With all the great deals out there now I have started to think about 6.8 SPC. I had thought about 6.5 Grendel but I have a Mega MKM with damn near every thing except my 6.5 CR barrel and optic.

I have the
16" and 14.5"  5.56's
8.2" 300BLK SBR

any reason to go 6.8 besides this is AMERICA get all four!

downsides to 6.8:
new mags,
different brass that is fairly similar in size to 5.56
figure all new loads

upsides:
awesome round


What barrel length to go with, in 6.8?

Or just say fuck it and use the KISS method and stay 5.56?
Going with a 10-12" barrel


damn have I been spending lots lately.

Do it

6.8 is a fun round.

Do it!

Just do it!

get the 6.8

Couple more upsides:
The 6.8 has the best industry support besides the 5.56
Lots of factory ammo avaiable
Abundance of brass due to military contracts
No less than 26 wildcats based off the 6.8 case to further your addiction :)

Barrel length depends on intended use.
16in being the most popular, it works well with any of the shorter barrels also.
Anything over 20in is the land of diminishing returns with a 6.8

What do you mean by best industry support? Last I checked there were a ton more barrel and ammo manufacturers for 300blk.

Id go ahead and get a 6.8. Its an awesome round and I love my 12.5". With the newish S&B ammo it can be shot relatively cheap, especially if you sell the brass.

Ammo Seek 348 for BO and 369 for 6.8
Others here use this as an indicator.

Complete 6.8 SPC rifles
1: Armalite
2: Bushmaster
3: Rock River Arms
4: Stag
5: LWRC
6: Wilson Combat
7: Daniel Defense / Ambush
8: DoubleStar
9: DPMS
10: Barrett
11: LMT
12: Robinson Arms
13: 2 Vets
14: Yankee Hill Machine
15: Palmetto State Armory
16: Ironworks Tactical
17: Country Boy Sports

6.8 SPC upper assemblies
1: Stag
2: Ironworks Tactical
3: Suppression Solutions
4: Wilson Combat
5: Yankee Hill Machine
6: Palmetto State Armory
7: White Oak Armament
8: State Of The Arms
9: Rock River Arms
10: Red X
11: SOTA
12: Precision Firearms
13: Surplus Arms and Ammo
14: JSE
15: CBA
16: Delta 3 Tactical
17. Armalite
18. Blackstone Arms
19: Bushmaster
20: DPMS


6.8 SPC barrels/bolts/other parts
1: AR Performance: Barrels and bolts
2: BHW: Barrels
3: Wilson Combat: Barrels,
4: Palmetto State Armory: Barrels and bolts
5: Stag: Bolts
6: Yankee Hill Machine: Barrels and Bolts
7: AR Stoner (MidwayUSA): Barrels, Bolts, and Magazines
8: Daniel Defense / Ambush: Barrels and bolts
9: PRI: Bolts, magazines, 6.8 specific breaks
10: CProducts Defense: Magazines
11: ASC: Magazines
12: D&H: Magazines
13: MagPul: Magazines for LWRC Six8 platform
14: DPMS: Bolts
15: White Oak Armament: Barrels
16: State Of The Arms
17: Red X Arms : BCG
18: Mad Dog Weapons Systems: general 6.8 retailer
19: Treasure Seekers: 6.8 marked carriers, dust covers, etc
20: Hamlund Tactical: general 6.8 retailer
21: Rainier Arms: Barrels
22: Integrity Arms: Barrels
23: Douglas: Barrels

Factory Ammo:
Hornady
Federal
Sellier & Belloit
Silver State Armory (now owned by Nosler)
Remington
Wilson Combat
CorBon
Double Tap
Prvi Partisan
HSM
Precision Firearms
Barrett
Parabellum Research

6.8 Specfic Projectiles:
Hornady
Federal
Nosler
Barnes
Speer
Sierra
Remington
Sellier & Belliot
Prvi Partisan
GS Custom
BSP
Lehigh Defense

Where would I find some of this cheap 6.8 military brass?

6.8 is awesome. If you have all the bills covered, and have a decent ammo stash and 401K why not?

