16” 6.5 Creedmoor barrel worth it?

[markm]

You could design an all new casing, and scale up the dimensions of the AR15 where it needs it to avoid the magazine/feeding/bolt breakage issues of 6mm ARC.

Exactly. Short of some miraculous idea, you can't get a the desired performance from the AR-15 dimensions. It almost certainly has to be a new receiver/magazine/bolt group.

[Hammer_Man]

Exactly. Short of some miraculous idea, you can't get a the desired performance from the AR-15 dimensions. It almost certainly has to be a new receiver/magazine/bolt group.

Personally I think this would have been a better direction than the XM5 program.

[drtywk]

Agreed, but in the long run it would be better to start with a clean sheet of paper. I think a smallish semi auto 6mm/6.5mm/6.8mm cartridge/weapon is an excellent concept on paper. However trying to retrofit said cartridge into a platform designed for 5.56 NATO, using a Russian case isn’t the best way of going about it. You could design an all new casing, and scale up the dimensions of the AR15 where it needs it to avoid the magazine/feeding/bolt breakage issues of 6mm ARC.

How much time do you have behind a 6ARC?

[Hammer_Man]

How much time do you have behind a 6ARC?

To be honest zero.

Moving along: I picked up my receivers this weekend, and I must say I’m very impressed with Stag. The lower is supposed to be a blem, but I can’t find anything wrong with it. The fit and finish is superb as far as I’m concerned. I suspect they are produced by Aero, as the address they shipped from is on the same street as Aero Precision In Washington state, but Stag is headquartered in Wyoming. This is not a complaint, as I feel Aero is a supplier of top notch receivers. I chose the Stag 10 receivers because I wanted a set of receivers that were forged, and featured the SR25/Armalite cut at the rear. These have a very tight fit between the upper and lower, and the machining is flawless. I couldn’t be happier, I think I found my new favorite large frame receiver set. Not to mention they came with takedown pins/detents, and were way less expensive than the Mega/Zev billet sets I’ve used on past AR10 builds. I partially assembled the lower with the supplied Stag takedown pins, and a mix of LMT/Colt/Forward Controls parts, and a Geissele SSA-E trigger. The buffer tube is LMT 308, with an Armalite AR10 spring, and Colt H3 buffer. The rest of the parts will have to wait until funds are available.

[turnburglar]

Here's an update for the thread.

Varget and 6.5 CM do seem to play well together. I tried a 95gr vmax and 123gr BTHP from nosler. In my opinion something like a 108gr scenar would probably be the OP bullet for the 16" creed moor. However the 95gr still had excellent performance for what it is. It was very flat shooting and soft recoil, I just didn't like how much wind I had to hold for on the longer range targets. The numbers where as follows.


Wilson Combat 16" 6.5 CM 1/8 Twist

95gr Vmax: 3100 FPS

123gr BTHP: 2775 FPS

140 ELDM: 2575 FPS

Over all I am very pleased with my 16" CM ballistic performance considering it smokes anything in 308 at any barrel length. And at the end of the day it is still a very handy gun even with a can. If I knew I would never ever put a can on it I might go back to 18" just for the softer gas system and to pick up 50 FPS.

[gaijin]

I've run RL16 in my 6.5 gas gun, no adjustable gas, with no issues.
RL16 is temperature stable in my tests; from 16 to 105 degrees.

[Hammer_Man]

Here's an update for the thread.

Varget and 6.5 CM do seem to play well together. I tried a 95gr vmax and 123gr BTHP from nosler. In my opinion something like a 108gr scenar would probably be the OP bullet for the 16" creed moor. However the 95gr still had excellent performance for what it is. It was very flat shooting and soft recoil, I just didn't like how much wind I had to hold for on the longer range targets. The numbers where as follows.


Wilson Combat 16" 6.5 CM 1/8 Twist

95gr Vmax: 3100 FPS

123gr BTHP: 2775 FPS

140 ELDM: 2575 FPS

Over all I am very pleased with my 16" CM ballistic performance considering it smokes anything in 308 at any barrel length. And at the end of the day it is still a very handy gun even with a can. If I knew I would never ever put a can on it I might go back to 18" just for the softer gas system and to pick up 50 FPS.

Are you running the 16” Recon profile barrel, or the fluted 16” Paul Howe barrel profile barrel? I’ve been looking really hard at those two. Also been looking at Rainier’s 18” fluted Ultra Match.

[dmd08]

Are you running the 16” Recon profile barrel, or the fluted 16” Paul Howe barrel profile barrel? I’ve been looking really hard at those two. Also been looking at Rainier’s 18” fluted Ultra Match.

I just finished assembling a 6.5 last night. I tried to use a Rainier Ultramatch but the first one they sent me would not accept a TBAC muzzle device due to thread issues and the second one they sent wouldn't fit into my upper receiver due to a deformed indexing pin/barrel extension. They returned both without issue but I went elsewhere for a barrel. Maybe you'll have better luck than me.

[Hammer_Man]

I just finished assembling a 6.5 last night. I tried to use a Rainier Ultramatch but the first one they sent me would not accept a TBAC muzzle device due to thread issues and the second one they sent wouldn't fit into my upper receiver due to a deformed indexing pin/barrel extension. They returned both without issue but I went elsewhere for a barrel. Maybe you'll have better luck than me.

That’s good to know. I’ve never used their barrels before, so it’s good to have real feedback.

[Hammer_Man]

Time for an update. Today the Fed-Ex truck delivered a 16” Criterion barrel chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor, and a JP 308 bcg with high pressure bolt. I’m waiting on a B5 SOPMOD, SLR adjustable gas block, PRI Gas Buster, PRI handguard, PRI carbine length top rail, and a Dead Air brake. Parts were ordered from Optics Planet, with the handguard and muzzle brake back ordered till mid March. My goal is to build a MK12 mod-H chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor. Im getting really excited about this project.