Scott, it seems you are missing the point. If you want to hunt with the 6.8SPC, go ahead, but you will be hunting with the modern equivalent of that old 25-35 Winchester. Somebody on the forum probably hunts with a 25-35 and is perfectly happy, but is anyone going to have a new 25-35 bolt action made up?

And I see your point on the 22LR and the 358 Winchester. I used a 35 Remington for years, and it was a deer killer like the 6.8SPC will never be, but I wanted more range. I moved on to a 270, then downsized to a 260 some years ago. My 260 is loaded with 120 gr bullets at 2850 fps, a good 400 fps more than the 6.8 can do. Consider that the 6.8 only exists because some folks were trying to find a more potent round for combat that still fits in the M16 family of weapons. And it resulted in a round that equals the 7.62x39. None of what I�ve said means that a fellow shouldn�t buy a bolt 6.8, but the question remains...why would you if you hunt deer. It has limitations. But it is your money to spend however you wish.

Here is my Ruger #2 chambered in a standard 6.8MM SPC II. I'm glad no one has told all the deer, hogs & axis how marginal this gun is.


The beauty of the little cartridge is that there is a cult-like following by AR-15 hunters. Mfg's have created bullets (& powder & brass ) that performs fantastic in this diminutive cartridge. I shot this mature axis last month with a 115 gr Speer gold dot at 175 yds passing through both lungs. He ran 25 yds & dropped. I've had similar results with Nosler 110gr AccuBond on deer & hogs. I've shot enough critters with this rifle that I know my results are not a fluke. Long range rifle it is not, but I'm pretty confident up to 300 yds on making the shot & the bullet performing.

BTW: If you are a .270 Win shooter, I suggest you also look at the 6.8mm component bullet offerings. Federal has just started offering 130 gr Fusion bullet (Speer Gold Dots) as a reloading component. My lil' Ruger slings those 130's at 2,650 fps with a medium load. The gold dot are soft & they do expand even at very low velocity & weight retention is 100%.

Pertnear,
I'd love to see more photos of your rifle. Who did the work? I haven't rebarrelled a Ruger single shot, yet, but have #1 and #3 candidates.

If they expand well at low speeds, that often means they explode at high speeds so putting that same round in a 270win that will be considerably faster wont necessarily be a good idea. I switched from Winchester 130g lead tip to the Hornady SST when they came out for the 270win, and I had less then impressive results. The issue turned out to be the range that I was hunting in was causing the bullet to essentially explode upon contact. Knowing this, I switched back to the cheap Winchester and have had great results.

Did I say you should use that??? No, I said what everybody else in here said and that was that there are better options for a bolt gun.

Are you fighting with yourself

Pertnear, if you can get a 130 gr bullet to 2650 in a 6.8SPC, then you have convinced me that the round is worth keeping, and I was wrong. Being wrong has happened once or twice before. Even more than that if you believe my wife.

I�m sure he is relieved you approve while he is out killing things with it.

No need to be snarky.

No, on the "only".

I'll rephrase, a .223 can do what a 6.8 SPC can do, in a bolt action, but a 6.8 cannot do what a .223 can do. And again, we are on a bolt face issue in the bolt action. Want bigger than .223? Ok, step up to a .473 bolt face, and you can have .22-250, 22, 6mm, 6.5 Creedmoor, 7mm-08, .308, 358 Win, ect, ect. All offer something more than the 6.8 SPC. Go back to the AR-15 platform and the 6.8 SPC has had great success for various jobs. Step up to an AR-10 and the 6.8 SPC is out-performed yet again.

For sure you are right when it comes to bullet construction. But I am excited by the Speer Gold Dots (Fed Fusion is same thing). GD's are now being produced & sold as components in various rifle calibers. These bullets actually have "plated" on jackets. Whatever process they use, there really is no jacket to shed. They become a soft-solid on impact - if there is such a thing. Another slight advantage, they cost the same as regular cup-n-core bullets. But excluding Speer's newest plastic tipped GD, their BC aren't fantastic.


I went back & looked at my notes & my load of 130 gr/29.2gr/AR-Comp/Rem 7-1/2/S&B brass average 2,644 fps through the chrono. Book max is 29.7 gr so I'm sure 2,700 fps is easily do-able. My barrel length is 22". I'm still working on my 130 gr load & LEVERevolution looks like it may be a good next step for an even better pressure curve & more fps.

My rifle has a standard chamber designed for an AR magazine fed rifle. If someone is planning on a bolt 6.8 & wants to shoot 130's, I'd suggest you consider a longer throat. In my rifle the bottom of a 130 gr bullet is bellow the case neck.

