6.8 SPC

[kweeks10045]

I searched for this, but didn't see many posts. Is anyone shooting a 6.8 SPC? What barrel are you using? Did it come pre-threaded? Any thoughts on a 20" heavy barrel? I'm thinking about a different barrel for my Model 16 for a 100 yard deer cartridge. I have a 243, 30-06, 7mm WSM, etc, but I want something different. Before you ask why, because I want one. ;D

[tammons]

There are a couple of guys here with them.

Everything is custom, IE custom barrel and I think SSS can machine out the bolt head.

A 223 magazine should work.

I had one in an AR and my 89YO dad has a mini in 6.8 and loves it.

Its a deer killing machine out to 300 yards. With barnes bullets sledgehammer death to hogs.
We have never had one hog get away after being hit with a 6.8 SPC barnes bullet.
Very very light recoil.

Some guy out in Colorado killed a 5X elk at about 350 yards with a 110 gr accubond.

Artteacher over at arfcom killed a black bear with one so its a pretty leathel round.
To me its the best low recoil hunting round made.

BTW barnes is just now releasing a new 95 gr tipped bullet.
Still probably overkill for small eastern whitetails.

Skip the Remington crap ammo and brass and get SSA small primer brass. Good stuff.

The 6.8 SPC forum has every load you would ever want.

As far as barrel chamber and twist, 20" is good. You definitely want a SPC II or DMR chamber and no faster than a 11 twist. Some guys are shooting 12 or 13 twist.
All of that gets you less pressure.

[mopar440]

how about a 6.5 good bullet choices

[tammons]

6.5 grendel is good too.
Basically a 6.5 PPC.
Its been around for a long time.

Too much of a tweener though for me that you always wanted just a little more from but could not get it.
To get the most out of it in AR form you really want a 24" Barrel.

Now that there are lighter 6.5mm bullets maybe its better, I dont know as I sold mine.
I just hate the death grip Bill A has on the trademark. You cant produce and sell a barrel marked 6.5 grendel,
buy a Lee die etc without paying him a royalty.
When I had my grendel I paid $50 for a 6.5 grendel Lee die set.

Actually I think the 6.8 SPc is a bit more efficient especially with short barrel and light bullets.

To me the 6.5G is a better target round and the 6.8 SPC is a better hunting cartridge.

[kweeks10045]

I read a little on the SPC II chamber, just a little longer throat as I remember. Most of the barrel makers I have looked at (Shilen, Broughton, Brux) only do 1-10". May have to do some more calling around. May just send it to Fred at SSS, tell him what I want and let him get to it in 2-3 months.

[tammons]

SPC II chamber has basically a slightly longer freebore but it makes a big difference.
DMR is improved even more, but not 100% on the specs.

The combination of a 11,12,13 twist and a spcII or DMR chamber will allow you to safely shoot combat loads.
They sell combat loads at SSA and are hot. Probably running at about 60k +.

Difference between the improved chamber slow twist and a fast twist like 1:9.5-1:10 and the SPC I original chamber is about 120 fps if you load the max the chamber will handle.
All the junk remi ammo is loaded to lower specs and will shoot through mostly anything.

Shoot a combat type load through a SPC I chamber fast twist and in an AR15 you will see some serious brass problems, broken bolt, blown primer etc.
From what I could tell, just guessing the pressure difference is probably about 4-5k.

I think the 13 twist will stabilize a jacketed 130 gr bullet but you better ask around if you ever want to shoot heavy bullets.

The hottest loads are being fired from 13 twist, 3 groove dmr chambers. Look up hitechrancher on arfcom. He is one of the 6.8 gurus and hangs out on the
AR variants forum over there. He is putting together a group buy of 95 gr tipped barnes bullets. I dont think those have been released to the public yet.

If it were me, for a hunter, I would probably just have a 11 or 12 twist DMR chamber 20" barrel with a normal profile. Not sure about grooves, maybe 4 ??
I plan to build a 6.8 savage one day.

The best whitetail bullets I have used were the 90 gr TNTs for neck shots, 110 gr prohunter for body shots.
The barnes bullets will blow right through a deer, so you can expect them to take off like a jack rabbit then fall over dead in about 40 yards.
I have shot several deer with 110 gr tipped barnes bullets and they all acted the same.
Boiler room shot and you find them about 40-50 yards away.

The barnes bullets are best suited for tougher animals like Hogs, large deer like mule deer, Elk, bears etc.
Sledgehammers on hogs. Hitechrancher sells hog hunts in Tx and barnes bulelts are all he uses.
My father and I have shot about 20-30 hogs over the last 2 years all with barnes bullets and not one has run over 20 yards.

BTW I would not recommend hunting an Elk, mule deer or bear with a 6.8 SPC, just saying....

Oh, almost forgot. Lothar Walther last time I checked had some 6.8 SPC SS savage barrels in stock for about $300. Dont know anything about the specs.
You will probably have to call them on the 6.8 barrels.