Demilled Federal brass from the XM68GD the primer is Federal GM205MAR


RMR

American Reloading

Part of the difference in what you call industry support is that the 6.8 needs a lot more specialty parts the 300BLK doesn't. We don't need special mags to functions so we don't need magpul, D&H, ASC, PRI or Lancer to make any special mags for the 300BLK. We also use the stock bolts so we can use any bolt from any manufacture and don't need to be relegated to the few that support the 6.8.

This is one of the major advantages of the 300BLK as we use all off the shelf parts except for the barrel which makes it very easy to for the manufactures to produce the 300BLK. Combine this with the fact that the 300BLK base cartridge is the most common cartridge by far in the U.S. makes brass availability almost as universal as the .223 casing it comes from.

It only took the 300BLK less than 4 years to get all these manufactures online. The great thing is the best is yet to come with the 300BLK. As the manufactures have seen how the 300BLK is rapidly expanding they have now started sinking their own R & D money in it to make better/cheaper bullets for both subs and supers. All the while expanding what they are offering in both uppers, barrels and ammo.


AAC - uppers, rifles, silencers, and ammunition.
* Accurate Molds - bullet mold.
* Adams Arms - rifles and uppers.
* Addax Tactical.
* Aero Precision.
* Alexander Arms - rifles.
* All Weather Arms - brass processing.
* Alpha Shooting Sports - barrels.
* Ambush Firearms - rifles.
* American Tactical Imports / ATI - rifles.
* Arnold's Ammo - ammo.
* AR-Stoner - barrels.
* Atlanta Arms - ammo.
* Armalite - rifles, barrels, uppers.
* AR-X Enterprises - barrels, uppers, rifles.
* Australian Outback - ammunition.
* Barnes Bullets - ammo, bullets.
* Barnes Precision Machine - barrels, uppers.
* Bergara - barrels
* BFG Cartridges - Savage barrels.
* Black Dawn Firearms - AR rifles, marked uppers.
* Black Hills Ammunition - ammo.
* Black Hole Weaponry - barrels.
* Black Ops Armoury, Inc. - Bolt rifle.
* Black Rain Ordinance - barrels, uppers, rifles.
* Brad's Warehouse - converted brass.
* Browe Inc. - Optics.
* Bushmaster Firearms - uppers and rifles.
* BVAC - ammo.
* BWE Firearms - rifles, uppers, and suppressors.
* Centurion Arms - barrels, uppers, and rifles.
* Chattahoochee Gun Works - uppers, rifles.
* CMMG - barrels, uppers, and ammo.
* Colt - rifles.
* Compass Lake Engineering - AR barrels.
* Copper Cartridge Company - ammunition.
* Cor-Bon - ammo
* Core15 - rifles, uppers.
* Custom Reloads of Dallas - ammo.
* CVA.
* Daniel Defense - rifles.
* Delta Company Arms - rifles, barrels, uppers.
* Detroit Guns Works - rifles, barrels, uppers.
* Dewey - cleaning kits.
* DEZ Arms, Inc.
* D&G - magazines.
* Diamondback Firearms - rifles.
* Dillon Precision - reloading conversion kits.
* Double Star - rifles.
* Double Tap - ammunition.
* DPMS - rifles and uppers.
* DS Arms - rifles and uppers.
* Eotech - optics.
* ER Shaw - barrels.
* Federal Cartridge - ammunition.
* Fiocchi - ammunition.
* Forster - reloading dies.
* Freedom Munitions - ammunition.
* Gemtech - ammunition.
* Glockplates.com - ejection port cover.
* GPI Custom Gunworks.
* Grim Reaper Tactical - barrels, uppers, lowers, and rifles.
* Gunn - ammunition.
* Hi-Lux Optics - scopes.
* High Precision Range - ammunition.
* Hornady - ammo, dies, brass.
* Houston Armory - barrels.
* Hunting Shack - ammunition.
* Ice Arms - barrels, upper.
* Jagemann - brass.
* Jamison - brass and ammunition.
