Is a 6.8 spc worth it?

[scottryan]

D&H magazines are not up to the same standards as Okay, New Haven, Colt mags.

[tirod]

And some people think Colt builds junk. For a 6.8, a $25 mag for hunting does just fine.

D&H is issue, plenty of users seek them out deliberately. I'll worry about it if one actually gives me trouble. Right now, Cproducts isn't the prime candidate in 6.8, and look like they may lose some market share.

If I wanted good 5.56 mags, I'd use Pmags, not a GI.

[rob_s]

You keep coming back to this "for hunting". That's it? and that's the cop-out answer everytime a potential issue with the caliber is brought up is that "oh well it's good enough for hunting"?

Don't get me wrong, I like shooting pigs with my AR, and would be into shooting other food-critters with it too if the opportunity presented itself, but frankly for the dedicated hunter I don't get the AR-as-hunting-rifle thing, and in some ways I think that niche has been detrimental to the 6.8 as a whole. Much like the light geeks have been detrimental to the "tactical light" market. 6.8 makers keep responding to the squeakiest wheel, which is the "hunting" community and so things like load development keep going that way to appeal to that market. The ammo makers would rather address a known, if tiny, market than try to churn out some cheap training ammo and expand their market.

and, like it or not, this is why 300 BLK is likely to succeed where the 6.8 hasn't. Less parts to change, cheaper ammo, wider variety of applications within the limits of where most users operate. I don't mean to get too much into a comparison between the two, but the 30BLK (at least on paper) makes exponentially more sense for all but a very few 6.8 shooters, and potential shooters.

Imagine, if you will, an ACR-type rifle with barrel changes that quick, and with the negatives of that platform addressed, where one can go from 5.56 for training and plinking to 300BLK for uses where heavier bullets are beneficial. Christ you could have an integrally suppressed barrel for the thing and change it out in a matter of seconds.

IMHO the 6.8, generally speaking, is a niche caliber gone bad, set on a false start, and then railroaded by a niche market. Which is fine. I don't have to own one (even though I do), and I bear it no ill-will or those that worship at it's alter. I see the 6.8 crowd and the 6.5 crowd as Sunni and Shi'ite: both part of a screwball religion that I'm happy to see fight with each other as I don't really care about either one and the more time they spend fighting with each other the less I have to hear from either.

ETA:
that said, and as posted earlier, if I were a cop and could get authorized for it, I would already own two identical guns: one in 5.56 for training and one n 6.8 for work. I see a definite application for more energy downrange along with a higher volume and rate of fire potential given that application. but I'd still be watching the development of the 300BLK REAL close with an eye towards replacing the 6.8 in a year or so if the 300BLK works the kinks out and load development lives up to the promise.

[scottryan]

And some people think Colt builds junk. For a 6.8, a $25 mag for hunting does just fine.

D&H is issue, plenty of users seek them out deliberately. I'll worry about it if one actually gives me trouble. Right now, Cproducts isn't the prime candidate in 6.8, and look like they may lose some market share.

If I wanted good 5.56 mags, I'd use Pmags, not a GI.

DH mags have sloppy welds and bends and are not made to the same level as OEM Okay, New Haven, and Colt.

[Artos]

You keep coming back to this "for hunting". That's it? and that's the cop-out answer everytime a potential issue with the caliber is brought up is that "oh well it's good enough for hunting"?

Don't get me wrong, I like shooting pigs with my AR, and would be into shooting other food-critters with it too if the opportunity presented itself, but frankly for the dedicated hunter I don't get the AR-as-hunting-rifle thing, and in some ways I think that niche has been detrimental to the 6.8 as a whole. Much like the light geeks have been detrimental to the "tactical light" market. 6.8 makers keep responding to the squeakiest wheel, which is the "hunting" community and so things like load development keep going that way to appeal to that market. The ammo makers would rather address a known, if tiny, market than try to churn out some cheap training ammo and expand their market.

and, like it or not, this is why 300 BLK is likely to succeed where the 6.8 hasn't.

