What Happened to the 6.5 MPC?

Tucker 1371 · August 2, 2014, 06:26 PM

Does anyone even remember hearing about this round? On paper it looked great compared to 5.56 and 6.8. Would've loved to have had it in an AR, especially now that I reload. Here's a link to a page describing it if you've never heard. 95 grain projectile out of a 12" bbl at 2800 fps sounds pretty dang hard to beat of you ask me. Combine that with no need to change anything but the barrel, sounded like a real winner.

http://sskindustries.com/6-5-mpc/

My guess it maybe it didn't live up to the numbers advertised OR it was overshadowed by the publicity the 6.8 SPC and 6.5 Grendel received.

trg42wraglefragle · August 4, 2014, 06:06 PM

I guess there is only so many cartridges you can make for an AR15 before some start becoming redundant, so eventually die off.

It was good on paper, but perhaps in the real world most folk were quite happy with 223 and if they wanted to step up would make the jump to 6.8SPC.

There has been quite a few cartridges that were meant to be the bees knees, but upon release never really took off. Hardly hear about 17WSM anymore, which was all the rage not too long ago, but looks like it didn't kill off the 17HMR like it was meant too.

Unlicensed Dremel · August 4, 2014, 06:34 PM

Well I'm sure it WAS overshadowed by 6.5 grendel, and had less performance with the smaller .223 case. It's a good idea, using the same mags and bolt, like the .300 BLK does. The 6x45 has a better following than this one, no?

tirod · August 8, 2014, 11:16 AM

Seems maybe it spiraled into the black hole that many say 6.8 and 6.5 have disappeared into . . . all because .300BO appeared . . .

More likely the market is saturated with 4 different cartridges for the AR15 and there simply isn't enough interest. Three are special purpose applications, no cheap surplus (regardless of the hype and hope,) only one that has some back on the market. For the hole puncher, they are sticking with 5.56 in quantity. If they have a different purpose, likely one of the other three suits.

Another cartridge in a saturated market being ignored - the .30 Remington was in the same situation going up against the .30-30. It gets more interest now as the source of the 6.8 than as an alternative to the lever gun round.

Cartridge history is like that.

Unlicensed Dremel · August 8, 2014, 02:06 PM

Quote:

More likely the market is saturated with 4 different cartridges for the AR15

....in addition to the 37 others that also already existed.

Luv269 · April 3, 2016, 07:54 PM

Mostly very poor to non existent marketing by SSK and JD Jones...also,
the 6.5mm Grendel folks marketed the round much better and gained
general acceptance over time and thus was adopted by SAAMI. Even w/
the drawbacks of the Grendel (fat short case, .445" head diameter, costly
brass, specific mags, and bolts, feeding was not always flawless, etc).

The Grendel does have One main advantage in that it has a 35-36 grain
H2O capacity and it handles the longer and heavier pills better w/ better
velocity...

Our 6.5mm PCC does come very close to the Grendel in most projectile
weights and with the lighter and mid-weight pills and sometimes exceeds
the Grendel with the lighter pills in velocity...Think of the 6.5mm PCC as
the bigger brother to the SSK 6.5mm MPC.

I will be revisiting the 6.5mm MPC round again with our 20" SSK complete
upper, since the original testing was very limited and we did not have the
faster powders on hand for testing at the time...

Below is the original SSK load data sheets for the 6.5mm MPC round for those Interested (I realize this is a older post/thread):

[IMG]

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[IMG]

[/IMG]

Tucker 1371 · April 4, 2016, 09:29 PM

Wow, I posted this a while ago. Since then I've 1.) gained a newfound appreciation of the 5.56 and 2.) Gained an interest in the .25-45 Sharps

In the interest of promoting caliber knowledge, we can keep this one going and discuss the differences in the .300BO, 6.5 MPC, and .25-45 Sharps.

Txhillbilly · April 5, 2016, 03:05 PM

I just built a 6.5 x 6.8 AR-15, just a necked down 6.8 SPC case. I will be shooting 95 - 123 grain bullets out of it. With 100 grain bullets, I should get 2600 - 2700 fps out of it.