* J&T - uppers, rifles.
* KAC - rifles.
* Kel-Tec - SU16C.
* Kiss Tactical - lowers.
* Lee - reloading dies, bullet molds.
* Lehigh Defense - bullets, ammo.
* L.E. Wilson - case gauges.
* Lewis Machine and Tool - barrels, uppers, rifles.
* Liberty - rifles and suppressors.
* Liberty Gun Works - rifles.
* Loki Weapon Systems - uppers/rifles.
* Lone Star Armory - 300 AAC BLACKOUT marked lowers.
* Lothar Walther - barrels.
* LWRCI - rifles.
* Lyman - dies.
* Magtech - ammunition.
* Marks Armory - uppers.
* MAS Defense - uppers, barrels.
* Match Grade Machine - Thompson barrels.
* McGowen Barrel - Savage and other barrels.
* McCourt Munitions - ammo.
* Michaels Machines - HK-23 style belt-fed barrels.
* Missouri cast bullets - bullets.
* Model 1 Sales - AR barrels/uppers.
* Montana Rifleman - barrels.
* Mossberg - MVP rifle.
* MSAR - AUG rifle, barrel.
* MTM Manufacturing.
* NAP-TAC - barrels.
* Nikon - scope with custom reticle.
* NEMO - barrels.
* NOE Bullet Moulds - bullet moulds.
* Norma - brass.
* Northern Rifleman - uppers.
* Nosler - reloading guide, bullets, ammunition, brass.
* Noveske - rifles and uppers.
* Olympic Arms - rifles and uppers.
* On Target - ammunition.
* One Shot - ammunition.
* OTIS - cleaning kits.
* Outlaw State Bullets - bullets.
* Pac-Nor - barrels.
* Pacific Tool and Gauge - reamers and gauges.
* PalmettoStateArmory - uppers, barrels.
* PNW Arms - ammo.
* Pride-Fowler - optics.
* Primary Weapons Systems - rifles and uppers.
* Profire Arms & Supply - ammo.
* Quentin Defense - lowers.
* Rainier Arms - barrels.
* Raven Armament Company - ammo and uppers.
* RCBS - dies.
* Redline Firearms llc - uppers.
* Red Star Ammunition.
* Red X Arms.
* Redding - dies.
* Red Jacket - rifles, uppers, suppressors.
* Remington - ammunition.
* Remsport Mfg - rifles.
* Right 2 Bear Ammo - ammunition.
* River Valley Ordnance - reformed brass.
* Robarms - XCR Micro rifle.
* RMW / Ron Williams - barrels.
* RUAG - ammo.
* Satern Custom Machining, Inc. - barrels.
* Seekins Precision - rifles.
* Selph Arms LLC - barrels, uppers, re-chambering, and rifles.
* Sheepdog Ammo - ammo.
* Shilen - barrels.
* SI Defense - barrels.
* Sig Sauer - rifles.
* Silver State Armory - brass, ammo.
* SMA ammunition - ammunition.
* Smith & Wesson - rifles, uppers.
* SNIPERCO - uppers.
* Sierra - bullets.
* SilencerCo - silencers.
* Sota Arms - barrels.
* Southern Ballistic Research - ammo.
* Southwest Ammunition, LLC - ammo.
* Spike's Tactical - uppers and rifles.
* Stillwood Ammunition Systems - ammo.
* Summit - ammo.
* Surefire - 300 BLK sound suppressor.
* S.W.O.R.D. International - rifles.
* Tactical Machining - lowers.
* Take Aim Guns - rifles, uppers.
* Tatum Tactical - guns, ammo, uppers.
* Templar Tactical - suppressors.
* The Bullet Works - bullets and ammunition.
* Top Notch Tactical - ammo.
* Trijicon - scope.
* Triton Arms - AR barrels.
* 2 VETS ARMS CO LLC - rifles/uppers.
* Ultra Tech - ammo (Australia)
* Umlaut Industries - 300 BLK caliber marked Rifles, Upper and Lowers. 16" and 10" Factory Title II.
* Underground Tactical Arms - uppers.
* Ventura Munitions - ammunition.
* West Fork Armory - rifles.
* White Oak Precision - AR barrels.
* White River Armory - AR uppers.
* Whidden Gunworks - trim dies.
* Wilson Combat - rifles, hunting and self defense ammunition.
* Yankee Hill Machine - barrels, uppers.
* Zombie Barrels - barrels.

Thank You

I have a question. Federal hasn't been making the 6.8 brass very long especially for the small contract that was received for the Jordanian royal guard.

