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Whatever happened to 6.8? (Page 4 of 4)
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Originally Posted By backbencher: And it had the AAC marketing engine behind it. You guys haven't even mentioned .25-45 Sharps.  Originally Posted By backbencher: Originally Posted By cttb: Originally Posted By Z09SS: . . . . 300 Blackout won the alternate war, bigly. It's definitely the most popular AR variant. My guess is that's because it only requires a different barrel. Outside of subs and barrels under 10", it's a mediocre performer compared to other variants. Maybe it's better to look at this as "Wow, it's awesome we can do all this with the AR-15 platform" than "This is better than that." 6.8 SPC, 6.5 Grendel, and 6 ARC are all niche cartridges in the grand scheme. 300 BO is the only one that approaches mainstream. And it had the AAC marketing engine behind it. You guys haven't even mentioned .25-45 Sharps. Ohhhhh snap I remember reading about that one in a gun rag. What a stupid idea. |
It was not preached to the crowd,
It was not taught by the State.
No man spoke it aloud,
When the English began to hate.
It was not taught by the State.
No man spoke it aloud,
When the English began to hate.
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I finally got the Ruger American Gen-II 400 Legend converted to a 6.8 SPC-II using an X-Caliber pre-fit barrel. All set up with an AEM-4 thanks to ADCO for the collar set up. I had to do a little filing on the stock to get it to fit but not vary much, really. The metal 6.8 mags seem to work and feed fine. Can't wait to go shoot it next time I have a day off. Attached File Attached File |
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Originally Posted By BM1455: I finally got the Ruger American Gen-II 400 Legend converted to a 6.8 SPC-II using an X-Caliber pre-fit barrel. All set up with an AEM-4 thanks to ADCO for the collar set up. I had to do a little filing on the stock to get it to fit but not vary much, really. The metal 6.8 mags seem to work and feed fine. Can't wait to go shoot it next time I have a day off. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/196710/f3c2cbe3-65ab-4230-87c1-a911a49d3f8f_jpg-3790821.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/196710/adabbcff-3809-4af8-bbde-61884458b8e3_jpg-3790822.JPG Cool |
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 Shot these two 10 round groups yesterday at 100 yards, barrel was pretty warm shooting the second group in lower right hand corner. 18" arp barrel, TA55 acog. Hornady's new 110 grain 6.8 fmj frontier ammo. Probably could have shot better groups with a more precise reticle. This is a fairly accurate fmj 6.8 load from hornady. |
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I check in from time to time to see how many "discover" that the 6.8 is indeed still very much alive and knocking down whatever you aim it at. It has been and still is out there kicking ass and doing what it was made for. And since more ammo and complete uppers are showing up it will be here in the future as well. Yes, all the cool new this and that calibers are out there as well and some will make the grade, ... and some will just fade away when the marketing for them stops. Time has proven this over and over. The 6.8 isn't going anywhere. |
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Originally Posted By cttb: After 6.5 Grendel's kinks got worked out (about 15 years ago) and when $.25 per round Grendel ammo was available (up until 5 years ago), there was no compelling reason to build a 6.8 SPC AR. People all but stopped newly adopting the round. By the time ammo cost became the same as Grendel again, 6.8 had lost too much steam. Beyond that, both Grendel and 6 ARC perform significantly better at medium and long ranges than 6.8 and are easier to get outstanding accuracy from. Whatever advantages 6.8 might have over those rounds for short range hunting are minimal, while its medium and long range target disadvantages are significant. Lots of people like 6.8 for a lot of good reasons, but pretty much nobody is newly adopting it. That's been the case for at least 10 years. It would be interesting for the 6.8 users in this thread to post the year they first got a 6.8 AR. Got my first one (Bushmaster) back in 1998. |
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Just finishing up this build. 14.5" barrel 6.8 on a Unitah bolt action upper. Pinned on a Griffin FH so I can put a stock on, and mount a can later on. Magpul UBR, Sheila Arms folding stock, and a Vortex 2.5-10 to round out the build. Will be upgrading the glass later as funds free up, but should be plenty good for the 100 yards I typically shoot at. Also have a 10.5 build for my brace lower in 6.8 SPC II with a Noveskee stainless barrel. Wish the 6.8 became more mainstream, but I will keep mine for sure. Also have 5.56 uppers (due to commonality of the ammo), but these will be my preferred. 
