Comprehensive list of current AR15 makers who offer 6.8 and 6.5G

[Unlicensed Dremel]

So can anyone give me/us a list of all companies which currenly offer a complete rifle, or at least a complete upper receiver assembly, in 6.8 spc and/or 6.5 grendel?

Preferably also listing the configs available.

What's the best-value middy in a good quality rifle in 6.8 spc, with a light or medium-light 16" barrel?

Thanks.

[tahunua001]

for the next 24 hours palmetto state armory has a 6.8 AR15 for $600.

Double Star and Alexander Arms both have 6.5 grendel.

seems like everyone and their dogs makes a 6.8, I believe S&W, Remington/DPMS/Bushmaster make them. no telling how many are still out there.


I believe both calibers can be had from build-it-yourself companies like model 1 sales.

I have the grendel from doublestar, probably your most affordable option and very well made.

[jehu]

LWRC makes it but it an't cheap. It's top of the line though!

[tirod]

The LWRC is not AR15 milspec and uses their proprietary larger magazine made by Magpul. That is considered a good thing - but - the difference locks you into that system.

Some complain they can't reload out to a certain spec with metal mags in standard lowers. The counterpoint is that it's an incremental difference that costs a lot of money for a small return. Most ammo sold is SAMMI spec and with 50% more power than 5.56 many don't need to gild the lily.

LWRC made them that way because it was a contract requirement by the government who specified it - they didn't want mags interchangeable among guns used by their soldiers. Tends to mess them up.

List of 6.8 makers: http://68forums.com/forums/showthrea...8-Rifle-Makers

It should be pointed out that looking for both 6.8 and 6.5 communicates that the purpose of the gun - if singular - isn't focused to a specific range and target. The cartridges were designed for diametrically opposite purposes, one as a higher power substitute for the service round in NFA barrels, the other as a long range precision competition round.

So, what target is the gun going to be used for 85% of the time, and at what ranges? It makes a difference.

[marine6680]

I been thinking about a 6.8, but not sure.


Is the 6.8 considered a decently accurate cartridge?

I know more about it when it comes to building and parts than 6.5, and I ain't after a 1000yd rifle anyway. Just good accuracy out to a few hundred yards max.

[tahunua001]

well they're both a bit of a compromise cartridge. military/AR shooters wanted a cartridge that had more OOMPH than 5.56 but didn't want all the ballistic drawbacks of 300 BLK or 7.62x39 so one company made the 6.8SPC which does better at packing a punch due to it's slightly larger diameter projectiles that carry more weight while 6.5 grendel in general has a better ballistic coefficient and maintains more accuracy and more of it's initial energy over long range. for my purposes I chose the 6.5 grendel. it'll serve well as a hunting rifle, target rifle, varminter, home defense(if need be but I have others for that purpose), and truck gun(again, other guns already for that purpose). neither of these cartridges are what I would want to take to a 1000 yard match but if it were a 500 yard match, long range type hunting, I would rather have the 6.5 grendel.

[jehu]

No piston AR is military spec and LWRC partnered with Magpul to make a propritory 6.8 mag because the converted 5.56 mags were not dependable and the large military contract they got for the 6.8 demanded it. The two LWRC AR style 6.8's that I have, one a pistol & one a rifle, were before the mag change and use the 5.56 mags with a different follower.

[Wyosmith]

This is a group I shot about 9 years ago (shortly before my vision started to go south)
It would be good if I'd have done it with a scope. But I shot this with a 20" AR in 6.8SPC with iron sights. I kept the target because it's the very best 100 yard group I ever shot with irons. Kind of a personal "trophy" to me.

I was zeroing in a set of sights and I had a 10 round mag. My friend Bob E. was spotting for me.
I shot low and right and he’d call out dope to me. It took me 6 rounds to get on the square and the first close hit can be seen at the lower right corner. Bob said “come up one click and left one click and shoot me a group”. I did and this is what the rifle gave me.


But the reason I am showing it here is to answer marine 6680. I wanted to illustrate the capabilities of a good AR in 6.8 from a standpoint of accuracy. Such a group is not all that noteworthy if you have a well made AR with a good barrel. Mine is free floated and I have a very good match trigger in the rifle. I did the work myself. I made the barrel from a McGowen blank with a 1-10 twist.
A good trigger is necessary to maintain control well enough to prove the accuracy of the rifle (At least it is for me)


As far as how effective it is for killing game, here is a pic of a deer hanging in my shop and my fist in the picture for scale to show a typical wound channel.

[Unlicensed Dremel]

OK, let's try this... how about a comprehensive list of makers of 16" MIDDY 6.8s or 6.5s?

It would be good if I'd have done it with a scope. But I shot this with a 20" AR in 6.8SPC with iron sights. I kept the target because it's the very best 100 yard group I ever shot with irons. Kind of a personal "trophy" to me

Out-freakin-standing.

[arizona98tj]

http://www.precisionfirearms.com does 6.5 Grendels, among others, but they are not cheap.

[Unlicensed Dremel]

Those Precisions look good; thanks.

[globemaster3]

Olympic Arms also makes 6.8 rifles and uppers. The thread in the link is missing them as well.

In my safe is a factory-modified K68 upper using a railed block and free float tube on a Del Ton lower that has been 100% reliable and my 18yo took 3 deer with it thus far.

