Why shouldn't I build a 6.8?

I know it's limited to shorter ranges than the 6.5 Grendel, but good grief I'm seeing great deals pop up on 6.8 ammo all over the place. Palmetto State has the FBI Gold Dot load for $10 a box, and 6.8 selling at all my ammo retailers in greater variety and better prices than ever before. 6.8 parts are also easy to find these days.

I shoot some pigs, usually at close to intermediate ranges, and have .300, and 5.56 rifles for different jobs but have never been really impressed with 5.56 performance.

So why shouldn't I put together a 6.8? Is the 6.8 going through some sort of renaissance?

My 6.8 with 12.5" barrel has as much energy as my dads 16" barrelled 300 blackout with his using the factory barnes round and my 6.8 using the 90 grain gold dot, the 120 sst factory hornady will add about 35% more energy then the 16" blackout. Then if you reload you can add quite a bit more velocity then the waterdowned hornady rounds. We are getting 150-200 fps more velocity then the factory loads with no pressure signs. If you use a arp barrel, go to 6.8 forums and look up constuctors post. He owns Arp barrels and you can find just what kind of velocity you will get out of his barrels. Hell i bet you can shoot him a msg and he will tell you his exact loads he uses.

Used as described, the 6.8 is a big step up in killing power from the .223.

I think it is a great cartridge, and wish it were available in more of the lightweight bolt rifles.

It was my most favorite ar caliber by far. For get the long range ghost that haunts the www. It will get the job done

You should build one.

I'm really liking the Wilson Combat 6.8 upper I put on my 556. I highly recommend it.

I built mine out of Aero Precision and Black Hole Weaponry barrel. Could not be happier.

If you want to use Magpul magazines LWRC is your best bet. They also have a combat bolt which is a bit more reliable due to dual spring extractor. LMT makes a similar bolt. Wilson Combat is also a good choice. Very good customer service.

I had no idea regular mil-spec bolts were so unreliable.

There is no reason. Build it.

I was afraid there'd be a lot of 6.8 lovers here.

I held out for years thinking the 6.8 would disappear and that the 6.5 would overtake it in popularity but that hasn't happened. Instead it looks like 6.8 is really catching fire in the market. I wonder why that is.

I had no idea regular mil-spec bolts were so unreliable. [/quote]

Wasn't meant for you. We already know you know everything.

Both are catching on and not sure which is growing faster or at least in relative terms of where they were last year. It would be interesting to know which are receiving more orders at the manufactures and if the 6.8 deals are in part a result of slumping orders and parts already built. More and more manufactures are making Grendel barrels because the market for it is growing. Then again it could be with record gun sales happening who knows. Heard a guy the other day that was buying 4 ARs that he was buying them while the price was good before the next gun grab try.

Would you build the 6.8 or build 7.62x39? Not what was asked originally but just wondering.

I really like the 6.8 and it is much more effective for hunting hogs than the 223. 68Forums is a great resource and the AR15Performance owner is a frequent contributor there.

I've taken my 68's out to 600...plenty of range for any practical shooting I will do.

I've built them both. Either is a great round in an AR platform. X39 has the advantage of cheaper ammo when buying surplus. But if you build a x39 Plz use an enhanced firing pin and a full or xtra power hammer spring or you may have FTF's/light primer strikes. I had great experiences with the ASC x39 mags as well.

My 6.8 with an ARP barrel.

Is that the one you haven't shot yet

You should send it my way for testing

Has been now. Yall aren't gonna know when I shoot with my can attached

I have built two 6.8 SPC's. I have a day scope on one and a Pulsar Digisight N750 on the other. They are a great caliber and you are correct, more and more factory ammo is coming into the market. When I first started in the caliber, I gave 75 cents apiece for unprimed brass. It was a pretty expensive proposition for a couple of years or so. The Federal XM68GD 90 gr. ammo @ PSA is good stuff. They also have recently started stocking American Eagle 115 gr. FMJ. I am in the process of building a 7.62x39 AR carbine to shoot the cheap steel ammo, waiting on upper parts as I have the lower built and tested but I do not expect the accuracy from it that both my 6.8's have. So back to the original question, why wouldn't you build a 6.8?

