6.8SPC gets the job done

[Zak Smith]

And who says there's no "Sporting Purpose" to an AR15???

[ link to LARGER image ]

Rifle is an 18" AR15 with a TA11 ACOG in 6.8SPC configured with a Magpul telestock and a flash hider (evil!!). Load was a 110gr Sierra Pro-Hunter at 2630fps. Shot distance was about 30 yards.

Terminal ballistics--

There was one small entrance wound in the hide just forward of the RH front shoulder. The bullet destroyed the RH shoulder - shattering bone and creating a huge amount of tissue damage. Passing the RH shoulder, it punctured the ribcage with a 1.5" diameter hole and must have proceeded to effect the catastrophic damage to the lungs and heart. We saw some damage to the inside surface of the ribcage which was probably due to fragments. There was no exit hole. The bullet/fragments were not recovered.

Based on experience killing deer with other more conventional cartridges like 30-06, 308, 270WIN, 257 Roberts, .30-30, etc, the performance of the 6.8SPC is within the expected range of outcomes.

 

[Matt G]

There was one small entrance wound in the hide just forward of the RH front shoulder. The bullet destroyed the RH shoulder - shattering bone and creating a huge amount of tissue damage. Passing the RH shoulder, it punctured the ribcage with a 1.5" diameter hole and must have proceeded to effect the catastrophic damage to the lungs and heart. We saw some damage to the inside surface of the ribcage which was probably due to fragments. There was no exit hole. The bullet/fragments were not recovered.

That's not particularly sparkling performance by a bullet moving at only 2630 fps. I've no doubt that the 6.8 would be a great deer cartridge (I'm a big fan of the .257 Rbts myself), I think a bullet should make it through the deer intact. I just went back to look at the load, and was surprised that it was a Sierra Pro-Hunter; I've had excellent results with them.

 

[Zak Smith]

Unfortunately, the bullet was not recovered, so we don't know if it ended up intact or not. The bullet (or its fragments) must have been eschewed with the entrails during field dressing.

Since the shot was almost head-on, if the bullet would have continued in a straight line, it would have had to penetrate 30-45" to exit. I don't necessarily think that is realistic when there is large bone & muscle structure intervening.

The next bullets to try will be the 100 and 110gr Barnes.

-z

 

[Matt G]

True. And a single anecdotal shot (with a dead deer on the ground-- congratulations!) does not a comprehensive study make.

The only rifle bullet that I ever recovered in a deer was a 100g .257 bullet that had traversed from the back of the right ham, through the guts, through the lungs, and rested against the sternum, where it had actually stuck into the back of the bone, even though it was fully mushroomed and retained 87% of its weight. This was about a 130lb buck at 150 yards, so I couldn't fault the bullet for failing to penetrate after having gone though about 4+ feet of live venison! That one was a 100g Sierra spitzer, but I disremember whether it was a ProHunter or a GameKing. I'm pretty sure it was a ProHunter, though.

 

[wdlsguy]

The next bullets to try will be the 100 and 110gr Barnes.

I've had good results on whitetails with Nosler Partitions in 6mm, so one in 6.8mm should work well also.

 

[Darkker]

Circles anyone??

Just like when everyone got away from the .45 and went to a 9mm. and now are starting back upwards in caliber. The army is considering MacNemara's choice of a .22 a bit small, and are looking at the 270-short,(pronounced 6.8mm spc) Jack O'Conner would be proud.

Congratulations on meat on the pipe!!

 

[NCP24]

Nice

 

[mpthole]

And who says there's no "Sporting Purpose" to an AR15???

Yep. I took a nice, little 5-pointer with my AR-10 16" in .308. I used a 150gr ballistic tip... Federal Vital-Shok I think.

Congrats Zak!

 

[Cosmoline]

How heavy can you load the SPC? My bet is an increase to a 135 grain bullet would have a dramatic increase in performance. The SD on a 6.8 110 isn't in the medium game range.

 

[Zak Smith]

130gr bullets might work, but that's cutting down on the powder capacity quite a bit. That's why the Barnes are attractive-- they usually act like conventional bullets in the next higher mass range.

I kind of wonder what a straight side-on shot to the shoulder would have done.... ?

 

[Cosmoline]

Hmm. I'm sure you're right, but consider that the 6.8 SPC is just that--a special purpose cartridge designed for a specific application to beef up AR carbines. IIRC the 6.5 Grendel allows for a wider array of bullet weights and it might be the better of the improved AR cartridges for hunting. Unless you can get bullets with a high enough SD you'll always run into problems with insufficient penetration.