Where is 6arc going?

Just so you deplorables keep your hands off my 6.5g brass.

If any of your 6.5 grendel bounces into my bag, I'm necking it down to 224 predator- just to spite you.
 
More updates on my build, this CLE bartline barrel likes the 108 eldm factory load better than thr 105 black. Shot at 50yds, in good weather, prone with a new trigger tech diamond trigger im getting used to.
 

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How does factory ammo availability of the arc play into that statement for you?
Not quite sure what you’re asking. If your question is how does my post relate to the topic of the thread - it’s making the point that lots of folks have been having fun with ARC-like cartridges before it went SAAMI. With the backing of major manufacturers as a standardized cartridge, legions of others will now realize the benefits of launching 105-108gr projectiles at 2800+ from an AR. This means there will likely be a big enough market to keep ammo on the shelves, with, of course, the caveat that the supply chain need to continue to un-screw itself.
 
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Not quite sure what you’re asking. If your question is how does my post related to the topic of the thread - it’s making the point that lots of folks have been having fun with ARC-like cartridges before it went SAAMI. With the backing of major manufacturers as a standardized cartridge, legions of others will now realize the benefits of launching 105-108gr projectiles at 2800+ from an AR. This means there will likely be a big enough market to keep ammo on the shelves, with, of course, the caveat that the supply chain need to continue to un-screw itself.
More, you said they were your favorite and tons of fun, ive never shot those but i cant get get ammo of the shelf for those. Does the fun you have include the reloading or would the 6 arc be more fun due to factory ammo? Hows does factory ammo of the 6 arc effect those others being your favorite? They that much better than the arc? Just trying to compare.
 
More, you said they were your favorite and tons of fun, ive never shot those but i cant get get ammo of the shelf for those. Does the fun you have include the reloading or would the 6 arc be more fun due to factory ammo? Hows does factory ammo of the 6 arc effect those others being your favorite? They that much better than the arc? Just trying to compare.
Not that you where quoting me, but I got into 6mm Grendel not too long before ARC appeared. My data is identical to what I see posted here and I already had plenty of Grendel brass that is easily converted. I don't do factory ammo so that doesn't factor in at all.
If I started over from scratch and knowing what I know now I might do ARC just to skip the neck down from 6.5 to 6 Grendel but I wouldn't feel disadvantaged by having either of them.
 
Not that you where quoting me, but I got into 6mm Grendel not too long before ARC appeared. My data is identical to what I see posted here and I already had plenty of Grendel brass that is easily converted. I don't do factory ammo so that doesn't factor in at all.
If I started over from scratch and knowing what I know now I might do ARC just to skip the neck down from 6.5 to 6 Grendel but I wouldn't feel disadvantaged by having either of them.
6 ARC Hornady brass is Meh, my rifle shoots the necked down Lapua Grendel better (+.002 on neck) & that would be less work with a 6 Grendel.

If I already had a 6 Grendel I wouldn’t switch to Arc
 
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More, you said they were your favorite and tons of fun, ive never shot those but i cant get get ammo of the shelf for those. Does the fun you have include the reloading or would the 6 arc be more fun due to factory ammo? Hows does factory ammo of the 6 arc effect those others being your favorite? They that much better than the arc? Just trying to compare.
I see. Thanks for clarifying. If I were building one today, I would go 6ARC. They are all pretty much interchangeable. The wildcats all start with 6.5 Grendel brass, and have slightly different fire formed dimensions. Super rifle nerds (a term of endearment to me) will argue about the various advantages/disadvantages of each, but in reality they are same/same for all practical purposes. The factory ammo offering is nice to have, so that’s what I would do today. I can still hand load the spents to fine tune if I want to.
 
I emailed petterson and lapua about 6 arc brass and lapua said no plans currently but to watch new releases at shotshow and peterson said they are working on it and are hoping for an early 2023 release of it.
I hope so! Thanks for that info. My 800+ pieces of Hornady are holding up ok. So far I tossed maybe 75 or so for various reasons but mostly for primer pockets. Not sure how many firings as I screwed up and mixed some different sets of brass but I am confident of 5+ loads before tossing. Probably going to trash another 100+ after another firing or 2 for loose primer pockets. Shooting 109 Bergers over 29.5 Lvr down a +2 rifle gas 22’ Rock Creek from Craddock.

Love this cartridge. I think it is here to stay. I found this thread as I have had feeding issues like so many others. Far too much to write as to what all I did trying to “solved it”. It seems I have as I haven’t had any issues for a while.

In short I suspect/theorize the mags in my lower seated too deep into or high up into the mag well and allowed the BCG to scrap against the next round in the mag, dragging it just enough to get the projectile caught (and mangled) by the BCG, before it could lock into battery on the round that properly feed into the chamber.

