6.8 SPC for antelope/deer rifle?

[Alpha]

Hmmmm... Good info.

I've also considered a 6.8 SPC for hunting. But I don't see the ammo around much. So I decided to find something in .308 instead because of ammo availability.

Are you guys with 6.8's having any trouble getting factory ammo?

[Jettubby]

I have nothing against the 6.8 but I'd be careful with that round. The military hasn't completely signed off on it and that's what gained the round's popularity and initially it's existence. If the military completely dumps it then it might go away or become very rare. It's still in there as a wildcat round and ammo is hard to find. After much research and ballistics studying I went with a 6.5 Grendel AR. Much better ballistics than the 6.8 but it's still a wildcat round as well. It's also a risk. Ammo is limited although Hornady will be making Grendel this spring. If you want something to just shoot now and again or you reload then the 6.8 will be fine. If you want to shoot a lot and have good ammo availability go with a round that has been around for a long time. Just my .02.

[Mercmar]

I was about to convert my old Bushy to 6.8, when I did a little research and found out how expensive the brass is. I'll hold off and see how its popularity holds, or, maybe, increases.

[XD9OD]

Popularity is probably going up, as there are a significant number of small shops and higher end companies (Wilson Combat/LMT/Noveske) producing 6.8 uppers. I shoot both 6.5G and 6.8 (or will) as soon as I get my 6.8 barrel from whomever I can afford in the next few months. The Grendel rifle is a little heavy, but it's so darn accurate and I've got reloading equipment so I can afford to feed the mythical beast...
I love the velocities 6.8 is producing---and I've got plenty of H322 so that'll mean just getting dies for it and it'll be getting a steady diet of Hornady GMX...

[sneedb82]

The 68 is not any more expensive to shoot than a 270win or a 30-06. Sounds a bit snobbish to me to say that you won't spend the extra dough on wildcat round but you will on an established round that's just as or more expensive to shoot!

The 6.8, for a wildcat, is far more popular than the 6.5 has been in the same amount of time. They both have their purposes, but for an AR round, and not an AR10 round, they shoot very comparable to that of the AR10.

I can get brass reasonably cheap as well as buy factory ammo reasonably cheap, so that reloading is not any more expensive than .308 or even .243. It's about what you are willing to spend to shoot a good quality rifle, and what the intended purpose of the rifle is for. Are you going to go plink with Barnes 85gr TSX? Absolutely not! But I can still plink around with it.... you just got to be selective.

[loonybin]

Originally Posted by Jettubby

I have nothing against the 6.8 but I'd be careful with that round. The military hasn't completely signed off on it and that's what gained the round's popularity and initially it's existence. If the military completely dumps it then it might go away or become very rare. It's still in there as a wildcat round and ammo is hard to find. After much research and ballistics studying I went with a 6.5 Grendel AR. Much better ballistics than the 6.8 but it's still a wildcat round as well. It's also a risk. Ammo is limited although Hornady will be making Grendel this spring.

So after warning the OP away from the 6.8, you select a different "wildcat" cartridge that was also designed for the military, probably won't be adopted by the military (thus meaning it might "go away or become very rare"), and has less ammo availability than the 6.8 does?

The 6.8 has more manufacturers making uppers and barrels for it than the Grendel, at least four ammo manufacturers offering the cartridge, and the price is about the same as top-line ammo of other calibers. The 6.8 has taken on a life of its own and does not rely on the military adopting it, even though it was designed for the military. Once SSA comes out with their plinking round, it will become considerably more affordable. The 6.8x43 is here to stay.

For the Grendel to get top peformance, it needs a 24" barrel, like it was designed for. The 6.8 was designed to get optimum performance out of a 14.5 - 16" barrel, although velocity increases can be seen out of 18" and 20" barrels. The Grendel has better ballistics past 500yds, but since the OP is looking at 6.8 for hunting, we're talking distances considerably less than that.

Realistically, which AR is a person more likely to carry afield? One with a 24" barrel or one with a 16" barrel? Drop the Grendel down to a 16" barrel, and under 400yds (farther than 95% of most hunters shoot and farther than the vast majority of kill shots on deer in this country) the 6.8SPC actually equals or even outshines the Grendel. If he wants to shoot deer past that, then he shouldn't be using either "wildcat," as neither one really has enough retained energy past that to humanely make a quick kill on a deer (I'm thinking 7mm Mag).

The 6.8SPC will do very well for the OP's desired purpose, as the two deer in my garage will silently attest.

Here are some entrance and exit wounds from the 6.8SPC, using factory ammo...
entrance hole on one of the deer:


exit hole on the same deer:


other side of the same exit hole:

[joshua79109]

Originally Posted by loonybin

Here are some entrance and exit wounds from the 6.8SPC, using factory ammo...

Great pics and post.

I prefer this type of testing also.

At what distance was this shot and how much would you say the deer weighed? How did the deer react when shot?

Thanks for the post and info.

[loonybin]

Originally Posted by joshua79109

Great pics and post.

I prefer this type of testing also.

At what distance was this shot and how much would you say the deer weighed? How did the deer react when shot?

Thanks for the post and info.

He wasn't huge by any standard, as he was just a spike. Dressed out, he was about 90lbs. according to the scale on my gambrel. I managed to get him at about 60yds.

[joshua79109]

Originally Posted by loonybin

He wasn't huge by any standard, as he was just a spike. Dressed out, he was about 90lbs. according to the scale on my gambrel. I managed to get him at about 60yds.

Great info. Thank you.

[sneedb82]

good to see your follow up post there looney. Thanks for backing up my claim as well! The 6.8 took a Rio Grande Turkey this morning and left a nice little exit wound (the size of my fist) from 87 yards away. Must say, I'm quite happy with this little round, and wild-cat or not, it is definitely a cartridge that will stick around for quite a while!

Keep shooting!