winchester® brand is built on integrity, hard work and a deep focus on its loyal customers. Learn more about Winchester by visiting Winchester.com or connecting with us on Facebook at Facebook.com/WinchesterOfficial.
Almost $3.00 a round… Major PASS. I’ll stick with 7.62x54R, It’s been used to kill everything for 120 years, including bears at 500 yards.
Well, the price varies with the caliber. .30-06 is $1.90 per round and that’s a very comparable round to 54R (and I suspect .308 will be at or under this price point). Of course, 7.62x54R isn’t inherently cheap because of its design or anything, it’s cheap because of all the milsurp ammo that’s available and the cheap Russian ammo that’s available. If Winchester did EBGLR in 54R you can bet it would be in the same $2 a pop range.
Also, due to the crazy demand right now we’re only seeing this and other ammo at full MSRP and often above. Retail prices will be lower when things are back to normal. When I got this ammo a couple/few years ago it was priced competitively with other premium hunting ammo. Which is something I do choose to spend more on because I don’t shoot it very much and it’s worth the extra dollar vs. a cheap soft point hunting load when it’s used to take a deer or whatever. The accuracy, terminal ballistics, and extended range at which I can be confidently accurate and effective are well worth it. I pretty much limit the soft points I’ve typically hunted with in .308 to about 250 yards, but with this load I’d confidently double that. The high BC and reliable accuracy make a huge difference that’s worth the $$$ when hunting. Maybe not on feral hogs, but on anything I need to kill cleanly and want to eat.
“when things are back to normal”
har funny guy.
So how much does it cost to have a modern rifle like a REM 700 or a Win 70 or even a Savage 110 rechambered in 7.62X54?
Really not an option. The rimmed cartridge isn’t likely to feed from anything designed for a rimless cartridge, plus I’m not sure if there’s a compatible bolt face (possibly a .338 Lapua Magnum bolt would work) so you might need a custom bolt. And you couldn’t just rechamber; you’d need a completely new barrel (54R is a 0.312″ bullet, not a 0.308″ bullet like most American .30 cals). And it would have to start with a .30-06 or long/magnum action gun since the 54R is too long to work in guns made around a .308.
…doesn’t seem feasible…
Seems like a ton of trouble. Thanks Jeremy!
I know Jeremy. It was sarcasm. The Nagant “I can kills bears and elephants and commies with 7.62X54 at 3 bullets for nickel” crowd just wears me down
Cool. I like the fact that Winchester is publishing BC’s using the G7 profile (the 3rd graphic). G1 is a high drag shape and G7 is the low drag shape and these are low drag bullets.
Nice sounding performance ammo but the price at this point in time is for those who can afford it. The 7.62×54 Russian is a good round, fun to shoot. We sold a can of it and put the money in another Sar9.
At this point I’m just hoping ammo in general comes back to shelves at reasonable prices.
MSRP of $3 a round trickles down to $12 a round on the shelf.
Must be fun to roll in enough wealth to go on big long range game hunts on private ranches.
Or even feel the need for a sub MOA $30,000 rifle so it can keep a 1″ group at 1500 yards even though you can’t.
Eh, rant over.
Pretty ammo. Be fun to play with if someone else was fitting the bill and loaning me rifles to write about.
ok, now over
Let me guess.
It’s made of unobtanium.
Worse yet…vaporized Unobtanium, and its shortage is causing production problems across the entire product line !!
Talk like that is going to get you “cancel cultured”.
This ammo is great, I use it on all my big game hunts. Winchester really outdid themselves loading Nosler bullets into their brass.
It is a bit weird not to use the long range go to champ 308 in the beginning. Maybe due to sales?
I mean if we’re honest, .308 really isn’t a big game or a long range cartridge, so I get why they did others first. They did .338 LM for a while as well, though it isn’t listed on their website now. I’ve just wanted .308 in this load because it has been so very accurate for me so consistently in 6.5 CM and in the two .300 WinMag guns I shot it through, and it’s a fantastic projectile as well. I’d happily switch to this as my go-to hunting round in basically every caliber as it extends range capability pretty significantly over most soft point style hunting bullets and brings great accuracy and terminal ballistics to the table as well.
Jeremy – you should try some Federal 175gr Edge TLR’s in your 300 Win Mag. Just deadly in 300 Wby.
I have! It’s really great. Also a super freakin’ cool looking polished nickel case and shiny silver bullet. I recall it has also been consistently very accurate for me but usually not as accurate as this Winchester load, which FYI even beat out Swiss P Target loads and put up a 1/2-MOA, 5-shot group from this gun (https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/gun-review-strasser-rs-14/).
Jeremy,
I run Hornady in my 300WM currently, may have to think on this one, was going to try sierra or nosler but may have to just start from scratch as short cut powders came out and now that I wont need a compressed load or as compressed thats too many changes.
Hmm…
I think I remember Winchester expedition big game in 6.5CM being $1.42/round at Target Sports USA a few years ago but it was usually out of stock. I missed getting while the getting was good on that. I’ve got a good supply of Hornady but would have liked to try the winchester.
You can buy 168gr Accubonds all day long on Gunbroker. Load your own. I’ve done it for years.
Any ideas on how 6.8 Western will compare to 7mm STW? The 6.8 sounds like some kind of .270 Super or Magnum.
In my short life I have seen many cartridges come and go as the old stalwarts keep on going.
oh, silly boy of the favored few…….don’t start pulling that “vaporware” review thingy from the early days of the computer generation. You might get it, no-one else will except the elites who do reviews……….and these days we are smarter than to fall for that. If Winchester were to tell us how much they were producing, when, and which distributors would get it for shipping to retail stores, then I might (might, I say) believe you. Until then, its not even a wet dream and writing it up is simply cruel to our small teen-aged minds.
Nah, you’re way more likely to find high-end hunting ammo (especially in hunting-specific calibers) like this right now than range or self-defense / military ammo in common calibers. A box of this stuff in 7mm Rem Mag or whatever is far more likely to be on the shelf at a local gun shop than a box of M193 or any White Box caliber, etc etc
New from anybody: ammunition that actually exists on store shelves. Anybody at all…please? No…?
THANKS FOR ALL THE INFOR , NEVER HAVE SHOT A 308 , MAKES ME WANT TOO .
So two major ammunition companies pumping out big game ammo ,no word on any others.
Not many semi auto detachable mag 30-30’s around so that’s what the government is going to let us make. Is that the deal? Looks like it to me.
Always nice when we decide to make firearms the luxury for the ultra-wealthy.
Is Winchester worth with the Biden administration now?
It’s my understanding, when Remington comes back on line, I believe in March of this year they are going to introduce a the most innovated rifle ever produced on the planet.
The line is called “The Inviz” Made in only a few selective popular calibers and is supplied with a code only the owner knows and can activate.
When activated it makes the firearm totally disappear, hence the name “Inviz” thus keeping it from Government confiscation and out of the hands of those with sticky fingers. What a great Idea I thought….Then I woke up….
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