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Posted: 8/23/2008 1:53:00 PM EDT
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is it worht getting the 6.8 conversion? i know that bushmaster sells an upper that you can put on a 5.56 lower and it will fire a 6.8. But i was wondering is ammo more expensive than the 5.56 and will the 6.8 have better or worse accuracy? if it is better should i just buy the upper and stick it on my bushmaster ar-15 or put in alittle more money and get another gun? thanks in advance |
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welcome to the board! I'm currently researching the same conversion--yes, the 6.8 upper works on any standard 5.56/.223 lower. You will need a 6.8 magazine, but they're only about $15 from several sources. The 6.8 isn't any more or less accurate than the 5.56/.223 IMO.....out to 400 yds anyway. The 77gr .5.56 actually does better with windage and elevation at long range, but the 6.8 is WORLDS better for medium size game hunting due to it's penetration and terminal ballistics. (a gent here has shot several hogs and a black bear....a guy on the 68Forums.com took an elk with his) **btw, I highly recommend going over to 68Forums.com and looking around for this type info....lots of knowledge over there. I'm building one of my ARs into a feral pig hunting gun. The ammo is considerably more expensive than all but the match .223--but I don't intend to use this upper for a plinking gun. It's going to be a dedicated hunting rig and will likely only see 50 rds/year. I'm setting it up to be an exact copy of my SHTF gun, so I don't have to worry about changing handling characteristics with the rifle I normally train with. You might want to take a look at the Equipment Exchange.....Rock River complete uppers (HBAR, chrome moly) from PKFirearms, and Stag complete uppers (chrome lined, M203 cuts, mag included) from Legal-Transfers are under $500 shipped. Something else to consider--right now, there's a few companies making 6.8 ammo. (Silver State, Remington, Hornady) but it's not something you'll find at Walmart. You might want to look into reloading--I've discovered that I can reload 6.8 for a few cents cheaper per round than .308. eta: something else to consider.....for hotter loads or heavier projectiles (115-130 grain) the slower twists are recommended. 1:11 is considered optimal now. J&T and a few other companies are selling 6.8 uppers with 1:9.5 twist rates, and this is now considered to be too fast. People have experienced overpressure indications (case head separations, blown primers and stuck cases) when using warm or heavy loads. **caveat: I don't actually have a 6.8 yet.....but I've spent the better part of the last month researching--I'll be ordering the parts and dies next week. |
Yes, the ammo is more expensive, but terminal effectiveness is vastly improved. If you keep your 5.56 upper, you can always shoot that more affordable ammo too. If you do some research, you should find that Cardinal Armory (formerly Ko-tonics) has an excellent reputation for 6.8 uppers. They have the right twist rate and chamber. I bought two 6.8 uppers from them, am very satisfied, and can recommend them. When I shot both in the same day, my 6.8 uppers seemed to be significantly more accurate than my 5.56 upper from CMMG. |
| If you don't have your heart set on shooting SSA Combat loads Cardinal Armory is having a blowout sale on their barrels right now. You can find Cardinal Armory (formerly Kotonics) in the Industry section. There have been some barrels reported with excess chrome problems and that is the reason they will not represent that they will all work with the hot SSA Combat loads. For the price those barrels are a heck of deal. Check out 6.8forums.com for the best information available on the caliber. |
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