They have to call them something else due to trademarks.

[sinman]

you must of looked over Brux because they will cut your barrel to what ever twist you desire. mcgowen might have the proper twist too

[Nor Cal Mikie]

Got one! Love it! ;D Looked on the Shilen site and didn't see the 6.8 SPC listed. Sent them a note and it took 2+ weeks to get a reply. (you snooze, you loose)
In the mean time I placed an order at Pac Nor, it showed 14 to 16 weeks for delivery. (no hurry on this end) Got it in 6 weeks! ;D
I ordered the SPC because it had the shorter throat and i wanted to be able to "jam" the bullets. The chamber can always be set deeper to the SPC II specs.
All mid range loads so far. (No Chrony work yet)
Sierra 90 gr. HP sets at the shoulder neck junction with the bullets jammed .010 into the lands.
Speer TNT 90s are half way in the neck.
Hornady 110gr. V Max are at the shoulder neck junction. I'am starting out with the lighter bullets.
Monday we hit 10 out of 10 at 440 yards. (and that was a rookie shooter that never fired a Bench type rifle or looked through a scope)
The first 3 shots out of the new barrel went into the same hole so I knew it really had potential. 5 shot groups are under 1" at 100 yards and that's with work up loads.
I happened to pick up a fired case at the range. I'de never seen one before. Liked the fact that it was smaller that the .308, (less recoil) and bigger than the .223 (more pep) so I built one.
Had a friend open up a .223 bolt head. (must have taken him all of 5 minutes)
I single feed so there's no ejector rod. It extracts real good with "no modifications" to the extractor.
Not too many "bolt guns" chambered in the 6.8 SPC so I had to go for it and see what it would do. Works like a champ!
CCI BR primers, SSA brass, AA 2230 powder, Sierra, Speer and Hornady bullets.
110 gr. is the heaviest bullet so far. The Sierra 90 gr, HP has a hole in it's tip big enough to brake a leg in but it's accurate. A "real" surprise to me. ;)
No telling how much better it can get. ;)

[tammons]

RL10X is the velocity king with 110 gr bullets. At least it was when I had my AR.

The 85 gr barnes maxes out pretty well with RL7 and H4198.

The new 95 gr bullet should be in the middle somewhere.

There is no good reason I ever found to shoot anything over a 110 gr bullet.
YOu just lose too much velocity and power so no real advantage.
110 gr Accubond or barnes tipped will TKO most any normal sized game up to an Elk.

The guy that shot the 5X Elk in colorado with the 110 gr accubond at over 300 yards, we figured he
was still at about 1000 FPE and he found the bullet on the opposite side just under the skin so he got
full penetration.

[kweeks10045]

Great information, thanks everyone for the tips :)

[nhm16]

You probably don't even need a 20" barrel. I have a 20" 6.8 SPC AR upper and wish I gotten an 18" or 16", my velocities are not much more (i.e. ~25fps) than people are reporting for their shorter barrels, and a 20" 6.8 upper with a YHM .30 cal Phantom flash hider is LONG and a little unwieldy. If I could do-over, I'd buy an 18" barrel. A 18" barreled bolt gun in 6.8 SPC would be super handy (I don't rmemeber if Remington's 6.8 SPC bolt gun was a 700 or a 7).

One plus with building a 6.8 bolt gun is that you can have longer COAL's. Lots of people experiment with different brands of 6.8 magazines to be able to load longer than the AR standard of 2.26", with 2.29" or 2.30" being the goal. That way you don't lose so much powder capacity.

BTW, my go-to general plinking load is 29.5gr of RL-7 driving a 90gr TNT, SSA small primered brass and Wolf SRM primers.

[tammons]

I dont know about oyur setup, but I got a good bit more velocity from my 20" barrel than 16", like 100-120 fps but I was mostly shooting maxed out 110 gr TTSX loads.
With lighter bullets and faster powder that would probably be less.

[kweeks10045]

I think with a 20" barrel, it will allow me to achieve a little more velocity, but also gives me the option of shortening the barrel one day if desired. It's kind of hard to glue some back on if I don't want it 18", lol. Good point nhm16 on the OAL. An SPC II chamber in a bolt gun will allow the bullets to be seated out farther, and hopefully, with reduced pressures. I'd have to do some digging on that one. More freebore would certainly help with pressure signs, but may be at the expense of accuracy. A lot of things to consider here.

[tammons]

Actually the difference is only like .01" more freebore for the SPC II so just a bit more jump.
At least I think thats right. I could not find the reamer daigram.

IMO for long bullets like the 110 gr TSX you need a little more than that.
Not a big deal though just ream out a bit more freebore if you dont mind a non
spec chamber. Just wont run through a 2.25" magazine.

You definately dont want to jamb the bullets. Most of the hot 6.8 SPC loads
like combat loads and the loads over on 6.8 SPC are running about 5k + over the sammi max pressure.