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Posted: 12/14/2010 6:04:56 AM EDT
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Guys,
Before I start this I will say I did a search and found a lot of opinions on 6.5 and 6.8, however i would like to throw a couple more horses into the race. I will be buying a new upper for my M&P15 for longer distance Coyote and Pronghorn/Deer hunting. My 10 year old Daughter will be shooting this as well, so I'd like to keep recoil reasonable. No AR10 platform suggestions please, I like the light weight of my 15. I have it down to the following calibers. Please give me your opinion on which one to buy, and if you have one, who built it for you and what is accurate in it. .243 WSSM .25 WSSM 6.5 Grendel 6.8 x 43 (6.8 SPC II?) .30 RAR (I have not seen any ammo for this though) I am not new to shooting in the least, but am new to the AR platform. We do 800 - 1300 Meter practice "in the hills" here with .264 Win Mags, .300 and .338 Ultras. Thank you in advance for helping out an AR15 nOOb. Jeff |
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The 6.8x43 you listed is indeed 6.8 SPC, but not Spec II. Spec II refers to revised chamber dimensions and twist rate, not the cartridge itself. The choices you have listed would suite your purposes. Before making a recommendation, tell us more about the ranges you intend to hunt at and the environment you will be hunting in (ie. dense brush). |
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I would choose between .243 WSSM and 6.8 SPC then. Within 300 yards, each round is perfectly adequate to drop a coyote or deer; .243WSSM produces 1359 ft. lbs at 300 yrds while the 6.8 produces 1039 ft. lbs. Looking only at numbers, the .243 out performs the 6.8 by about 300 ft lbs of energy (not a major differnec at the ranges you intend to shoot at). In terms of BC and drift, the .243 is a clear winner. Considering this, the following comes to mind: 1. How available is ammunition? Do you reload? A box of each runs $25-30. 2. Dedicated 6.8SPC mags are available as the cartridge tends to bind up in standard AR mags. .243WSSM requires some modification to a standard mag to fit about 7 rounds. No dedicated .243WSSM mags are available, AFAIK. 3. How much does BC and drift matter to you? 4. There are more manufacturers to source rifle components for 6.8SPC than .243WSSM.
All values are Minute of Angle. Wind is 4 mph. All calculations use 55 degree F and 1000' elevation. |
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Check out the AR Variants forum.
Personally I went with 6.5 Grendel because I was exposed to it first and I like the way it performed. I would strongly consider one of the 6mm AR rounds like 6mmAR or 6mmBRX if you are already going into the realm of wildcats. If you want ammo availability the Grendel beats the other wildcats because you can actually make your own from 7.62 Soviet brass which is easy to come by and there are enough people reloading for .260rem to make bullets easy to come by at most places that sell reloading supplies. |
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I went with the 6.5 grendel. Built it myself barrel chambered by local gunsmith. I shoots an average .75 MOA some day less some days more.
I almost did the 25 wssm and 243 wssm but I decided not to because it uses so much poweder and I figured the barrel life would be less, my brother in law has a 223 wssm and after approx 60-70 shots it starts having ejection and feeding problems because it gets extremely dirty (so much powder) and the other factor was having to extensively modify magazines. The brass is also so thick to with stand the pressure that it is a royal pain in the ass to work with. If you but facotry ammo I think the 243 wssm COAL on some rounds are to long for the ar mag. Not sure but I think that was the case. I looked at the 6.8 and the things I didn't like was the max range is about 300 yards. The cost to reload was not that much less than a grendel. You had to be sure you had the right chamber and twist rate to run the round at optimal performance levels. I like the high BC bullets and the 6.8 is the light 270/ low BC bullets. I also have a 6.5 x 47 bolt gun so I already buy 6.5 bullets and I don't have a 270 so it would be one less caliber I would have to buy bullets for. The 30 RAR I would guess that it will never come to be. I think it's been almost 2 years since the anouncement and nothing on the market yet. I could be wong but it doesn't seem to be very high on Remingtons list. This isn't intended to start any fighst on this is better than that it is just my thought process on why I went with the Grendel. |
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