I did a lot of research before I decided to convert my Ruger #3 into a Ruger #2 6.8mm SPC. Originally I bought the rifle in regular #3 configuration but someone had installed a feather weight .270 Win barrel on it. With scope it weighed less than 7lbs & the recoil was brutal. An unmodified Ruger #3 is a collector gun & worth a second thought before modifying. I had Mark Pharr of Tumbleweeds Customs do the re-barrel (www.tumbleweedsrifles.com). He installed the Shilen barrel blank I had, modified the extractor, got the scope rib properly mounted & installed a tuning screw. I did the stock work myself. Here are a few photos of the finished gun & the tuning screw.




I might mention it's a sub-MOA shooter & has bug-holed 3-shots pretty frequently.

If I had one in that caliber, I�d probably lean toward the Nosler 110 gr bullet. The 100 gr and the 120 gr Nosler BTs work fine in my 260. The 110 gr (Accubond?) should do fine in your rifle.

Using factory ammo, the 6.8SPC with 120 grain SSTs is doing at 300 what the 25-35 with 110 grain FTXs is doing at 200, so I hardly think they are comparable.

Yes, you can step up to a SA .473" bolt-face cartridge and get more out of it, but at the cost of increased recoil, increased muzzle blast, increased cost of factory ammo (unless you are going .243 or .308 and shooting the cheap stuff). All for not that much better performance in the ranges that most of us shoot deer at.

I mean, be honest with yourselves. How many of you routinely shoot whitetails at ranges above 300 yards? For you guys, yes, a .308 or 7mm-08, 270 win, 30-06, etc. makes sense. For those of us who shoot most of our deer at modern archery distances, even the 6.8 SPC is a bit of overkill. And for those who still believe it is marginal just because some deer have run off after being shot, I have seen a ton of deer go over 50 yards after been shot with 7mm Remington Mags, 300 Win Mags, 30-06, and more. If you don't want them to run, make a CNS shot.

I would suspect one issue is the unique rim diameter of the 6.8. 223 and 308 cartridges are common in US but even with it's popularity in semiautos 7.62x39 is not common in American made bolt guns.
With some bolt face and extractor work a CZ or a Howa Mini would be sweet.

Even less powerful in a 270/6.8 I have a 270 REN (Hornet case straight and trimmed a bit) in a rifle. I'm getting about 2000 FPS with a 90 grain bullet, equivalent to a 6.8 at 250 yards. I have used for small hogs from a blind at close range. I have another rifle standing by for bigger hogs.

I recovered this bullet from a cull buck I shot at 51 yds with my 6.8mm Ruger #2. The bullet entered head-on & traveled the length of the deer to stop about 3" deep in one of the hams. It was an older buck that dressed about 120lbs. The deer reared-up on his hind legs & lunged 1 step & was dead. I had gotten impatient waiting for him to turn sideways & he was about to walk into some thick stuff. Load: 110gr Nosler AB; 26.0 gr RL10X; FC Brass; Wolf SRP; Chrono 2,575 fps; average group size 3/4". Recovered bullet weight 83.2 gr (76%).

Love me some 6.8SPC. All shots taken at 200+
Would work even better in a bolt gun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0DH8goYvMU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syHGSy5IKMY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC9W4koHYek

I love that rifle. I might have to find an old beat up Savage 10 lefty and swap the barrel and bolt head. Not because I need one, just because America.

Sorry. I was feeling a littler snarky at the time. I had a Snickers and I feel more like myself.

My point is simple. If someone likes the 6.8 SPC and prefers bolt actions, they should get on or build one. There is nothing wrong with a bolt action 6.8.

There is no wrong answer in a bolt action if you are getting the cartridge you want.

I have in an AR. AR is not my favorite platform. I know how to use it well but it�s not my preferred

Exactly. Ruger and Remington sell a bunch of bolt rifles in 300 AAC Blackout. Some would say it's not even an effective round in the AR15 platform.

I do not disagree. This is America and a person can have the rifle they want, it is their dime, and their time to use as they see fit. There are not many actions that contain the necessary bolt face to choose from.

Going full on custom build with modifications made to the bolt would only be for the reason of staying hard headed. It would not be based on ballistic performance, because it is beat by many cartridges that fit more common action and bolt face sizes. Still maintaining low recoil, which is the premise for this whole thread, a kid rifle.

For the kid, put an adjustable gas block on, and close it all the way. Then it has to be manually cycled, would produce more MV, and a side charging upper would be sweet. Easy to get adjustable length stocks for ARs to get down to youth length.

Not that you asked... what if you were to go with like a 243 win and get a good adjustable chassis/stock. Then later you can rebarrel into 308, creed or 7mm-08 when they are ready?