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Originally Posted By fulautotank: https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/138939/6870-3802823.jpg Neat. |
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Originally Posted By BM1455: I finally got the Ruger American Gen-II 400 Legend converted to a 6.8 SPC-II using an X-Caliber pre-fit barrel. All set up with an AEM-4 thanks to ADCO for the collar set up. I had to do a little filing on the stock to get it to fit but not vary much, really. The metal 6.8 mags seem to work and feed fine. Can't wait to go shoot it next time I have a day off. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/196710/f3c2cbe3-65ab-4230-87c1-a911a49d3f8f_jpg-3790821.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/196710/adabbcff-3809-4af8-bbde-61884458b8e3_jpg-3790822.JPG Why the AR style scope mount? Looks very high. |
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Originally Posted By fulautotank: https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/138939/6870-3802823.jpg @fulautotank I dig the fuk outta that set up!!! Have you chrono'd any loads through it? |
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Originally Posted By BlindFaith429: Just finishing up this build. 14.5" barrel 6.8 on a Unitah bolt action upper. Pinned on a Griffin FH so I can put a stock on, and mount a can later on. Magpul UBR, Sheila Arms folding stock, and a Vortex 2.5-10 to round out the build. Will be upgrading the glass later as funds free up, but should be plenty good for the 100 yards I typically shoot at. Also have a 10.5 build for my brace lower in 6.8 SPC II with a Noveskee stainless barrel. Wish the 6.8 became more mainstream, but I will keep mine for sure. Also have 5.56 uppers (due to commonality of the ammo), but these will be my preferred. https://i.imgur.com/NZqmk2T.jpeg Nice rig. My 6.8's have put lots of meat on the table; whitetail deer, antelope and hogs. I have a self-imposed limit on 315 yards max as my reloads of Barnes 95 grain TTSX's lose the edge of performance due to velocity at that range. Around here my max distance of shots is 200 yards but most are in the 40 to 70 yard range. Enjoy the rig. Long live the 6.8 SPC. |
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| I never really liked 22s, so I'm getting rid of them all. I'm keeping all my 300BLK, but I need at least one with more juice. I keep coming back to the 6.8spc, it's the only caliber that makes sense to me. Actually, if I was starting from the beginning, I think it would truly be the one caliber option. |
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Originally Posted By parrisisland1978: @fulautotank I dig the fuk outta that set up!!! Have you chrono'd any loads through it? Wanted to see how it compared to the only ammo I used in my 8.5" 300 blkout. 
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Hopefully this discussion on a "dead caliber" will just continue on for another 4 pages. Now to set some of this straight, how about we go back to why and when the 6.8spc was made in the first place. ( and where it was to be used)) Bringing up this or that caliber that has over many years after the 6.8 was made makes for good conversation but doesn't change anything as to the problem and cure for the problem they were trying to overcome with the knowledge and tech they had then. Of course we have made many strides in warfare over the years since the 6.8 came out and hopefully we will continue to do so. However, one of the main reasons, if not the only reason it's still here is because the "wild caters" who took the time to do what Remington was to lazy to do but got payed for anyway. If you had been around at that time and on the forums then you would have had a front roll seat to learn about the people who got to make a 68 run at 3100ft per second, ( once or twice) before it was junk. There were no great computer programs then to run before you tried it, you simply built it, ran it and it lived or didn't. This is also how the correct twist came about because of people doing the "lets" try this and see what happens. Yes Remington was on the right path but the contract sat to long before the bothered to start on it. However being Remington they paid anyway. |
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Originally Posted By fulautotank: I actually did some velocity tests when I first got the barrel. Wanted to see how it compared to the only ammo I used in my 8.5" 300 blkout. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/138939/6681-3804358.jpg Faster than I would have expected. Thanks! |
