No problems with my 6.8 spc in my ar platform. Buddy and I were talking about what we might look into next as it's getting second fiddle to newer rounds and has gone up to $30 plus a box

Blackout? Arc flavor?

Would prefer to walk into Academy and buy ammo off the shelf.

Must shine in a 16" barrel

Not sure if any of the newer cartridges will be any cheaper.

Start hand loading if $1.50 a round bothers you.

Been thinking about a blackout simply because of the wait times on suppressors. I’d like to have a quiet shorty in that caliber.

$1.50 per round bothers me as a hand loader.

300 Ham’r?

22ARC is interesting in an AR platform.

Nothing else is really appealing to me in the AR platform

JG is right, hand loading is the way to go. I had to do that for my Grendel. But heck, I was a reloader already anyway. I think my per round cost for this caliber is about 65 cents each.

No SBR lower options? Running a thermal? And I assume suppressed?

I’m running a 8.5” 300blk on an amnesty lower. It’s killed everything I’ve shot at with super sonic ammo. However, after reading far too much, I picked up a second ar in 6.5 Grendel. 12” barrel so it is still extremely handy with the suppressor. 6.5 G seems to essentially maximize the AR-15 magazine size and puts out an extremely similar numbers to 300hamr on a more widely accepted round.

Assume this will be to run a thermal and if that is the case the SBA3 pistol brace is more than sufficient as you don’t typically need a ton of eye relief and you can save $200 on a stamp.


I don’t know if either of those options would do significantly different than the 6.8spc unless ammo is getting harder to find. Academy has multiple 6.5 Grendel loads but they are all $30 per box. Online prices are closer to $25 a box but shipping is an issue.


If you have no interest in going shorter than 16” the Ruger SFAR is the answer. It handles like an AR-15 but you are easily getting 1.5x-twice the energy of all ar-15 options. Accuracy isn’t outstanding but minute of pig accuracy for sure. And you then have a 500 yard rifle. Ammo is the same price. And if you run a 10 round mag you won’t notice the weight difference between the rounds.

BO is great if you reload, light to heavy bullets, slow or fast. Any centerfire ammo is not cheap anymore. They work good. Just one of mine.

plinker or hunter?

my go to pig/yote gun is now my 300 bo sbr, 10.5" with thermal/suppressor, comes out to about 18" I think for total barrel length.

for beaver/smaller critters and plinking I built a .17 hmr with a pr. of barrels, 16" and an sbr with an 11" also suppressed with holo red dot sight. it will get a thermal some day.

while the .300 ammo is not cheap it is the best option for subsonic I have found.

the .17 is cheap and fun to shoot, would probably do a pig with a good head shot.

my only other caliber is the 5.56 and I only shoot the 62gr. green tip lap in it, I have it in 16" and an sbr with 10.5", thermal/suppressor.

ARC

Everyone needs a project, especially this time of year.

I have killed a lot of animals with my Blackouts.

If a key criteria is readily-available on the shelf ammo then this eliminates a few up-and-coming cartridges, specifically the 22ARC, 6ARC, 300 HAM'R or even a 20 Practical / Tactical. If you reloaded then this wouldn't be any issue. Yes, you can find ammo on-line from niche suppliers.

6.5 Grendel is a solid option, but your 6.8SPC is very close in performance so no real advantage.

I am a fan of the 300BO in various configuration and barrel lengths. I would not recommend going shorter than 10" barrel. Like most things in life, the extra 2" provides a meaningful increase in performance over a 8" barrel. The only other consideration for barrel length is determine the intended purpose home defense (short barrel) or hunting (longer barrel if plan to shoot off a rest or window seal in a blind).

Thermal, pigs etc.

Not building anything but bought an Sig Cross PRS in .308 to tinker with.

Come get one of my Hamr’s for a weekend…positive side, Bill keeps ammo for you non-loaders

It hits harder than a 6.8 in my opinion and my pig hunting buddy’s, he built one after watching mine and is selling his 6.8.

If 16” is what you’re wanting don’t go 300BO there are so many other calibers out there the beat it in a 16” hell I think the 5.56 is pretty close out of 16”. Now if you’re wanting a shorty 9” or below then I’d say 300BO.

Why not buy you a BCM lower and SBR they biatch and get it back in about a week then get a 8” 300BO upper. Throw your thermal on and boom.

I have a sbr I don’t use and a few more. I find myself using most of a 15” hand guard. I could go 12” sbr and probably be aight

I’ve got a 12inch 6.5G with as long as hand guard as possible, coming from a 15 inch hand guard on a patrol rifle it’s quite the change, but so much easier to maneuver.

All the AR15 sized hunting rounds are $30 a box. AR15 is the king of creating rounds that lose flavor in a few years. Its become rather ridiculous since the Grendel and 6.8 spc were released,

I think this one will fit over the suppressor,

Inside Diameter 1.75 Inches

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1021157914

I just enjoy my regular old 5.56

Even more since Hornady started making 50-round packs of 55-grain soft point that are great for hunting and very accurate target shooting in every AR I've tested them in so far, and they're $40 for a box of 50. I'm a reloader but it's not worth my time for 80 cents a pop.

Just set up to load! Loading for game vs. precision is a piece of cake and, excluding brass prep, can be done very quickly yet still be better than off the shelf stuff. Go in on a setup with your buddy, between the two of you, you can load enough in one evening to last a season and take a big chunk out of what you paid for the equipment with what you saved.

I may try some of those, my preferred is the green tip, have had 3 doubles on pigs shot at about 85-125 yds. out of the 16".