Hunting Washington Forum

Equipment & Gear => Guns and Ammo => Topic started by: traildigger on November 07, 2012, 08:03:29 PM

Title: 6.8 SPC owners?
Post by: traildigger on November 07, 2012, 08:03:29 PM: Alright, so I'm starting a new AR build, and am leaning towards the 6.8SPCII. If you are an owner/user of one of these, I'd like to hear what you like about the round. But, more importantly, I'd like to hear what you DON'T like about it. My main uses will be coyotes, and cougar if I'm ever that lucky. I'm not interested in other cartridges at the moment, so please keep the comments geared towards the 6.8. Also, I have searched here and other forums, but some of the others are a little biased. I'd like to hear from actual USERS, from Washington, who hunt the same game and terrain that I do. Anyway if you have some experience with the round, I'd love to hear what you have to say, both positive and negative. Thanks!
Title: Re: 6.8 SPC owners?
Post by: Heredoggydoggy on November 07, 2012, 08:30:47 PM: I'm carrying my 6.8 SPC for deer these days. Have had it for quite some time, and It's legal for deer hunting. Recoil is not much more than a 223, and the 270 bullet is a lot better for longer shots. I have had one problem with chambering short rounds with 90 grain bullets out of PRI mags, but no problems when the bullet is seated out farther. My brass has been fired 4 or 5 times, and ejecting an unfired round was sometimes difficult if the chamber neck was a little dirty, so I just got a 270 neck turning pilot for my Forster trimmer, and I just turned down the necks on a batch of my cases. It looked like the brass was a little thick at the shoulder, so neck turning should help. All in all, I like the round. Black Hole Weaponry in Moses Lake is producing a barrel for a 6.8 SPC necked down to 6mm. Being as I already have the 6.8 bolt, I'm considering building a 6x68 AR upper. I just built an AR with one of his barrels in 20 LBC, (6.5 Grendel necked down to .20 cal.) and I love it!
Title: Re: 6.8 SPC owners?
Post by: mountainman on November 07, 2012, 09:04:39 PM: Played with this one quite a bit! Awesome coyote round!
Title: Re: 6.8 SPC owners?
Post by: mountainman on November 07, 2012, 09:05:56 PM: The 6X6.8 I should add. Carl knows how to build a barrel..phenomanal accuracy w/ 55 ballistics!
Title: Re: 6.8 SPC owners?
Post by: Jim the Plumber on November 07, 2012, 09:33:18 PM: I've owned one. Mine was on a 16" barrel and was accurate enough. Sub MOA easy, hovering just below 3/4MOA for all the ammo I loaded.
Nice round and will do what you are wanting it to do.
back when I had mine, there weren't near as many bullets/ loaded ammo available. I remember loading the 110 Accubond and being happy with the results.
now, there are several bullets/ loads that should fill your needs.
Title: Re: 6.8 SPC owners?
Post by: traildigger on November 08, 2012, 11:22:27 AM: hey guys, thanks for the replies. I've really been going back and forth with the 6.8 and the 6.5G. Finally decided on the 6.8 because I'm not a reloader, and there are more options for the 6.8. Also, I'm not looking for the range that I could get out of the 6.5. I have a .300WM if I really needed to go that far.

Jim.....you say you "had" one. May I ask why you got rid of it?

mountainman....High Mountain currently has an uppper with the black hole barrel ready to go in the 6x6.8. Can't remember the price though.

Also, I'm looking at Palmetto State Armory for an upper. They have a 16" barreled upper without bcg for under $400. Anyone used their uppers?
Another option is RRA, they have a 16" barreled upper with bcg for $520. I'm familiar with RRA, as I have one of their lowers. This new upper will be going on a Mega lower though.
Title: Re: 6.8 SPC owners?
Post by: mountainman on November 08, 2012, 11:30:57 AM: $799 complete
Title: Re: 6.8 SPC owners?
Post by: VarmintVentilator on November 08, 2012, 01:03:25 PM: The one I have is a nice gun. Shot coyotes with it and my daughter shot her deer with it as well. Dropped it in its tracks at 188 yds. As far as consistent rounds go, I would put the limit at 300yds. Will it shoot farther, yes, but when you reach 4, 5, and 600 yds. it falls off real quick. Still a nice gun to own. :twocents:
Title: Re: 6.8 SPC owners?
Post by: Jim the Plumber on November 08, 2012, 05:48:42 PM: "Jim.....you say you "had" one. May I ask why you got rid of it?"
Put mine together just to play with it.
I'ts a great round for what it is, but I like to reach out and the 5.56 with the 77's have better reach.
For what you are wanting to do with it, it Will perform. The 6.8 inside 300-350 is a great round out of the AR-15 platform.
Title: Re: 6.8 SPC owners?
Post by: FALFire on November 08, 2012, 06:12:05 PM: I had two 6.8's and got rid of them both for the very reasons listed above. They do some stuff okay but do nothing really great. If you are keeping your shots under 300 yards they will kill most stuff if you can hit it. Lot's of guys compare it to the 308 round and it comes nowhere near the 308 capabilities. The 6.5 Grendel will easily out perform the 6.8 well over 300 yards and it will do anything the 6.8 does under 300. The 243WSSM and 25WSSM will stomp the 6.8 in all scenarios. For what it was designed to do, in a military setting for close range work with a short barreled rifle, it performs quite well but for a hunting caliber it is just uh....so-so!

