stagpanther
New member
Actually, I always build a couple of ARs over the winter--instead of, say, knitting a sweater. lol
Should I build a 16" 6.8spcII upper?
- Thread starter rickyrick
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stagpanther
New member
sooner or later you'll have to start reloading--bunch of guns and reloading go hand-in-hand.
Good choice of the Accurbonds for hunting. I also like Horandy 120 gr SST. Try Nosler's 115 gr Custom Comp bullets a plinking round and barrel breakin. I get 1/2" groups with that bullet and every barrel I shoot them in. For 6.8, Accurate 2200 is the best powder with ARP barrels but ARP's website has some other suggestions. #41 primer work well with that powder. I use mostly SSA brass. But I've got several thousand of Federal brass stocked up plus some Horandy and S&B. Horandy is the easiest new brass to find. Although new Nosler SSA brass is starting to show up again.
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Should I build a 16" 6.8spcII upper?
Well here it is, oddly enough when I ordered the scope, I didn't pay attention to the objective size... LOL. So I have a 50mm bell. It's ok but does look odd.
In the end, I tore down a pistol upper for no good reason, because I didn't reuse any parts; the sales were just too great.
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Well here it is, oddly enough when I ordered the scope, I didn't pay attention to the objective size... LOL. So I have a 50mm bell. It's ok but does look odd.
In the end, I tore down a pistol upper for no good reason, because I didn't reuse any parts; the sales were just too great.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Wyosmith
Exactly. I got the DPMS Overwatch upper and it was just too heavy. Had it cut to 20" and it's much more manageble and I only gave up 100fps for 2450 with the 123SST. 3 shots in .3", 10 in one inch. My load is 1.5 grains off max, too. I will confess that I'm a 6.5 fan, with a 260 and a 6.5-06, too.
I must say, I have enjoyed this thread, I have been considering a Grendel build. The 6.8 seemed to have peaked and people moved on to bigger and better calibers, or so the general consensus would have one believe. There is no question the 6.5 Grendel is all that then some, but apparently there are some mitigating factors that may render it somewhat less than ideal for the average, workaday Joe. I guess I got caught up in all the long range hooplah.I, like Stag am reconsidering as we speak. Having a more user friendly rifle for 99% of your hunting makes boucoup sense, Thanks for the intelligent information and the chuckles!
stagpanther
New member
I certainly have no regrets--this 6.8 build is one of my best builds ever and I really appreciate being turned onto ARP barrels--I knew about them but their website store seemed a bit hokey to me--until a few folks here testified to how good they are. I shoot both grendel and 6.8 a fair amount, my opinion is you might as well have one of each (provided you reload too).
My final deciding factors:
The age of the caliber
Fairly easy to find parts
The Walmart factor, ammunition available at Walmart
And the easy on the average joe factor.
This rifle, and the .300 black pistol will put me into the reloading realm soon, but having a selection of factory ammunition helps too.
Somehow, I ended up with one extra bolt carrier, and 3 bolt heads (6.8 and two 5.56) because I found more sales as I was building.
The age of the caliber
Fairly easy to find parts
The Walmart factor, ammunition available at Walmart
And the easy on the average joe factor.
This rifle, and the .300 black pistol will put me into the reloading realm soon, but having a selection of factory ammunition helps too.
Somehow, I ended up with one extra bolt carrier, and 3 bolt heads (6.8 and two 5.56) because I found more sales as I was building.
The problem with the 6.8 vs 6.5 Grendel spat is barrel length. You usually see a 20" Grendel compared to a 16" 6.8. When both barrels are equal, there's not much of difference between the two. You also hear the Grendel has 160 available bullets. Most of those bullets don't expand at the Grendel speeds and are designed for the speeds of 6.5 Creedmoor or 6.5 Sweed. And if I hear one more time that the Grendel has superior sectional density compared to the 6.8. Do you really think a hog or deer will know the difference?
I invested in 6.8 many years ago and before the Grendel became popular. I seriously consider building one recently. But I finally decided against it for the reasons noted above. I've already got plenty of bench ARs. And bolt guns for the serious long range shooting. For hunting, I prefer a 16" or shorter barrel. But I'm sure hog or deer wouldn't know the difference if killed by Grendel with a 20" barrel. If shooting just paper from a bench, I'd probably go with a long barrel Grendel. But like I said, I've got .223 ARs for that task with 77 gr bullets. My 6.8 is for killing.
One more thing to consider. You can shoot cheap Wolf steel ammo in a Grendel. But cheap steel case ammo isn't a draw for me. No way I'll shoot that junk ammo in one of my good ARs. I've got a couple of chrome line 5.56 ARs that work fine with that ammo and probably are just as inaccurate.
I invested in 6.8 many years ago and before the Grendel became popular. I seriously consider building one recently. But I finally decided against it for the reasons noted above. I've already got plenty of bench ARs. And bolt guns for the serious long range shooting. For hunting, I prefer a 16" or shorter barrel. But I'm sure hog or deer wouldn't know the difference if killed by Grendel with a 20" barrel. If shooting just paper from a bench, I'd probably go with a long barrel Grendel. But like I said, I've got .223 ARs for that task with 77 gr bullets. My 6.8 is for killing.
One more thing to consider. You can shoot cheap Wolf steel ammo in a Grendel. But cheap steel case ammo isn't a draw for me. No way I'll shoot that junk ammo in one of my good ARs. I've got a couple of chrome line 5.56 ARs that work fine with that ammo and probably are just as inaccurate.