My question is. Why is there so much demilled 6.8 brass available to the public when it has only been available for less than 5 years? Have the Jordanians stopped ordering it? Who is demiling this brass? It is not the U.S. because they don't have any quantity of 6.8 in their military.

Its Jordan, the Saudi's and I dont know where else because they wont disclose but there are other allies interested, testing or using.

The explaination I got for the demill was a batch of bad cases from the first batch of ammo, all that was available for sale then was the 90gr Gold Dot pulls.

This second batch has cases and GD pulls available so the report was a powder out of spec issue.

Another speculation is that since in the GD 90gr pulls you will also find a few 115 fusions per 100 pulled bullets.
So there may be a few 115's loaded in some batches of the XM90GD's.
This would explain them pulling those batches down.

The same cases and primers are the same as used in the 115 Fusion commercial loads so some could come from that as well.

We? Like we president now?

These variant arguments are so personal to some people

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

26 wildcat loads??? you may have me there

all bills covered, only house payment, and monthly's electric, satellite, insurance, etc. Retire worst case four yours and five weeks. Well funded .gov FF pension. Also have other investments.

So what barrel length?

I see lots of people going 11.5" & 12.5," thoughts?  other options?

What will the main use be?

Just got done deer hunting with the 6.8...... Absolutely awesome round! So glad I built one!

This is a key question...

That having been said, I got SSA factory 85gr TSX loads going 2400fps out of the 8" barrel on my LWRCi 6.8 PSD -- that's actually a pretty useful MV for a TSX bullet.

The PSD is the bottom one in the pic. Fun gun.

Well, reason; More power than the 5.56 & much longer effective range than the 300 Blk & trajectory. Dang good hunting round!, groundhog/woodchuck to small-medium Elk.75gr-140gr. 95-120gr most common.

As said:16" is the most common. About 25-35ish fps/inch of barrel length added.
SPR barrels available.
Depends on your use. What are you going to do with it?

PS IIRC - Jordan has a license contract with Jordan to produce their own rifles & ammo?

I have two 6.8s and absolutely no benefit of the .300 BO.  I'm about to order another 6.8.

Op... I'd try a 12.5" 6.8 AR Pistol.

mostly a tactical range toy, I have 14.5 & 16" 5.56 AR's so something shorter no qualms getting another SBR.

I also have an SDN-6 already, if that would be a factor?

That said I would go 12.5in you will be roughly 90 to 100 fps slower than a 16in and accuracy wont suffer. If you plan on using your SDN-6 and would like a little less length on it you could even go 11.5in.
Either will work just fine for a tactical range toy.
About 25 to 30 fps per inch up or down from 16in is what to expect for velocity as was posted earlier.
If you were going to use it for hunting I would recommend no less than a 14.5 just to keep the velocity up.

Really no benefit?

So having a rifle that doesn't need a special bolt or special magazines is no benefit?

Having a rifle that you can reload much cheaper for is no benefit?

Having access to hundreds of millions pieces of brass is no benefit?

Having much cheaper brass to reload from is no benefit?

Being able to shoot both supersonic and subsonic is no benefit?

Being able to use one of the most widely available bullets (.308) including military surplus is no benefit?

Now what are the benefits of the 6.8 again...Oh ya longer range but my 300BLK will take anything your 6.8 will inside of 300 yards and is capable of reaching out to 700 yards if needed. So if you want to target shoot at longer ranges than 300-400 yards then yes the 6.8 has ONE benefit over the 300BLK.

You should check out the 30 American coming out based on the 6.8 case.
Super and Sub

30 American?

That sounds American, stuff 30 cals into anything that will accept it. Best named wildcat yet.

There are lots of great rounds so it depends on if you're really going to use it. At the range you'll not really see the benefit of different mags, bolt, etc. So I personally wouldn't unless you are building a hunting rig.

Now if you want to go into something that you will notice, why not dive into the exotic big bores like .458 or .50? That would be a fun trip.

I had a long rebuttal. But, went for a shorter version.
Short versions:
1.  A 6.8 upper includes a 6.8 bolt, barrel w/muzzle device if applicable). Thus, leaving only a mag. Because a 6.8 is based on a rimless 30-30 (30 Rem) & wider than a .223 case.
2. You can only put so much propellant in a chopped off .223 case (300 BO AKA .300 Whisper).
This is getting to be so funny.!!
Wanna see a video of a 6.8 taking an Elk & also, an Audad at over 400y or one with a groundhog/ (Woodchuck) at 637 yards?