August 2, 2014, 06:26 PM	#1
Tucker 1371 Senior Member Join Date: December 29, 2008 Location: East TN Posts: 2,649	What Happened to the 6.5 MPC? Does anyone even remember hearing about this round? On paper it looked great compared to 5.56 and 6.8. Would've loved to have had it in an AR, especially now that I reload. Here's a link to a page describing it if you've never heard. 95 grain projectile out of a 12" bbl at 2800 fps sounds pretty dang hard to beat of you ask me. Combine that with no need to change anything but the barrel, sounded like a real winner. http://sskindustries.com/6-5-mpc/ My guess it maybe it didn't live up to the numbers advertised OR it was overshadowed by the publicity the 6.8 SPC and 6.5 Grendel received. __________________ Sgt. of Marines, 5th Award Expert Rifle, 237/250 Expert Pistol, 382/400. D Co, 4th CEB, Engineers UP!! If you start a thread, be active in it. Don't leave us hanging. OEF 2011 Sangin, Afg. Molon Labe

August 4, 2014, 06:34 PM	#3
Unlicensed Dremel Junior member Join Date: February 13, 2014 Location: Flathead Valley, MT Posts: 2,187	Well I'm sure it WAS overshadowed by 6.5 grendel, and had less performance with the smaller .223 case. It's a good idea, using the same mags and bolt, like the .300 BLK does. The 6x45 has a better following than this one, no? Last edited by Unlicensed Dremel; August 8, 2014 at 02:06 PM.

April 3, 2016, 07:54 PM	#6
Luv269 Junior Member Join Date: August 1, 2014 Posts: 7	Mostly very poor to non existent marketing by SSK and JD Jones...also, the 6.5mm Grendel folks marketed the round much better and gained general acceptance over time and thus was adopted by SAAMI. Even w/ the drawbacks of the Grendel (fat short case, .445" head diameter, costly brass, specific mags, and bolts, feeding was not always flawless, etc). The Grendel does have One main advantage in that it has a 35-36 grain H2O capacity and it handles the longer and heavier pills better w/ better velocity... Our 6.5mm PCC does come very close to the Grendel in most projectile weights and with the lighter and mid-weight pills and sometimes exceeds the Grendel with the lighter pills in velocity...Think of the 6.5mm PCC as the bigger brother to the SSK 6.5mm MPC. I will be revisiting the 6.5mm MPC round again with our 20" SSK complete upper, since the original testing was very limited and we did not have the faster powders on hand for testing at the time... Below is the original SSK load data sheets for the 6.5mm MPC round for those Interested (I realize this is a older post/thread): [IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG]

April 4, 2016, 09:29 PM	#7
Tucker 1371 Senior Member Join Date: December 29, 2008 Location: East TN Posts: 2,649	Wow, I posted this a while ago. Since then I've 1.) gained a newfound appreciation of the 5.56 and 2.) Gained an interest in the .25-45 Sharps In the interest of promoting caliber knowledge, we can keep this one going and discuss the differences in the .300BO, 6.5 MPC, and .25-45 Sharps. __________________ Sgt. of Marines, 5th Award Expert Rifle, 237/250 Expert Pistol, 382/400. D Co, 4th CEB, Engineers UP!! If you start a thread, be active in it. Don't leave us hanging. OEF 2011 Sangin, Afg. Molon Labe

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August 4, 2014, 06:06 PM	#2
trg42wraglefragle Senior Member Join Date: April 21, 2008 Location: new zealand Posts: 856	I guess there is only so many cartridges you can make for an AR15 before some start becoming redundant, so eventually die off. It was good on paper, but perhaps in the real world most folk were quite happy with 223 and if they wanted to step up would make the jump to 6.8SPC. There has been quite a few cartridges that were meant to be the bees knees, but upon release never really took off. Hardly hear about 17WSM anymore, which was all the rage not too long ago, but looks like it didn't kill off the 17HMR like it was meant too.

August 8, 2014, 11:16 AM	#4
tirod Junior member Join Date: January 21, 2009 Posts: 1,672	Seems maybe it spiraled into the black hole that many say 6.8 and 6.5 have disappeared into . . . all because .300BO appeared . . . More likely the market is saturated with 4 different cartridges for the AR15 and there simply isn't enough interest. Three are special purpose applications, no cheap surplus (regardless of the hype and hope,) only one that has some back on the market. For the hole puncher, they are sticking with 5.56 in quantity. If they have a different purpose, likely one of the other three suits. Another cartridge in a saturated market being ignored - the .30 Remington was in the same situation going up against the .30-30. It gets more interest now as the source of the 6.8 than as an alternative to the lever gun round. Cartridge history is like that.

April 5, 2016, 03:05 PM	#8
Txhillbilly Senior Member Join Date: July 5, 2008 Posts: 512	I just built a 6.5 x 6.8 AR-15, just a necked down 6.8 SPC case. I will be shooting 95 - 123 grain bullets out of it. With 100 grain bullets, I should get 2600 - 2700 fps out of it.