I also have some of their K16 rifles in 6.8. Still working on dressing them out with optics before taking them to the range. Fit/finish looks fine on them.

[jeager106]

I have a Stag 6.8 with 20" tube & like it.
It gives me 1.25 inch at my 125 yd back woods range. Certainly adequate.
I've done little in the way of reloading for accuracy & performance to date.
I did take one button buck using factory 110 b-tips.
The deer was facing away at about 120 paces so I took a head shot & connected. The bullet is rather explosive & removed the critters head.
It will perform on deer & wild hog sized game
I've read excellent reports of the 6.8 doing well on wild hogs using
Barnes bullets.

[saitek]

rockriver has several different configurations available including mid length 16 " http://www.rockriverarms.com/index.c...ategory_id=246 but i find the components hard to find for reloading .i was trying tio find some brass for a fellow shooter and man what a bear cat to find ,everyb body was out of once fired brass,finally found some in louseanna .

[marine6680]

Looking at a 6.8 right now myself...

But looking around makes me feel that 6.8 has dropped to the side since 300 blk has become popular.

[dean1818]

Both of the 6.8 and 300blk are good cartridges

If you plan to hunt, and your shots are within 150 yards, both will do the job.

If you plan to hunt to 250 to 300 yards the 6.8 starts to run away from the 300 blk by a margin.

If you don't reload, bullets will cost you .90 to 1.50 for both

I chose the 6.8, and use a Hornady SST 120g that is devastating on Pigs.

There are a few threads on 6.8 forums where people are running this bullet to 400 yards and it is still expanded.

Good luck on your choice! They all are good

[Double Naught Spy]

well they're both a bit of a compromise cartridge. military/AR shooters wanted a cartridge that had more OOMPH than 5.56 but didn't want all the ballistic drawbacks of 300 BLK or 7.62x39 so one company made the 6.8SPC which does better at packing a punch due to it's slightly larger diameter projectiles that carry more weight while 6.5 grendel in general has a better ballistic coefficient and maintains more accuracy and more of it's initial energy over long range. for my purposes I chose the 6.5 grendel. it'll serve well as a hunting rifle, target rifle, varminter, home defense(if need be but I have others for that purpose), and truck gun(again, other guns already for that purpose). neither of these cartridges are what I would want to take to a 1000 yard match but if it were a 500 yard match, long range type hunting, I would rather have the 6.5 grendel.

Well, every cartridge is a compromise, LOL. You left out one additional factor of the Grendel. It has a higher sectional density. I, too, have a Grendel and think it is an outstanding cartridge, but in the grand scheme, the differences between it and 6.8 are minimal.

[Unlicensed Dremel]

So the Alexander Arms website doesn't even SAY what gas system is used on their 16" Grendel uppers, but they certainly appears to be middys. This is a pathetic epic fail, Alex Arms.

[tirod]

In the early days both were not on any company's radar. The 6.8 was started by an SF soldier with a $5,000 budget and the cooperation of the Army Marksmanship Unit to get a lot more power out of the M4 with the 14.5" barrel. That is specific to the choice of the cartridge brass and bullet used - that proportion of case to bullet imparts a very specific slant to it's performance.

The 6.5 was being wildcatted off the 7.62x39 case because so many long distance shooters had good success with it using 6mm projectiles. The much shorter fatter case allowed enough powder and developed a good flame front behind the much longer bullet. That long bullet gives better sectional density, or, the ability to lose less energy over a longer distance. It's simply a smaller diameter frontal area with enough length to control the aerodynamics and gives it a more efficient shape.

As a case study of how to design a intermediate cartridge, both are great examples because each was biased toward a specific ballistic goal. The 6.8 gains a lot of velocity even in shorter barrels, and that is exactly why it was chosen in the contract specifications for LWRC to make as a PDW - a short barreled carbine for personal protection duty. The 6.5 was designed, shot, and won awards at distances over 500m because the slower powder, and longer barrel could work with the longer bullet and get it out further. Again, they are designed from the brass out to be uniquely different.

And again, it goes to choosing what you want the ammo to do more of - short range hunting or long range precision. They overlap, sure, but it doesn't make them identically interchangeable, and they were never intended to compete directly on the market.

Calculate exactly what range and target the gun is going to be used for and then pick the optimal cartridge. I may shoot 6.8 for deer hunting, but I'm not all that keen on taking it antelope hunting. Those who choose the 6.5 for that are making the better decision. They match the cartridge to the game under the conditions they will have to experience.

"Pretty much the same?" Not so much. It's your choice, fit the right tool to the job.

[Double Naught Spy]

For most hunting, then yeah, they are pretty much the same. The ballistics, velocities, and projectiles are very similar across the board such that there really isn't a major difference. You put the same type of brand/model of bullet into a 6.8 as you do a 6.5 and you will get virtually identical results on your kills with not enough difference or consistency to be able to tell one from another.

It doesn't really matter what the cartridges were originally designed for or if they were meant to compete against one another or not. Design intent and real world application are often worlds apart and just because a given cartridge was designed with a given purpose in mind does not mean it isn't a superior performer in some other area.

[dean1818]

Another thought that you should consider

Look at gunbot for available ammo

The 6.5 has 5 entries in stock

The 6.8 has around 175

If you don't reload, this should be considered