Reloading the 6.8 spc

[brutus51]

Well I went ahead and bought me a beautiful 5.56 AR.
It's a blast to shoot and a lot of fun but it has confirmed my suspicion that AR stands for
Anemic Rifle.
As a result I think I'm going to pop for an 18" SPC upper for it.
Primarily for use as a range toy but it might see some white tail hunting next season.
Been doing a lot of research on it and the 6.5 Grendal and have kind of settled on the 6.8.
One thing that caught my attention is that 6.8 or 6.5 ammo ain't cheap.
Just like the 9mm punybellum the 5.56 anemic is unworthy of my reloading efforts.
The 6.8 on the other hand appears to be right up my alley. Damn this thing is costing me money.
At any rate I'd appreciate suggestions on bullets, brass and powders.

 

[horsemen61]

110 grain accubonds for a bullet

 

[Charlie98]

I'm on the fence right now about the 6.5 vs 6.8 cartridge for my next AR build. I'm leaning to the 6.8, but I can't tell you why... maybe because I'm so tired of hearing how great the 6.5mm cartridges are.

I use H335 for my AR loads, it looks like that might be a decent powder as well in the 6.8mm, it's tied for velocity with IMR8208XBR...

 

[badkarmamib]

All of my research seems to point to Accurate 2200 as THE powder for 6.8, if you can find it. Sierra 110 seem to be hard to get to expansion velocity. 120 SST looks promising, IF coupled with the 2200 powder.

 

[WestKentucky]

Single loading 130gr ballistic tips I’m smacking a 12” steel at 500 yards very consistently. I just wish the 130s would fit in a mag. The 110s I’m getting decent accuracy but not anywhere near what the 130s do.

 

[brasscollector]

I used RL10X and some 110gr vmaxs and had excellent accuracy. Haven't ran them over the chrono yet. It's been quite a while since I warmed that one up too..

 

[falmike]

Accurate 2200 and 120 grain SSTs.

Kills hogs dead! Might not expand fully on deer.

Tons of info here: https://68forums.com/forums/index.php#/

Best wishes

Mike

 

[captain awesome]

I am fond of my load of 130 soft points and alliant 1200r. I have taken it to 600 yards and hit an 18 inch gong at that distance with no trouble. This is with a Ruger SR556 6.8 original chamber, not "spc ii" terrific rifle btw.
And I havent had trouble fitting them in mags.

 

[brutus51]

Who's 130gr, bullet may I ask?

 

[<*(((><]

Buy Sellier & Bellot for the brass it is strong, has great volume and lasts.

Powder: Accurate 2200, Reloader 10x, H322

Bullets: Speer 90gr Gold Dots, Barnes 95gr TTSX, Nosler 110gr Accubond, Hornady 120 SST

Primers: CCI 450, CCI 41’s

Barrels: AR15 Performance with matched bolt (probably the best thing you can do is buy one of Harrison’s barrels), Bison Armory is another great 6.8 barrel.

 

[captain awesome]

Who's 130gr, bullet may I ask?

Hornady. But lately I have been using some mystery bullets (also 130s that appear the same and shoot the same as the Hornadys) from reloading valley I bought a year or so ago.

I also want to note that reloadingvalley.com seems to have gone out of business, and apparently upset a bunch of people in the process. Shame, they had terrific prices on some great stuff.

 

[brutus51]

Went ahead and ordered a 6.8 upper for my AR15. All of my research has indicated that 115gr. bullets are about the maximum in length for a SPC on an AR15 platform. The one exception is the 120gr. Hornady that has a short ogive. Reason given is the mags are to short for the longer bullets. I've read LMT makes a lower with a longer mag well that excepts longer Magpul magazines. All I can say is Huh?
Have to ask what's the barrel length of your Ruger and what kind of velocities are you getting with the 130 grainers?

 

[dh1633pm]

I don't have an AR because of the safe act. I do have a Ruger Mini has an 18 inch barrel. I don't reload much for it since I purchased a case of Remington match ammo from a friend that works at the arms. The Ruger has the full ASI treatment. I can't answer your AR questions, but I did load up a bunch of 6.8 with AA2231 with good results with 110 grain bullets. Keep posting your experience, its good readying. Which upper did you get?

 

[pert near]

Buy Sellier & Bellot for the brass it is strong, has great volume and lasts.

Powder: Accurate 2200, Reloader 10x, H322

Bullets: Speer 90gr Gold Dots, Barnes 95gr TTSX, Nosler 110gr Accubond, Hornady 120 SST

Primers: CCI 450, CCI 41’s

Barrels: AR15 Performance with matched bolt (probably the best thing you can do is buy one of Harrison’s barrels), Bison Armory is another great 6.8 barrel.

Excellent advice from the "fish" matching my experience with the 6.8. If I might add:

• S&B brass is the best but hard to find. Buy factory S&B ammo & pull bullets or shoot it up. Loaded S&B ammo can often be found at discounted prices/sales. I've also had good luck with Starline, but S&B is preferred.
• For powders, if you want to shoot 130gr bullets add AR-Comp to the list.
• Bullets for deer, add 115gr Gold Dots & note that the 120gr SST tends to be overly destructive.
• Primers cup thickness is important to the 6.8. Only use primers with a cup thickness of .025. I'd stick with CCI450's
• For barrels AR15 Performance is the only barrel to consider.

 

[brutus51]

Decided to stick with an upper from the original AR manufacture, which is Daniel defense, 18" 1-11 twist barrel.

 

[gojones]

The 68forum is the goto site for this caliber. Make sure your rifle chamber is the spc II as the spc has a shorter chamber. Lot of info there about this. From what I have seen the standard load seems to be the Nosler 110 AB and 28.8 grains of Accurate 2200. Other load variations but lots of test backing up this particular load. Again, become a member of the 68forum and ask questions. Lots of expertise and helpful people. Also your barrel twist will dictate which range of bullets work best. Mine is 1-10" twist so this weight bullet works fine for me, 90-120 grain is a good range in my gun. I am learning like many others but this rifle really intrigues me.