We can kill anything a .300BLK can kill, only deader, and much further out



So, if you want the ability to do everything a 6.8 does except a lesser extent, as long as it isn't real far off, yeah. lol

Suppress it, .300, non, 6.8, no question.

Or, .277 Wolverine, 6.8 SAAMI power, still well better than the .300, but, in a .223 case, .223 mags, and a .223 bolt.

Oh, $11.99 reloadable plinker ammo is nice.
But, I have plenty & a variety of brands of 6.8 brass & I didn't have to cut, form & anneal it.
Subsonic factory 6.8 ammo. Expensive, yeah, but, hey we can do subsonic too.
http://www.corbon.com/corboncart/corbon/performance/pm68115s-20

The .277 has a long way to go before it even can come close to what the 300BLK offers

Please show me where you can buy 6.8 brass for less than $100 for a thousand. I can find a lot of 300BLK brass ready to load for that price.

No one has to cut down their brass to make 300BLK. There are plenty manufactures making it ready to fire. So, please stop with that tired argument that anyone who owns a 300BLK will have to cut, form and anneal to get brass.

The advantage of the 300BLK is that if you have cheap excess .223 brass then you can cut it down to use in the 300BLK. What cheap brass can you do that with the 6.8? Oh that right there is none so you can't.

You keep saying you can do subsonic but you really can't as 99% of the 6.8 rifles being sold are unable to use, cycle or stabilize subsonic ammo. This is no different than subsonic .223 except that the majority of .223 can stabilize the subsonics even though they won't cycle. Once again a tired argument for what the 6.8 can truly do.

You like your B.O. and thats cool.
To me its nothing more than a big pistol cartridge.
If I cared about subs I would look at a .300 BO
But since I dont the 6.8 is a far better choice for my uses.

You are covered on 5.56 blasters it looks like.  You already have a 300BLK 8.2" SBR.  I'm not sure why there is any discussion about 300BLK, since you have one currently.

Get the 6.5 Grendel and be done with this mess.  You will have affordable factory ammo you can shoot from close range, to farther than you thought an AR15 was capable of.  You won't be shooting much factory ammo through a 6.5 CM, because it just doesn't do well in gas guns.

6.5 Grendel makes an excellent medium game hunting cartridge, which has also been used to take large game.  You will also be able to share projectiles between it and the 6.5 CM.  It doesn't make sense to add more diversity to your reloading bench if you don't have to.

That will have all your bases covered.

5.56 blaster carbines...check

300 BLK SBR...check

Lightweight High Performance Intermediate Cartridge Carbine capable of medium game hunting for deer, yotes, wolves, pronghorn, fun target shooting at distance, and even large game.....currently empty

Long-range, heavy, precision semi-auto....in progress

If you are looking for a range toy, you won't be able to feed any of the other options as affordably as you will with steel case 6.5 Grendel, which would be cool from an SBR with your 762 SDN-6.  $7.99/box  is hard to beat, and the load works great for killing things.

And this my friends, is why......... the OP didnt ask about the Grendel, he asked about the 5.56, 300BO and 6.8
I agree with the OP, with a 6.5 Creedmore a lesser 6.5 would be a dust collector.

Having a rifle that you can reload much cheaper for is no benefit? Unless you are casting, it really isn't more than a penny or two B.S. show me where you can get a thousand 6.8 bullets for under $120 because last I checked the cheapest plinking rounds for the 6.8 were closer to $200 with most well into high $200. That is hardly just a penny or two.

http://shop.rmrbullets.com/68-SPC-277-90-Grain-Speer-Gold-Dot-PULLED-1000-Count-68-90-Speer-GD-Pul-1000-Ct.htm

$171 / 1000, not cheap plinking crap that you can't hunt with, and designed for the operating velocities of the 6.8. This is Gold Dot.

Yes awesome bullet Pav.
My hand loads shoot .5 MOA
It's much more than a cheap plinking bullet.
Its barrier blind, can shoot thru a windshield and 2 hog carcasses.
Its bonded and expands reliably
And for HD it was designed to stop bad guys.



