Is the 6.8 SPC Dead???



I have two 6.8 ARs that are set up differently, one for deer and one for critters. Both are 16" Bison stainless barrels.

The 95 grain TTSX kills deer quickly with a pass through most of the time. I'm getting 1" groups at 100 yards and right at 2750 fps.

My critter gun shoots the 90 grain Sierra HP, Speer TNT and hand loaded 90 grain Gold Dots at over 2900 fps. All of those 90 bullets shoot less than 1" at 100 yards. I got in on the last Federal Gold Dot ammo sale that PSA was running and will set up this rifle just for them.

I haven't hunted with any of my other rifles since I bought my first 6.8 in 2008.
 
I have a DD Ambush 6.8 I purchased strictly for a deer rifle. It comes out for rifle season only and then back in the safe. It is by far my favorite boxed rifle. As everyone else has posted about the 200 yrd range I agree, but it also shoots very well out to 500 at steel. Just a lot of drop. I think it is a great round that always gets covered up by the hot trend.
 
Jumping onto the obvious bandwagon here - if I had to pick only one AR from my safe for all around performance - hunting, self defense and range time it would be my Noveske 6.8 It has the right amount of distance ballistics, the right amount of recoil, the right availability of ammo (although I reload), and the right knock down power for those critters I hunt - deer, coyotes and the occasional oinker! I am almost 70 so finding a combo of these things in one gun that doesn't beat me to death while shooting or exhaust me while hauling it around is the cat's meow!
 
Jumping on the same bandwagon---I use a 16" Daniel Defense Ambush in 6.8 with Dead Air Sandman L suppressor. With a Flir RS 64 60mm thermal on this unit I have shot 3/4" groups using Hornady 120 gr SST. Pushing 68 years old I find this weight for a walking night gun setup about perfect. The 16" barrel with the knockdown power of the 6.8 is hard to beat.
 
The 6.8 SPC is still tremendously popular with hog hunters for some reason. I think its the lower weight bullets from Barnes they can push fairly fast with a short barrel. I have both a Grendel and 6.8 SPC II and I feel like they both have their place. My 6.8 shoots 110 grain Vmax and accubonds both under and inch. My 20" grendel is slightly more accurate but I still really enjoy the performance I get out of my 6.8 with a handy 16" barrel.
 
I have three .223 uppers and two 6.8 uppers. I use them all for both target shooting and hunting. If I was forced to just choose one for a do everything rifle I would definitely choose the 16" 6.8 hands down with no hesitation.
 
Originally Posted By: wormydog1724So my brother and I started hunting coyote calling contests in Oklahoma about seven years ago. We did alright on the first few then we started noticing the number of coyotes we were losing, with v-max, accutip, JHP, it didn't seem to matter. Losing three in one contest, costing us about $1,500, was the last straw so we started looking for more. Our hunting partner uses a .243 which I think is [beeep] but not in the ar-15 platform.

Then we stumbled upon the 6.8 SPC. He went ARP, I went Bison. Now five years later with well over 100 killed and I can count the number of coyotes we've lost on three toes. There really isn't a better round in the AR-15 platform for the distance that we hunt.

I've used Hornady 110gr V-max, S&B 110gr PTS, SSA/Barnes 95gr TTSX, SSA/Barnes 85gr and 110gr TSX, and even Nosler 110gr Accubond. Really they all performed except a couple of the TSX's that didn't open up, but they still killed the coyote. Now I've been loading Cavity Back Bullets 105gr MKZ to about 2750fps from a 16" barrel. They have been performing great with 15 coyote kills between me and my brother and one bobcat. They just flat out work.

Since I've gotten more into reloading I've looked at the other offerings: 6.5G, 300BLK, 6x6.8, 22x6.8, 224 Valk, 22 Nosler, etc. For me, the 6.8 SPC does it well enough that I really don't need to look any further. No the speed isn't up there with .223, .204, or .22-250. But the energy beats them all except the Grendel. And that's fine. With the Grendels early feeding issues, lack of performance from shorter barrels (which I prefer for the type of hunting we do) and, from what I've seen, the lack of available factory ammo, I still think the 6.8 SPC wins out. Now if you're in wide open country and want to shoot coyotes at 500+, Grendel I guess. And I'm not against that. It's all about using the right tool for the job. A .22LR with iron sights isn't good for 800 yard shots and a .308 with a 24x optic isn't good for 25 yard creek hunting.

I don't know if I'm a bigger Trijicon, 6.8 SPC, or Knights Armament fanboy.

Great testimonial. I working on an 11.3 now for coyotes and the occasional deer hunt. Starting out with the 110 VMAX for coyotes, did it tear them up pretty bad? I'm thinking the 90GR's which will do about 2800 out of the 11.3 would tear them up worse, I'm expecting around 2400 from the 110's.
 
Originally Posted By: Houser in NC

I have two 6.8 ARs that are set up differently, one for deer and one for critters. Both are 16" Bison stainless barrels.

