The only factory load I found with my Grendel that shot well, before I rebarreled it, was the 130 grain Berger loaded by Federal. I wasn’t super happy with the velocity, as I was barely averaging 2,300 FPS. But, I figured I might give them a go for deer. I worked for a custom rifle manufacturer that loaded Bergers almost exclusively. They always recommended a high shoulder shot to insure the bullet performed like it should. It would seem they tend to need to hit some form of bone to cause the most disruption. My new barrel likes a broader range of bullets so I will most likely use either the 123 grain SST, or the 120 grain Fusion this year. I don’t mean to come off like I’m dogging on this new cartridge. I think it will make a great addition to the line up of choices we have.
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New 6mm Advanced Rifle Cartridge
- Thread starter Gtscotty
- Start date
I'm a huge fan of the fusions for a hunting bullet. Everything I've ever shot with them in my 308 hasn't taken more than 3 or 4 more steps. Probably 15 deer.
I muzzleload hunt mostly now.
I know the marketing is trying to get everyone to buy this arc in an AR, but I think it will really shine in a bolt gun. The cz 527 comes to mind.... I love that set trigger.
I muzzleload hunt mostly now.
I know the marketing is trying to get everyone to buy this arc in an AR, but I think it will really shine in a bolt gun. The cz 527 comes to mind.... I love that set trigger.
Yes they do...Hornady Black 123 grain ELD Match. Vaporized the lungs and the buck didn’t make it 30 yards.
Booyah. The 123gr Grendel’s effect on game is why I have two bolt guns in it now. Wonder how the 100+gr 6mms will compare; I’ve never used that bore size, let alone those specific bullet weights in that diameter, on an animal. Will be hard to top the 123gr 6.5s though.
Regardless of energy and drop figures at well-past-hunting distances, I won’t declare the Grendel dead or even obsolete until I see a lot of real world performance from the 6ARC that matches or eclipses that kind of effect on game.
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Got out today with the Ballistic Advantage barrel from Brownells in 20”. I dropped it into a Larue built 6.5 Grendel and put a new Monster Grendel bolt in. Low profile standard gas block and no break. Shot four groups getting it zeroed with Hornady Black all of which were about 1”. Kicking myself, I left the Magneto speed on the bench.
Went to the steel range to stretch it out. I plugged 2750 into TRASOL and found at 420, 566, and 720 that impacts were a bit high. Trued it to 2720 and it was ringing steel at 840, 950, and 1090. All of the steel is roughly full sized IPSC. Wind was 16 mph from 120 degrees, it handled the wind well.
Ran 50 rounds through it and the groups seemed to tighten up some. Last 5 rounds were at 420 and well under 1 MOA. I didn’t bother driving out to measure. I will take the chrono later this week and confirm.
Went to the steel range to stretch it out. I plugged 2750 into TRASOL and found at 420, 566, and 720 that impacts were a bit high. Trued it to 2720 and it was ringing steel at 840, 950, and 1090. All of the steel is roughly full sized IPSC. Wind was 16 mph from 120 degrees, it handled the wind well.
Ran 50 rounds through it and the groups seemed to tighten up some. Last 5 rounds were at 420 and well under 1 MOA. I didn’t bother driving out to measure. I will take the chrono later this week and confirm.
...............so...how much do you prefer it to 6.5 Grendel? Worth the swap, or is it just for the fun of tinkering?
Love my BA barrels, unbeatable for the price.
The Grendel is really good at putting the smack down on stuff. With Hornady’s release of the 103 grain ELD-X scheduled for the Fall, I’m sure we will be seeing some ARC’s out in the wild as well.
For ringing steel it is flatter, less wind impact, less recoil, and could still see impacts at 1090. I like it and will leave it in. In all fairness, that doesn’t leave me without a Grendel. For hunting anything white tail or smaller I might still go with the ARC. Need some more time and load development.
Have you had a chance to shoot your barrel yet? I ordered the same one the other day, it'll be awhile before it shows up. Wondering how the gas system runs? Do you feel it's overgassed? I was torn between the 18" and 20" at rifle length gas system, but went w/ the 18".
Haven’t shot it yet but will be running an adjustable gas block. Assembled it on an Aero Precision M4E1 and had to thermal fit it. Nice and tight.
I have about a dozen firings with the 243LBC AR 40 using the Lapua Grendel brass but have quite a few loose primer pockets with most primers except Wolf.
243 LBC
AR15
I think that info was in the post I was replying to (that you quoted) but may have got lost in the mix.
A bit over 200 with that load and that bullet. Not nearly enough to wear out the barrel if that's what you're asking, but this cartridge should give pretty good barrel life anyway.