There are a few guys that are trying really hard to keep the 6.8 alive so there is a following but there are better choices. I believe if you look really close you will see a trend towards the 7.62/308 AR10 platformed weapons, that is because the ammo availability and shear fire-power of the 7.62 round is nearly unbeatable in an all around caliber using an AR platform.

Again.... I agree with Jim, the 5.56 with 75's or 77's will do anything the 6.8 will do with less money involved.
Title: Re: 6.8 SPC owners?
Post by: Heredoggydoggy on November 08, 2012, 07:27:43 PM: Quote from: VarmintVentilator on November 08, 2012, 01:03:25 PM
The one I have is a nice gun. Shot coyotes with it and my daughter shot her deer with it as well. Dropped it in its tracks at 188 yds. As far as consistent rounds go, I would put the limit at 300yds. Will it shoot farther, yes, but when you reach 4, 5, and 600 yds. it falls off real quick. Still a nice gun to own. :twocents:

True, the 6.8 has it's limitations, as does any other cartridge. Where I hunt Whitetails, I might be able to see more than 300 yards in a clearcut. Would I try to shoot an animal that far away? Probably not--So the 6.8 is ideal for me. Why do I want to build a 6x6.8 upper? Not because I need to, but because I CAN! :chuckle:
Title: Re: 6.8 SPC owners?
Post by: VarmintVentilator on November 08, 2012, 07:33:52 PM: As a matter of fact, I should be getting a 6x6.8 barrel from BHW in about 4-6 weeks. (Merry Christmas to me.) :IBCOOL: :chuckle:
Title: Re: 6.8 SPC owners?
Post by: Heredoggydoggy on November 08, 2012, 07:44:50 PM: Quote from: VarmintVentilator on November 08, 2012, 07:33:52 PM
As a matter of fact, I should be getting a 6x6.8 barrel from BHW in about 4-6 weeks. (Merry Christmas to me.) :IBCOOL: :chuckle:

Cool! Let us know what you get, and how it works out. All reports so far indicate that it's a good'un! :tup: I'm not in a big rush to order mine. Maybe next month.
Title: Re: 6.8 SPC owners?
Post by: mountainman on November 08, 2012, 07:47:19 PM: Quote from: Heredoggydoggy on November 08, 2012, 07:27:43 PM
Quote from: VarmintVentilator on November 08, 2012, 01:03:25 PM
The one I have is a nice gun. Shot coyotes with it and my daughter shot her deer with it as well. Dropped it in its tracks at 188 yds. As far as consistent rounds go, I would put the limit at 300yds. Will it shoot farther, yes, but when you reach 4, 5, and 600 yds. it falls off real quick. Still a nice gun to own. :twocents:

True, the 6.8 has it's limitations, as does any other cartridge. Where I hunt Whitetails, I might be able to see more than 300 yards in a clearcut. Would I try to shoot an animal that far away? Probably not--So the 6.8 is ideal for me. Why do I want to build a 6x6.8 upper? Not because I need to, but because I CAN! :chuckle:

:)
Title: Re: 6.8 SPC owners?
Post by: traildigger on November 09, 2012, 07:35:00 AM: Guys, again. Thanks for the replies. FALfire, I have tossed around the idea of a 6.5 Grendel, but just don't think I'll be realistically shooting at anything that far. Plus, for a guy that doesn't reload, I'm a little limited on factory ammo options. I still may do one down the road, but it's just not in the cards right now. As far as the AR10 platform, probably not either. The cost for me, just puts that one outside my current budget. Anyway, thanks again guys, I'll let you all know, and see, what I end up with.

On a side note. Do any of you have any experience with any of the 1-4 scopes on the market? This will probably be the route I take when it's time for optics. ( A few months out)
Title: Re: 6.8 SPC owners?
Post by: FALFire on November 09, 2012, 08:43:46 AM: Traildigger....Plug away on the 6.8SPC, it's not that bad of a round, as long as you keep it within it's limits it will perform very well on deer sized game, hell, it will do on bears as long as you are mindful of it's abilities and use a good bullet.

For coyotes we found the 110 V-Max blows them all to hell. The Speer 90gr TNT went through without much expansion and several dogs were lost due to the bullet zipping right through. There are some newer bullets on the market from Hornady and Barnes that look promising but I simply did not have time to use them before I sold the 6.8's. 400 yards is doable but accuracy is the key and we never found the 6.8 to be great at those distances so we stayed with bolt guns for that purpose.

I now shoot a 6x45 and it has a hell of a following but again, it's limitations keep it from being a stellar round but it will kill deer all day under 300 yards just as the 6.8 will do.

Good luck with it, it's a nice round for the AR15 and if you put a brake on it, it will recoil like a 22LR. Just a bunch louder :chuckle:
Title: Re: 6.8 SPC owners?
Post by: Heredoggydoggy on November 09, 2012, 10:53:59 PM: Quote from: FALFire on November 09, 2012, 08:43:46 AM

The Speer 90gr TNT went through without much expansion and several dogs were lost due to the bullet zipping right through.

FYI: I was getting a lot of jams with the Speer 90gr TNT bullets. Figured out that because the round was shorter, as the bolt started pushing the round out of my PRI mags, the extractor groove would catch on the "pillow" indent in the mag and the tip of the bullet would hang up on the feed ramp before it could chamber. If loading 90s, load them long enough to fill the length of the magazine if you use PRI mags. Never had a problem with the 100gr, 110, and 115grainers. The bullet would start up the feed ramp before the brass groove got to the indent in the mag.

I just got a new 10 round PRI mag, and I notice the "pillow" indent doesn't go all the way to the top of the magazine now.