Photos and testing by Xman

Not this again

OP I have 4 AR's in 5.56 I also have some in 300 AAC, 7.62x39, 6.8spc, 6.5 grendel, 22lr, and 9mm.  I would just get what ever caliber is easiest for you to get ammo for....because eventually you will build another AR and another and another,

OP wasn't asking about the 6.5 Gerbil,, oh now please post some pictures everyone is tired of seeing.

Your trolling here and if it had been Yama_Raja jumping in a gerbil thread the tears would be rolling

.50 bmg anything else is a compromise

Come on man everyone knows the .416 Barrett kicks that 80 year old fifties ass!



For the life of me I can't understand the emotional attachment some people have to a particular cartridge. You would think someone insulted their wife by the amount of BS that spews forth in these threads.
It's just a cartridge, you did not marry it or father it.

garyd is that your son in your avatar? He sure looks happy shooting that Ma deuce.

Yeah that is my youngest shooting my 1919.

I have a "vested" interest in the 300blk.  Not sure what that "vested" interest is, but I have been told I have it.

I take nothing from the 6.8. Except that as far as subs go.  One barrel manufacturer makes a barrel to get it to work with extremely rare heavy gr .277 projectile.  That does not equal even remotely the fact that almost all 300 blk barrels are capable of subs and supers out of the box.

At longer distance the 6.8 has however more energy then the 300 blk.  Great, wonderful, awesome, tremendous, and what ever other positive adjective I can add to lift up the 6.8.  But if I am not shooting 500 yds, then so what.

I have said this numerous times.  Take a 5.56, 6x45, 6.5 grendal, 6.8spec, .277 wolverine, 7.62x39, 300blk, and any number of similar cartridges and put them in the hands of 87% of shooters and they won't be able to tell the difference. Either when fired or when looking at damage done to a critter.  And of the 13% who could tell a difference, 87% of them also exaggerate the distance they shoot critters at also.

Ah a 1919, with the spade grips and a small boy shooting it I took it for a 50.

As for cartridges, since I reload everything I shoot I try to keep the number of calibers to a minimum. Having just a few calibers allows for buying in bulk cheaply and cover everything I own. Seeing that most of the cartridges that fit into an AR15 frame have very similar capabilities at the typical hunting ranges I don't see a compelling difference between 30 cal, 6.5 or 6.8mm rounds.




OP if you will be shooting this as a range toy from a short barrel suppressed then the 300BLK makes the most sense to me. Since you already have a 300BLK then I would go with a 6.5mm based cartridge since you plan on getting a 6.5 CR. This allows fewer components to stock, assuming you will be reloading. The 6.5 will also let you play at further distances than the 30cal will do.

This might get me into the 6.8 game.  I'm a 300blk fan and have two working on a third but  a round that can be used as plinking and hunting I'm down.

Not taking the 6.8 fan boys side but that's a decent price for pulled pills.

They shoot pretty flat to 300 then start to drop after that.
I would limit 250 yards on deer due to retained energy although, the bullet still performs fine out to 350 to 400 yards for smaller game.

They also report to work well on hogs.
I would venture to say they are the best .17 cent bullet I have found.

Personally I'd go with one of the hotrod offerings from ar15performance.com if youre a reloader. His 6.5 BRX will leave all these other cartridges discussed in the dust. 200fps over a grendel with a higher BC pill than a 6.8, win, win if you reload and dont mind a little case prep.

The case does lend it self to wildcats well.
With your .223 base you have now and set up in 6.8SPC you would have a huge number of wildcats at your disposal.
With anything wider than the 6.8 case you can also run into magazine stack issues.
This is why LWRC built the Six8, the wider magwell allows the stack angle to be closer to what was originally intended for the AR15, so that it can feed flawlessly with Magpul mags.
I have found from research that the width of the 6.8 case is about the most you want to go, as even with it mags from ACS and CPD it took them while to get it right due to the stack angle.
The 6.8 PRI mags though spendy feed flawlessly as well.
When you get to the big boys that feed single stack then this is a non issue.
This is one of the reasons I went 6.8 over others I was considering.

I'm actually looking at one of those too.
Lots of cats from .20 to .358 on that case.

Edit: For the OP and his use though something with factory ammo availability, cheaper projos would be better.