Why this obsession with shooting a gas gun to 1000yd? Other than service rifle competition, if you are serious to shooting to 1000yd, use a bolt gun!
Not worried about barrel life since my 243LBC AR 40 has 4000rounds and needs a new barrel but it also went through 2 bolts.
Because it's fun? I love stretching my favorite .223 out, and the 6mm ARC will be mo-better.
Because I can’t put two more hits on a target before I hear the first ping on the steel with a bolt gun lol.
Oh boy - this is tempting to do an upper. Goes against my "common caliber" stategery. Got a decent scope I could mount or I could go all out (but it'd be top heavy). But I don't have 6.8 mags so I'd have to stock up on all those too. But, it's tempting to have a 1000 yard gun in a lighter weight platform than an AR-10. VERY tempting - especially as I get older. Then again, I do want a suppressor. Suppressor or upper...hmmmm.
That's my plan, adjust the 6mm AR case volume to match an average from fired ARC cases then do some truing based on the measured velocities. I'd think that would get you close enough.
What is this "243 LBC AR 40" you keep mentioning? 243 LBC is a cartridge; what do you mean with the "AR 40" part and why is that part of your cartridge description?
That is the description on the reamer. I suspect the reamer was designed for AR15s for a LBC cartridge with a 40 deg shoulder. The dimensions are slightly different from a straight LBC. There also exist the 243LBC AR and 243LBC AR 40 Turbo which I suspect are slight variations of Whitley's 6mmAR family.
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Odin Works is doing a 21” and an 18”. Barrels or uppers.
Uintah Precision is doing a 22” bolt upper. Might be the ticket for me if I want to try this cartridge: I’ve got a precision AR lower with a PRS stock and a TriggerTech Diamond in it...
The odin works looks like what I'm looking for. The reviews online seem positive. Anyone here have personal experience? I know not in 6mm ARC, but in any of their other barrels?
I run an Odin Works on my 3 Gun rifle and it has been excellent. Don't really shoot it for groups but it is plenty accurate enough and runs great. I am considering the Odin option as well. I also saw Craddock has ARC barrels (and uppers) available now. Really waiting for JP but I might get itchy!
I spoke with Mark over at Precision Firearms and he is spinning up barrels for the 6mm ARC as well.
I’ve got one upper build with an Odin barrel and while I don’t prefer it over the BA offerings, it is solid. I’ve got several rifles with their adjustable gas block on them (3 I think) and I love their extended mag button and have it on most of my lowers. Great company. GTG.
I am thinking of making a build off proof 16inch CF barrle.. nice little light weight truck gun.
I have an Odin Works .223 Wylde DMR barrel that's been a pretty solid shooter, although not outstanding. The biggest problem I had with it was that there was no undercut where the threads meet the shoulder, just a taper out from the major diameter. Two different brands of suppressor mounts wouldn't tighten all the way down to the shoulder. A local friend with a lathe fixed it, but if not for him I would have had to send it back to get fixed.
I've been much more impressed with my lightweight Wilson Combat Grendel barrel. It shoots better and more consistently than a barrel that light has any right to, plus it came from the factory with a proper undercut.
I'm waiting to see what WC comes out with, or I might just go with the longer Proof. I do wonder if Criterion is going to start making ARC barrels, they weren't on Hornady's original participating gun manufacturers list.
Ultimate Reloader did what you are thinking with QL and posted up on youtube a couple days ago.
6mm AR also works well as a base. Quickload and reality were only 20 FPS different. Hogdon LVR is pushing 108 ELD’s at 2,590 with a SD of 9 out of a 20” barrel. Groups were just over 1/2”.
Yeah, I watched that, I used 6mm AR as the base and subtracted like 1.5gr to play with some numbers. Unless I missed something, UR is loading way over pressure to hit velocities though, an estimated 61 ksi in QL. He had some verbiage that flashed up on the screen saying that QL predicts peak pressure and SAAMI specifies Maximum Average Pressure MAP, insinuating that the values measured are different. As far as I know, the "Average" in MAP is the average over some sample size, or a batch, not some kind of average of a single curve.
Given that he's hitting velocities similar to his 61 ksi QL prediction, I think it's reasonable to guess that he's way over pressure. Also I read on the forums somewhere that 25.5gr H4895 in a pressure barrel gave 51.9 ksi, UR is loading 26.6gr, another indication that he's probably way over pressure.
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I can appreciate his effort though. He is rodding it a bit but at least he is transparent about it. My main interest is mostly due to the fact that there is finally a chambering that will fit in a Howa mini that is a little better than all the other factory options for my application.
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