Building AR-15s and the poop on 6.8 SPC

Which AR round do you choose?

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cyclopsshooter

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Sorry if this has been done to death but I am new to ARs. I recently bought a M&P 15 in 5.56 NATO. (Note that I love the rifle! S&W did their homework) I am now looking to "build" an AR. I am most likely going to do a simple A2 as I am not one for fancy modifications. The question I have been asking myself is what caliber...? .223 is a pretty cheap, accurate round. But I have that with the M&P- 7.62x39 sounded pretty fun, Its a nice heavy .30 that would be suitable for hunting... I was going to name the rifle "Thumper"... Alas, 7.62x39 is getting expensive and is likely to get harder to find in cheap surplus plinker- I don't want to do it in 9mm because the magazine looks funny-
Whats left in calibers that would be both economical and OK for medium game?

What is the story on 6.8 SPC?

Any building tips would be useful, though I am not a novice... I have built some pretty damn good 1911s, even if I do say so myself :p

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there's a good reason the world moved away from A2 and fixed carry handles. don't limit yourself that way for no good reason.

it's legal to hunt deer with 223rem in many states, though it's not optimal for it. it is nevertheless effective

and for plinking, just replace the upper with a 22lr conversion (or just the BCG)

most of the calibers like 6.8SPC are hard to find, and will never be cheap.

if you want more thump, the .450 bushamsters, .458 socoms, 50 beowolfs, etc are actually pretty easy to come by and would be excellent for game.
 
6.8 is a great round for pig and pretty good for deer at reasonable ranges. it is hard to find sometimes but was getting better until this mad rush on ammo.
 
You didn't put .308. You have an AR-15, now you need an AR-10. The assembly process is almost exactly the same.
 
The 6.8 is a fine round for medium game but doomed to expensive hard to get ammo in perpetuity.

My personal favorite is the 7.62x39

It does anything in terms of hunting 6.8 will and the some as you can load ammo from fast an light to super heavy subsonic loads. The downside are the spotty nature of 7.62x39 mags.

Of course for most with a thumper in mind high capacity isn't really a concern. See sig links for more

raskolnikov_22 said:
You didn't put .308. You have an AR-15, now you need an AR-10. The assembly process is almost exactly the same.
Click to expand...

but the $$$ involved is roughly x3 :eek:
 
6.8 spc

With the 6.8 SPC barrel, bolt and magazine being the only differences from an AR in 223, you have a lot of parts to choose from. Silver State Armory has several 6.8 loadings available, their service and shipping times are excellent. 6.8 has the same caliber bullet as .270 (.277), which is great for reloaders.

http://68forums.com/forums
 
I have been shooting and experimenting with the 6.8mm SPC over the last year. If your goal is to make a cartridge slightly better than the 5.56mm in an existing standard AR platform with minimal change to the other associated equipment, then the 6.8mm is the way to go.

However, with shorter barrels niether the 6.8mmSPC, 6.5 Grendel or the 6.5 Creedmore (the advertized data (Creedmore) is from a 28 inch barrel for crying out loud) are all that impressive if you hunt larger game critters.

Now that I have sunk a BUNCH of money into the 6.8mm SPC rifle, brass, bullets and loading gear, I wish that I would have just gone with an AR-10 size platform in 308 win or 260 Rem.
 
Since the poll question said for the "AR", I voted Other: AR10 in .260 Rem.

As for AR15s - 5.56x45mm / .223 rem

Now that I have sunk a BUNCH of money into the 6.8mm SPC rifle, brass, bullets and loading gear, I wish that I would have just gone with an AR-10 size platform in 308 win or 260 Rem.
Click to expand...

I would advise listening to that man, who speaks from experience. And me, who speaks from his experience, and that of others, and lots of reading, and simple physics. :)
 
The 6.8 is a great round ... I'd say it gives the best total firepower in an AR-15 size platform with 26 rounds in a mag. It has a good choice of bullets for reloaders, and is easy/economical to reload as well. Enough energy that you don't have to worry about it ballistics with a SBR, which can't be said with .223. Recoil is quite close to .223, and much less than .308.

I have 3 AR's in 6.8 right now, and ordered 2 more barrels from the group buy here. I also have 2 DPMS AR-10's, one of the lightweight ones chambered in .338 Federal and a .308 Sportical. There really is a big difference in size/weight between the AR-10 and 15, if that's a concern. And I can hunt whatever I want with the 6.8. The only reason NOT to build one is cost of ammo, that's why we reload!
 
The actual field performance of the 6.8 turned out to be....not as good as promised. I would very much prefer an upper in 6.5 Grendel, but it doesn't look like Alexander Arms is going to loosen up their patent restrictions anytime soon, so it will probably fade into obscurity.

If you want the best platform for an AR-15, get a 5.56. If you want something heavier, look hard at an AR-10.
 
I like 7.62x39 in an AR15 platform, and I also like 6.8SPC in the AR15 platform. I've used both fairly extensively, and both do about the same thing in terms of hunting and such.

I handload for both, and both will run heavy and light bullets well if you are willing to experiment. I do like the fact that I can use the 150gr RN bullets from my 270 loads in the 6.8SPC and the 115gr bullets from the 6.8SPC in my 270 varmint loads, and this was actually the rationale that got me to set my favorite 7.62x39 ARs aside and try the 6.8SPC. When I used to load for the 303R round, I would do the same interchange between it and 7.62x39.

I can get cheap 7.62x39 ammo for plinking (favor the M43) and I can get 25rd 6.8SPC magazines for half the price of a kinda-dodgy equivilent in 7.62x39 (favor the 6.8).

Why choose? Get both. :)

Oh, and if you plan on carryin' the rifle around in the field any - skip the AR10. I have a couple of 'em, and frankly I've been hard pressed to get the lightweight carbine under NINE pounds (sans optic). They are heavy beasties.
 
there's always someone who starts screaming 6.5!!!!!! every time anyone mentions the 6.8.
Click to expand...
Here, here...that'd be me. I think that the 6.8SPC has no place due to the 6.5 Grendel. It has the ballistic advantage for range and energy.
All hail the great, honorable 6.5G! not-worthysmilie.gif
 
Maverick223 said:
john paul said:
there's always someone who starts screaming 6.5!!!!!! every time anyone mentions the 6.8.
Click to expand...
Here, here...that'd be me. I think that the 6.8SPC has no place due to the 6.5 Grendel. It has the ballistic advantage for range and energy.
All hail the great, honorable 6.5G! not-worthysmilie.gif
Click to expand...

Repeat after me:

6.5 MPC

:neener:
 
Repeat after me:

6.5 MPC
Click to expand...
6.5MPC...6.5MPC...6.5MPC...6.5MPC...6.5MPC. not-worthysmilie.gif

Whoa, what happened, where am I? :neener: Looks to be a great cartridge design, that unfortunately died before it had a chance to prove itself...so for availability and performance I like the 6.5G.
 
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