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Originally Posted By Yama_Raja: The 6.8SPC is still alive and well. Still the best feeding caliber with a bolt face bigger then .373 Strongest bolt in any caliber with a bolt face bigger than .373 You do not hear about bolt problems or mag problems in the 6.8SPC. Out to 450 yards there isn't a better deer and hog cartridge in an AR15. It didnt have the Hornady push, or the 6.5 craze Hornady created with their marketing. It is reliable, easy to reload, still a wide variety of factory ammo, with new ammo coming out. The list of barrel makers is still long. It is the only larger than .373 bolt face alternate caliber in an AR15 I would trust my life to. ^^^Correct.^^^ A more robust round than the 6.5 but the ballistic advantages of the 6.5 got a bigger market share over time. That said there are still a lot of folks who appreciate the caliber still like it and use it. |
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Originally Posted By @panthermark: As someone stuck behind enemy line (with those lines expanding every year it seems), I am often limited in what I can get shipped to me. For your particular situation, you may wish to consider the newish 6mm Max as it uses standard 5.56 bolts but uses the .350L as its parent case for slightly case capacity. Just a thought that it may help you out. |
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Originally Posted By Capt_Jerry: Here is some data from my RRA 16.0" not suppressed at 100 yards. The average was 2563 FPS with Barnes 95 grain TTSX's. https://i.imgur.com/WMGRKv1.jpg I'm getting 2900fps with the Barnes 95ttsx using AA2200. Drops deer nicely. |
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Originally Posted By bluealtered: Hopefully this discussion on a "dead caliber" will just continue on for another 4 pages. Now to set some of this straight, how about we go back to why and when the 6.8spc was made in the first place. ( and where it was to be used)) Bringing up this or that caliber that has over many years after the 6.8 was made makes for good conversation but doesn't change anything as to the problem and cure for the problem they were trying to overcome with the knowledge and tech they had then. Of course we have made many strides in warfare over the years since the 6.8 came out and hopefully we will continue to do so. However, one of the main reasons, if not the only reason it's still here is because the "wild caters" who took the time to do what Remington was to lazy to do but got payed for anyway. If you had been around at that time and on the forums then you would have had a front roll seat to learn about the people who got to make a 68 run at 3100ft per second, ( once or twice) before it was junk. There were no great computer programs then to run before you tried it, you simply built it, ran it and it lived or didn't. This is also how the correct twist came about because of people doing the "lets" try this and see what happens. Yes Remington was on the right path but the contract sat to long before the bothered to start on it. However being Remington they paid anyway. Later, the Marine Corps wanted 12.5" barreled uppers with titanium suppressors for the Fast Teams. I think we did 150 upper/suppressor set ups for them. The Marine Corps also wanted a few 20" A4 uppers for use as DMR set ups. I forget now what rail those had. Iv3 had a 6.8 since about 6 months or so into our start of the 6.8 game. I have 3 now. |
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Originally Posted By Turtle556: I'm getting 2900fps with the Barnes 95ttsx using AA2200. Drops deer nicely. That's great. Initially I tried a lot of different bullet and powder combinations with various ladders of loading. I finally decided the combination of LT-32 and the 95 grain TTSX's gave me ample power to take deer, antelope and hogs at ranges my eyes can handle and that combination is in the same range of FPS (2500-2600) allowing the bullet enough velocity to perform out to about 325. The stars were aligned a few years back and I dropped a whitetail at 305 yards which is my farthest 6.8 kill. Around here a 100 yards is possible but most shots are 75 or less. Long live the 6.8 SPC. |
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Originally Posted By Capt_Jerry: That's great. Initially I tried a lot of different bullet and powder combinations with various ladders of loading. I finally decided the combination of LT-32 and the 95 grain TTSX's gave me ample power to take deer, antelope and hogs at ranges my eyes can handle and that combination is in the same range of FPS (2500-2600) allowing the bullet enough velocity to perform out to about 325. The stars were aligned a few years back and I dropped a whitetail at 305 yards which is my farthest 6.8 kill. Around here a 100 yards is possible but most shots are 75 or less. Long live the 6.8 SPC. Nice. Where i hunt it is also a close range situation. The last deer i took was at 15 yards with a 100 grain nosler accubond. DRT. I love 6.8. |
Whatever happened to 6.8? (Page 4 of 4)
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