6.8 SPC continued

D

dvdcrr

New member
I didn't get to add some advice in the other thread which was closed. I have a 6.8 SPC and have shot a couple deer with it. Mine is a 16" carbine. If you go this route I highly recomend the tactical loads having the extra 50 fps, they seem to hit harder and bring the cartridge up to speed. ALSO I am seriously considering doing another upper but with a 20" barrel this time to squeeze out the last drop of velocity. This round is really pretty impressive on the faster end of its range. And its really nice to have this in a standard AR size platform. FWIW mine dropped a pretty large buck this year.
 
I have a 20 inch Stag Arms model 7 6.8mm and have shot over a dozen hogs and deer with it. I have only lost 2 Hogs after hitting with 110 Accubonds. I don't feel the need to track wounded Hogs in the brush at night. I rarely get compete pass through in Hogs with chest shots. After losing the last two in the brush, I am contemplating taking neck shots or behind the ear shots or even switching to Barnes TSX bullets. Hogs can amazingly tough.

With most shots on deer in the chest, I get compete pass through using 110 Accubonds and 110 Prohunter loads from Silver State Armory using both commercial and "tactical" (SPEC II) loads.

Here are some numbers from my Shooting Chrony

Muzzle Velocity

Tactical 110 Accubond 2770 FPS (1.5 MOA)

Commercial 110 Accubond load 2727 FPS (1 MOA)

Commercial 110 Prohunter load 2680 FPS (1 MOA)

Handload 110 Accubond, SSA case, CCI primer, 29 gn H322 2681 FPS (1 MOA)

Handload 110 Hornady BTHP, SSA case, CCI primer, 29 gn H322 2717 FPS (1 MOA)
 
It seems like an excellent hog cartridge, if one were in the need for a hog gun and didn't have something else to suffice, I Think purchase of a rifle in that caliber would be a good choice.
 
I have two bolt action 700's in it... one Tactical one LTR, both shoot amazing. They don't have the SPEC II chamber.. but I am not limited by length and can load 130grain tips.

I buy Remington ammo for $15 a box from Cabelas to shoot and get my brass, I have a few solid reloads worked up.. along with some experimental stuff in the making.

I have a 110 Sierra ProHunter load that the best group I achieved with it @100yards was 3/8's MOA. I have a lighter 100grain hollow point load that shoots to the same point of aim as the 110gr I used on coyotes and wood chucks.

The 110gr worked great for PA whitetail.

I hunt with the Tactical because it has a 22'' barrel vs the 20 inch barrel of the LTR.. and it is a little lighter of a profile and still fluted.

I don't have a crono to test the FPS however sorry.
 
I was just wondering why you got a bolt gun in 6.8. The 6.8 is a compromise intermediate length cartridge designed for the AR magazine with limited long range trajectory.

If I wanted a bolt gun, I would more likely choose a .243, .260, 6.5 Creedmore, 7-08, .308, 25'06, .270, or 30'06 depending on whether I wanted a short or long action to maximize long range depending on how much recoil I wanted and how big a bullet I wished to shoot.
 
I had a couple of poor experiences with the 6.8mm SPC on deer, but that was a long time ago with the first Remington Factory loads.

Both shots were within 50 yards, chest pass through, broadside. Seemed to hit hard and huge amounts of blood, but both deer got up after 15 minutes and walked away with no issues. Follow up shots netted one and lost the other.

I tend to think the problem was with the ammo, but once your confidence in a cartridge is shaken, its tough to trust it again.

Don
 
I was just wondering why you got a bolt gun in 6.8. The 6.8 is a compromise intermediate length cartridge designed for the AR magazine with limited long range trajectory.

If I wanted a bolt gun, I would more likely choose a .243, .260, 6.5 Creedmore, 7-08, .308, 25'06, .270, or 30'06 depending on whether I wanted a short or long action to maximize long range depending on how much recoil I wanted and how big a bullet I wished to shoot.
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Honestly.... Cuz I already have multiples of all the others.... that's what working in a gun store for a living does to you.:eek:

That doubled with I just plain like Oddballs.. and most the bolt action's that were made in 6.8spc were only made for 1 year.

Thirdly.. I can't hunt with an AR in PA... and wanted to mess around with the round.

I have actually owned three bolt action 6.8's.... I used to have two LTR's... and I got them all for screaming deals... and literally nearly tripled my money on the LTR I sold.