The 95 grain TTSX kills deer quickly with a pass through most of the time. I'm getting 1" groups at 100 yards and right at 2750 fps.

My critter gun shoots the 90 grain Sierra HP, Speer TNT and hand loaded 90 grain Gold Dots at over 2900 fps. All of those 90 bullets shoot less than 1" at 100 yards. I got in on the last Federal Gold Dot ammo sale that PSA was running and will set up this rifle just for them.

I haven't hunted with any of my other rifles since I bought my first 6.8 in 2008.

How's that 90GR TNT on the fur?
 
Back in around 2005 or so I began looking for an alternative to the 5.56 cartridge from an AR platform carbine. Something with .243 Winchester ballistics. I'm a predator hunter, and didn't want the weight of an AR-10, so I'd about settled on a .243 WSSM AR. As I researched the WSSM I realized that hand loading for it would not be as simple as loading for my .243 Winchester bolt action rifles. I came across an article on the new 6.8 SPC and read it with interest. When I got to the ballistics part though, I quickly lost interest. In late 2009, I read an article about the improved 6.8 SPC. Now called the 6.8 SPCII. Now I saw something that I could like, and I decided to dive in. I ordered a 16" recon upper chambered in 6.8 SPCII from Bison Armory. I ordered loaded ammo and brass from Silver State Armory, and was soon enjoying the improved knock down power I was getting from my new and improved AR. Loading data for the SPCII was sketchy at best at the time, so I loaded 90 grain Sierra and Speer 90 grain HP's up to 2750 FPS, which seemed to me to be about as fast as I dared push them. I'd read about guys getting near 3000 FPS with 90 grainers, but I felt like my rifle was about at its limit with its Stag bolt. I tried a few different powders, and finally pushed into the mid 2900's but could never hit that 3000 FPS mark. I could feel the rifle spitting, and primers began to flatten, so I backed off and settled for what I had. As other cartridges began to proliferate for the AR-15 platform, I could see the interest in the 6.8 SPC begin to wane. It was a great cartridge, but the lack of SAAMI approval for the SPCII chamber was killing it. I held out hope as Federal came with their 90 grain Gold Dot load, but it was still not loaded to the SPCII's full potential. As time passed, other cartridges based on the 5.56 case seemed to take its thunder. The 6.8 SPCII is a great cartridge. It gives much improved energy, over the 5.56 / .223, from an AR-15 platform carbine, which is exactly what I was looking for.
I still own my Bison built 6.8 SPCII upper. I mounted it over a RRA lower that I fit with a Timney trigger. I topped the upper with a Leupold 3.5-10X scope mounted in a Larue QD mount. I swapped Bison's free float forearm for a Troy battle rail forearm, that fit my hand better. It remains a fine coyote killing machine. I still have an ample supply of SSA brass, and 90 grain bullets. I know though that the 6.8 SPC will never get the recognition it really deserves as a great cartridge for coyotes, deer, and hogs, but it remains one of the best in its class.

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First coyote taken with the 6.8 SPC 01-10-10
 
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That 90 grain TNT is HARD on fur, IF you hit them too far back. I only have one example to work off of but I had guts bouncing off my foot while dragging it out of the field.
 
My son killed his first deer ever this year, an 8 point buck, with my 6.8SPC using 120 gr SSTs. He’s 6. It’s the right platform for his size and not much recoil. I put it on the tripod and he was able to shoot groups well enough that I trusted him to make a kill shot on a deer. Great versatile round in my opinion, especially for youth shooters or someone needing a lighter recoiling cartridge. He can basically hunt with me now anytime either after deer or coyotes and I’ll let him shoot my 22 Nosler after groundhogs. I’ll see if I can post his target and deer.


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Originally Posted By: LUCKYDOGI haven't bought a 6.8 yet but I'm seriously considering it after I accidently bumped into these guys!

www.68forums.com/forums/

I just got mine built up. I'm getting 2435 FPS from box 110 VMAX out of an 11.3" barrel, from my 10.5" barrel in .223 I was getting the same velocity with a 60gr bullet. That's also loaded for SPC-i so it's has more potential.

I'm going to load up some 90GR TNT's here shortly and I may download them some so they're not granadeing the fur. I should be getting in the neighborhood of 2650 - 2800 with the 90's from a 11.3" BBL.

For reference i'm only going with that short of a barrel to fit within local night hunting regs, but it's a nifty gun in that size being so short and only weighing 6 pounds.

IMO, if you didn't care about having a short barrel i'd get something else. Thats where it really excells against the newer offerings.
 


Got mine from Rock River and ammo from Silver State.
Been shooting it for over 10 years.
Mine is 100 fps slower than a 270 win.
Best AR I own in the wind.
I bought a case of ammo from Silver State.
I only shoot about 20 rounds a year.
Since I got my 300 ACC and a thermal.
 
Love the 6.8, it's a hammer on hogs. My Father and wife run suppressed 16" 6.8's with the 120gr SST's smack hard. But want to talk about a dead cartridge that I shoot is a .30RAR lol, but I love it!
 
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