16" 6.8 SPC barrel?

[greg vess]

You really don't pick up any ballistic advantage with longer barrels with the 6.8 cartridge. I have a 14.5 and 16. The cartridge was created with a short barrel in mind. Remington and special forces were involved. Remington didn't do a very good job with the chamber hence the spcII. This spec chamber really made the round a viable option. I think that 18 inches is the cut off limit for ballistic advantage. Really there is not much of a gain between the 16 and 18 so 16 with a 1/11 twist will give you all that can be had with the 6.8 caliber. I love the round and I don't see a lot of gain between the 14.5 and 16 with my reloads so build or order away.

 

[lostgeorge75]

My got-to deer rifle had a 12" 6.8 barrel and I killed deer out to 150 yards. SSA combat load 85 grain TSX would push out the barrel around 3000 FPS. 16" is plenty.

 

[greg vess]

Now that is with the same ammo with the same projectile and powder. I am working on different combos to see if I can gain a little more out of the 16 inch barrel. My 16 inch barrel is a ARP who carry very good 6.8 barrels. ARP and Bison Armory are known in the 6.8 circles as go to barrel options. My 14.5 is a Wilson Combat. I had a 18 inch Wilson Combat and it was a tack driver with hand loads. Either one of these barrel vendors are good choices.

 

[Ronaldo Crespin]

I've been ogling Bison Armory for a couple of months, does their black color hold up on that stainless?

 

[greg vess]

I have never tried the Bison Armory. I can tell you that the melonite treatment on the ARP barrels holds up great. I would imagine that Bison Armory would as well since they are regarded as a stand up 6.8 barrel provider. I have read a lot of great things about them. I have aquired two of my barrels that were new but were sold by an idividual. Both of those were ARP it's stamped into the barrel. I got a hell of a deal on those. So far I have built six 6.8's, two Wilson Combat barrels and 4 ARP. I probably would have tried Bison out if it weren't for getting two ARP barrels for a song and a dance. I don't have a problem with saying you will be satisfied with Bison. If there would happen to be problem with a barrel from them it would be a fluke occurrence and they would make good on it. I have just heard to many good reviews about them to say anything bad about them.

I do know that ARP stands behind their products 100%. Any defective parts or barrels they don't mess around. They either refund or replace the barrel. Since Bison are direct competitors with ARP I can't see why they wouldn't offer the same system.

 

[SpeedyR]

what powder are folks using in the 6.8 these days? I've got a bunch of Nosler 110 and 115gr bullets I need to work up a load for... and maybe some 95gr TNT's or something?

 

[Ronaldo Crespin]

Just copied this from the Nosler website:

TECHNICAL INFORMATION:
The 6.8 Remington Special Purpose Cartridge was designed by Remington Arms and the USAMU & USSOC as a replacement for the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge in AR/M-16 rifles. Developed from the 30 Remington rimless cartridge case shortened to function at 2.260” with a .277” diameter bullet, the performance is between the 5.56 and 7.62 NATO rounds. Nosler has developed a line of 6.8 bullets to take maximum advantage of the cartridge’s potential from targets to hunting medium game. While there are other variants of the cartridge developed by custom rifle makers, our load data is for the SAAMI standard 6.8 SPC cartridge. IMR3031 and H322 powders provide excellent performance with all bullet weights.

 

[Ronaldo Crespin]

I have never tried the Bison Armory. I can tell you that the melonite treatment on the ARP barrels holds up great. I would imagine that Bison Armory would as well since they are regarded as a stand up 6.8 barrel provider. I have read a lot of great things about them. I have aquired two of my barrels that were new but were sold by an idividual. Both of those were ARP it's stamped into the barrel. I got a hell of a deal on those. So far I have built six 6.8's, two Wilson Combat barrels and 4 ARP. I probably would have tried Bison out if it weren't for getting two ARP barrels for a song and a dance. I don't have a problem with saying you will be satisfied with Bison. If there would happen to be problem with a barrel from them it would be a fluke occurrence and they would make good on it. I have just heard to many good reviews about them to say anything bad about them.

I do know that ARP stands behind their products 100%. Any defective parts or barrels they don't mess around. They either refund or replace the barrel. Since Bison are direct competitors with ARP I can't see why they wouldn't offer the same system.

Who is ARP? I could not find a company under those initials.

 

[greg vess]

AR15 Performance. He is a small outfit but he is the authority on the 6.8 platform. He will pop up on AR15performance.com. You will know you have the right sight when you see a big AR15 in light blue and Performance in red below the AR15. You will know you are there then.

 

[greg vess]

http://ar15performance.com/