Honestly enough... I bought them on a whim.. but they are some of my favorite bolt actions.
 
Glad I'm not odd man out. Back when this cartridge first started getting ink, I liked it. I had my gunsmith get a Savage 12 BVSS in .223 and we switched out the bolthead and he built me a nice target rifle on a 26" PacNor barrel. It sports a Lyman 93 with Lee Shaver inserts up front and a Palma rear. This was before the factory guns had even hit the store. You could find brass, but factory ammo was ?????

I liked the cartridge so much that I had him build another, but this was on a Martini action, so I needed it to be a rimmed case. If memory serves, I used 225 Winchester brass as the parent case... yes, it was a pain doing all the reforming and all, but in the end I have about 100 rounds to play with, just neck size and away we go. This one has a Lyman 17 front and a 90MJT rear.

In both cases, and especially with the Savage, the recoil is very pleasant and the cartridge is more than accurate enough for me.:D
 
I got into the 6.8 as a deer hunting setup for my recoil sensitive daughter. I went with an Olympic upper, 16" heavy contour barrel with free float tube and railed gas block.

It really likes Hornady's VMAX load, does petty good with the SSTs, but was very mediocre with the SSA offerings.

We took it to Texas this past season and had outstanding results. She shot 3 deer in 3 days. Terminal performance was impressive with broadside and quartering shots. Not a single one went beyond 5' from point of impact.

I do agree that the single most needed load is a plinking round. I have been considering reloading for a while and the upcoming tax return is going to fund a Dillon, primarily for the 6.8.

I'd love a bolt in one! Light recoil would make it great for the kids without letting them go overboard in semi.
 
I don't know if I'd go with a 20" barrel in the 6.8spc, maybe 18" at the longest. I believe the barrel twist and groove style that gets the most improvement in the caliber.
 
but both deer got up after 15 minutes and walked away with no issues. Follow up shots netted one and lost the other.
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Waiting 15 minutes to provide a dose of follow up shot might have been a good place to search for a glitch in your operating system.
 
I have started saving for an AR in 6.8. It seems like a decent round in a fairly light gun. Just what I need for walking around the hills where i hunt.
 
I got one of the first batches of Stag Arms 6.8mm in a 20 inch stainless barrel right before Obama took office. Everyone figured he might try to reenact the AR ban so even common 5.56 ARs were scarce back then. It certainly turned into a great hunting cartridge. I'm not sure you need the extra 4 inches over a 16 inch carbine but its nice to have once you are hunched down in your blind.
 
"Waiting 15 minutes to provide a dose of follow up shot might have been a good place to search for a glitch in your operating system. "

I'm not in the habit of putting a second shot into a deer that went down hard and remained motionless after a well placed first shot, but thanks for the suggestion.

In both cases, the deer took the initial hit at close range, dropped where they stood, and then got up with no obvious ill effects after 15 minutes. Plenty of blood evident on the ground, but the round simply did not have the on target performance necessary to put the deer down for good.

The years that have passed since lead me to believe that the problem is with the initial Remington 6.8 loading.
 
The 6.8

Gentilmen
From what I have observed the 6.8 spc II is a great hunting round. I have taken 2 deer both at 150 yds and 85 yds. I have also have used the 7.62x39 cartridge 3 previous seasons to using the 6.8mm.

I feel that the 6.8mm is a superior hunting round. It is more accurate than the 7.62x39, and I feel that it hit just as hard or harder than the 7.62x39 round using the 150 gr loads. I can't prove it, but just an opinion
of what I did and observed.

The last hunt I used the Hornady 120 gr loads of the 6.8mm in my Rock River AR, and I was more than satified. Wonder what this load would do from a bolt-action with a 22 inch bbl?

V/R
J Budd
 
I'm glad a lot of people have had success with this round. The first time that I used it was back in November; I shot and missed, so of course the rifle was defective. I traded it for a Rock River AR-10 and never looked back.
 
The years that have passed since lead me to believe that the problem is with the initial Remington 6.8 loading.
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When I got my 6.8, that was the first ammo I bought- short stroked something awful. I did the ignernt thing and bought a case of the stuff. Ended up buying a carbine buffer for my A2 stock just to get the stuff to cycle every once in a while. I haven't bought any Remington 6.8 since then, all I can say is I sincerely hope it's gotten better.
 
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