What 6.8mm Bullet?

[Oberg]

Hey guys I am buying a 6.8mm upper for my AR here in two weeks and was wondering if any of you have one and what do you load in it. I was thinking for just shooting any 110 or so SP will work but I will be using it for whitetail and was thinking about using Hornady 110 gr v-max. What do you guys think about this? Any info on handloading the 6.8mm would be helpful. Thanks

[snuffy]

Not knowing the twist, just about any .270 bullet could be used. I'd say that the v-max bullet is way too frangible/fragile for use for hunting. It would more than likely result in a wounded deer.

I'd probably go with a 130 interbond/interlock for hunting.

[zoomie]

I don't think you can get a 130 in the OAL required for the AR mag. It'd be the absolute max if you can.

[hodaka]

You will find the 6.8 a very easy round to reload. Brass lasts forever. Buy Silver State (I think is the name) brass. My 16 inch carbine likes 110 Sierra ProHunters, 115 Sierra Match bullets and 110 Hornady Vmax with 28gr of H322.

[Oberg]

the twist is 1:10 and i believe it can't stabalize a 130 gr bullet

[Jason280]

Barrel twist rates range from 1/10 to 1/11", and both will stabilize 130gr bullets. If you are looking for a good deer bullet, consider the 110gr Sierra ProHunter, the 115gr Barnes, and the 115gr Remington bonded bullets. All are superb for whitetails, and will function well at 6.8 velocities.

If you want info on loading, look no further than www.68forums.com . It is the perfect 6.8SPC site, and you should be able to find all you need to know.

If you are looking for some bullets to simply load and shoot, send me an email. I have close to 2k of various 6.8/.277 cal bullets, ranging from 100gr Speer HP's and 100gr Hornady SP's to 115gr Sierra BTHP's.

As far as ammo and brass goes, SSA is pretty much the best out there.

[email protected]

[Jason280]

Zoomie,

The issue isn't getting a 130gr bullet into the correct OAL, its just that doing so uses up valuable case capacity. I shoot a 6.8 out of a carbine length T/C Contender, so OAL isn't as critical (as I am not limited by a magazine).

[Oberg]

Thanks jason280 for the knowledge, but tell me what you think of the 6.8mm and what you like and dislike about it

[Jason280]

There's quite a bit I like about the cartridge. Number one, recoil is very manageable, and can easily be handled by younger shooters and women alike. Two, its a .277 caliber cartridge, which means there will never be a shortage of bullets to load (if you reload). Three, the brass, specifically the SSA stuff, is very strong stuff and will last quite a few loadings when properly sized. Four, what's not to like about a cartridge that will work out of an AR platform??

As far as what's not to like, there is only one thing in particular. Brass is not consistent across brands. For example, Hornady brass uses small rifle primers, while SSA uses large rifle primers. This is really no issue, though, if you use only one brand of brass.

[hodaka]

The SSA brass I have is for a small primer. I have some Remington brass with large primer pockets.

[steve4102]

I am buying a 6.8mm upper for my AR here in two weeks

What chamber dimensions are you going to be using? Here is a quote from another site concerning the 6.8 chamber dimensions.




Remingtons chamber drawings had sharp land shoulders & put the lands too close to the bullet. The result was too much pressure, so they downgraded the ammo from 2800 fps to 2650 fps, loosing @ 250 ft lbs of energy. Silver State Armory designed/redisigned a reamer that cuts the lands back & angles them like the original design. the reamer is made by Pacific Tool in White City, Oregon and is available for about $80. In talking with Pacific tool I found that Shaw barrels has changed over all their 6.8 spc barrels to the new SSA reamer design & Pacific Tool has supplied the reamers. Shaw makes a good percentage of all AR barrels for a lot of the major AR makers. Pacific also told me that it would be possible to cut the chamber with th reamer while the barrel is still in the receiver, that may or may not be the case, but in any event you are not changing the headspace or shoulder (like an ackley) just the throat land area. SSA has a combat load that they only recommend shooting in a re-reamed barrel that is pretty close to 2700 - 2750 fps out of an AR, depending on barrel length. Cardinal Armory has taken it a bit further and has reduced the twist rate and taken one of the lands out of the barrel for less resistance, they are getting about what Remington claimed at first 2800 fps, but out of 16-18" barrels with handloads! That's with 115 grain bullets. Using 90 grainers is putting it around 2900-2950 fps if I remember correctly.