Dont let people tell you that it wont do good at over 300 yards because i shot one at 352 and she dropped like a bag of rocks and wouldn't hesitate to do it at anytime. Love that little round almost more than any other i have .

I just paid for a Form 1 to SBR my Wilson Combat Recon with an 11.3" 6.8. Gonna give it a whirl.

Yes we will. We will see your truck driving circles looking for it

Here is my newest AR, Its a 10.5 in 6.8SPC. I assembled it just to go shoot it and get a pic and then took it back apart. Its currently at the Cerekote shop getting a Burnt bronze and Black battle worn paint job and the barrel is with Morgan getting a 5/8-24 thread job. I thought I was going to love the Strike force butt stock but hated it so I sold it and got another Magpul STR.

It was a one shot, one kill. Compared to your 5 shots from a 30-06 to drop your buck.

I love my 6.8. I killed a crap load of pigs and shot a doe with mine. I use 120 grain Hornady SST with excellent results. I say build one.

But did we have to track mine?

Just shot my Wilson Combat 6.8 upper out at FiremanJGs last week. Hit steel out to 700 with the Hornady SST 120 grain.

LOVE MY 6.8! its my favorite gun to hunt with now even tho i have the 5.56 and the 308.

Love my 6.8.

Getting 2600ish FPS running 95 grain TSX on 10 inch WOA barrel, its turns pigs inside out.

Awesome! What are the specs on your rifle?

Mine did well at 600 but could not connect at 700 with my 16" barrel. I've torn it down to accurize it and will see how it does after my work. I love the 6.8!

All this talk has really got me interested in turning my 556 rifle in to a 2 uppers rifle.

I love my geiselle and the idea of keeping the same trigger pull so my lower is not something I want to change at all so just another upper is perfect

My question is since this will be a summer long project is it best to assemble the parts myself and get exactly what I want or buy one from bison or one of the other companies with complete units?

I like to pick my parts, get what I like and pay about the same.

Even if you spend a little more, you pick the parts you want instead of settling for something else. It's why I choose rarely buy factory builds, there's always things that I want change. If I buy a factory build, I strip what I don't want, sell it off to help recover some of the extra money spent on the parts that I actually want. But most factory triggers are crap and don't fetch much

18 inch barrel, Burris XTR II 3.5-15x50 mil. Complete upper from Wilson. Fluted barrel.
Adams Arms lower with CMC trigger. Rogers Super Stock.

Very nice. How do you like that new Burris?

It is an excellent scope. I have a Bushnell Elite Tactical LRHS on my 308 and it is very close to the same glass clarity I really can't tell the difference but about 500 less on price. I picked it up from Optics planet for around $950.

I would build one if I found a quality barrel on sale. Until then it's not a priority purchase.

I was going to build a 6.8 but since I love the 6.5mm bullets so much I went with an ARP SIX5 barrel.It's just a 6.8 case necked down to 6.5,and then trimmed .060". I'm just waiting on my bolt,dies,and brass to show up,then I can get busy loading shells,and testing it out.
The ARP barrel is 16" long with a 1-8.5 twist,mid length gassed,and has spiral fluting.

Can't go wrong with an ARP barrel!!!!

Thanks for mentioning the ARP SIX5 cartridge, Txhillbilly. I had never heard of it, and it sounds like a winner.

When you get it going and can post pictures of the cartridge, I for one would be most interested in seeing it.

Charles,Here's a picture of the trimmed cartridge for the SIX5.
260 Remington on left - 6.5 x 6.8 in center - 6.5 Creedmoor on right.

you should
if you want a great lightweight hunting rifle out of an AR15

No reason at all not to build one. Went with an 18" Bison Armory barrel. I hunt with a 95grn Barnes TTSX moving at about 3,000 fps. As you can see, I've got no complaints

Oh yeah. Those piggy pictures are what I need to motivate me. It is BBQ season again afterall.

Do you get passthroughs with those TTSXs?