I lost three hogs with the 75gr 5.56 this last friday...hits felt good but they are tough critters and really hard to head shoot in a large group as they scurry quite a bit when competing for the chum. Now this was done under moonlite and distance was about 200yds. Shooting suppressed so the thud and squeels confirmed hits. Our brush is too thick to go chase them and we have orders to shoot on site anyway. I just wanna see the critter dead & try to get pics.

I'm the geek wanting the 12.5" sbr 6.8 for hunting...not saying I would not use it as my primary rifle for protection as well, but I 'get' where you are going when we mention hunting on M4. I understand it's a combat site but I can take some of this over to my even darker side.

Now we hunters have the 300blk to consider but my gut tells me the 6.8 is the way to go since I think it is flatter out to 300-350 with the shorter bbls but need to study this more.

I think the AR suppressed SBR combines the best of what I need in a weapon for the conditions I hunt pigs in. The AR-10 is just too big and heavy & minimal recoil is a must when the scattering starts. Another plus for the 6.8 over the 300 BLK??

I'll continue with the 5.56 until I can figure all this out...plus, there are no funds for another can & upper anyway. Sorry my hunting applications keep getting tossed into the mix on many of these threads but this is the only AR site I visit. The others make my head hurt.

[Frank Castle]

Rob- Why do you feel the need to contribute to a thread in which you have no first hand knowledge? You should have stopped at post #8. Get back to us after you make the time to get to the range with your 6.8 upper/ammo and subjectively evaluate the benefits/limitations of this platform and ammunition.

[Nick M]

You keep coming back to this "for hunting". That's it?

What else is there? People or animals. Paper? That isn't a part of the topic. It is superior to the green tip.

I think that niche has been detrimental to the 6.8 as a whole.

Niche? The 6.8 is the number 2 caliber of the AR now. And mostly from the hog hunters from what I see.

Thankfully, I made my decision with a lot of simple research. Bogus claims like expensive ammo, mags, nobody buys it, can easily be checked and shown to be false. It is now the number 2 AR cartridge for a good reason. These arguments remind me of some car magazines back in the mid 80's declaring performance and hot rodding was over because fuel injection came in. Not only are they wrong, the opposite is ture.

I will take my 110 gr TSX at 2630 over 62 gr at 2800 no questions asked. Or for the subborn, an 85 gr TSX at 3000 feet per second compared to the smaller and slower greent tip.

[TXBob]

is it the #2? I would have guessed it would be 308, but it would be just that, a guess.

Where does that number come from (I'm not doubting you, I'd really like to see a breakdown).

[M16MANIAC]

6.8 is not for everyone!

For me it is worth it due to the fact that I cannot use 22 cal guns for hunting unless it's for small game (state laws).
I use my 6.8 for hog and deer hunting. The AR is my favorite gun and as others have stated some of us must use an AR

It is not a plinking gun unless you have $ to burn, which I don't.

[BradL45]

6.8 is my go to Predator weapon, and it doesn't matter how many legs they have either.

85gr Barnes TSX has been a great load for me, and I'll switch modes now with the 95gr TTSX load. Wilson combat is now loading the 95 TTSX to Spec II pressure:

http://shopwilsoncombat.com/68-SPC-9...o/A68-95-TTSX/
I might get 2900fps out of that load in my 18 inch ARP barrel !!!!!!!! Me thinks that's a big step up from any 5.56 load, and my 6.8 is MUCH lighter than an AR-10T.

I'm glad we can have more than one rifle, out with friends blasting with a 5.56 AR is priceless(in the field, or 3 gunning it), putting the sneak on the Jack rabbets with a 10/22, that will never get old. Dropping the hammer on P-dogs in Wyoming where the wind always blows with an Heavy AR-10, pretty cool. I might try a 6.5G for paper punching, and p-dogs in the future. I'm also having a blast with the 300 Blackout, and have bagged many yotes with it, but even with a 125 BT, it's not 85gr Barnes TSX material in a 6.8, the 6.8 is good medicine for Predators.

Maybe in the future we'll see Higher BC bullets, GS and Elite are looking promising, and the new coated gun powders should yield more fps in the future.

It's funny though, I have lots more 5.56's than 6.8's in the safe,lol, and it's likely to stay that way, 5.56 ROCKs too.