Some posts earlier in this thread made me think I might not be wrong in my diagnosis of my problem.
When you stack cartridges in a mag the top of the first cartridge should touch the bottom of the 3rd and the second should be to the side and between the 1st and third. if you look close from the rear you can see space between them top to bottom. The magwel of an AR15 is not wide enough to allow that proper stacking and the thickness of the mag. It has been like that since 2005 when I purchased my first 6.5CSS(Grendel). The thin mag adds extra pressure to the cartridges and makes them drag as the move up. They either need to make a larger magwel like the did for the SIX8 or the guys making the mags need to make the ribs a little thinner. Not sure if that will decrease side strength and allow the mag to bulge but this has been going on for over 15 years, seems like some company would have figured it out before they sent them to the DOD. The dies to bend the mags cost 100K or that is the price everyone throws out.
ETA- On top of that the Grendel/6ARC cases are larger diameter so the bullet tips sit lower below the centerline of the bore and must travel up further to align and enter the chamber. They can't raise the feed lip of the mag because they will contact the bottom of the carrier.
They could design a carrier like the Armalite AR10 which would allow the bullets to sit higher but then all G mags would need to be redesigned or the square mag catch hole would need to be lowered on the mag to raise the feed lips. Neither is really a big deal but no one ever does anything about it.


Anyone else ever have a similar problem (in any gas gun)? If so, what did you do? Am I way off?

I am still far too new at this and far too stupid to get my butt hurt if anyone wants to offer some “constructive” criticism. I think I solved this with a Brownells lightweight BCG, Springco light spring and the AGB bleeding off as much gas as possible. That BCG doesn’t seem to scrape or grab the next round. Not sure if that is due to speed or less material on the BCG. Interested in hearing thoughts/suggestions.
 
I hope so! Thanks for that info. My 800+ pieces of Hornady are holding up ok. So far I tossed maybe 75 or so for various reasons but mostly for primer pockets. Not sure how many firings as I screwed up and mixed some different sets of brass but I am confident of 5+ loads before tossing. Probably going to trash another 100+ after another firing or 2 for loose primer pockets. Shooting 109 Bergers over 29.5 Lvr down a +2 rifle gas 22’ Rock Creek from Craddock.

Love this cartridge. I think it is here to stay. I found this thread as I have had feeding issues like so many others. Far too much to write as to what all I did trying to “solved it”. It seems I have as I haven’t had any issues for a while.

In short I suspect/theorize the mags in my lower seated too deep into or high up into the mag well and allowed the BCG to scrap against the next round in the mag, dragging it just enough to get the projectile caught (and mangled) by the BCG, before it could lock into battery on the round that properly feed into the chamber.

Some posts earlier in this thread made me think I might not be wrong in my diagnosis of my problem.



Anyone else ever have a similar problem (in any gas gun)? If so, what did you do? Am I way off?

I am still far too new at this and far too stupid to get my butt hurt if anyone wants to offer some “constructive” criticism. I think I solved this with a Brownells lightweight BCG, Springco light spring and the AGB bleeding off as much gas as possible. That BCG doesn’t seem to scrape or grab the next round. Not sure if that is due to speed or less material on the BCG. Interested in hearing thoughts/suggestions.
Im using 20 round dura mags, a brownells bcg with a jpi bolt headspaced to a compass lake bartline barrel. I am probably newer than you at this so doubt i have anything useful for you. So far in 160 roubds i havnt had any feed issues at all since i got the agb tuned in the first few shots. Been only shootong factory ammo black and eldms, have my brass saved and some bullets but havnt tried to reload yet for this. I have noticed the shell deflector bending the mouths of my cases on ejection. Not sure if that means i have the gas turned up too much or just a sign of how soft hornady brass is? Anyway, best of luck, if what im using is different from yours enough, maybe try it and see if it changes things?
 
This Proof 14.5" CF barrel with Kahles K18i and Hornady 108 grain ELD-X are surprisingly capable at extended range. Sub-MOA with an SD of 13.5 fps plus a surprising MV of 2553 fps made hits on steel out to 700 yards pretty easy. The rig could make it to 1000 (still 1353 fps at DA of 5600'), but I ran out of elevation in the reticle just past 700 yards.

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This Proof 14.5" CF barrel with Kahles K18i and Hornady 108 grain ELD-X are surprisingly capable at extended range. Sub-MOA with an SD of 13.5 fps plus a surprising MV of 2553 fps made hits on steel out to 700 yards pretty easy. The rig could make it to 1000 (still 1353 fps at DA of 5600'), but I ran out of elevation in the reticle just past 700 yards.

View attachment 7980439View attachment 7980440
I hit to 1031yds last week averaging .6moa in groups with the 108 eldm factory ammo. Really liking this cartridge and rifle.
 
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Wanting to build a 6arc, looking at bartlin or krieger barrels from a couple makers but im hesitant since they are expensive for how new the cartridge is. Wouldnt mind if there was a couple more major ammo companies like federal winchester or remington and a major mag like a pmag or lancer for the 6 arc/6.5grendal before i spend that kind of money on a barrel. Anyone know anything about if its growing in popularity or if its dying? Really like the concept and want to handload for it but dont want to be stuck handloading only in 5 years. Thanks. Also, whats you favorite barrel length for the 6arc?

Here is a novel way of looking at a cartridge: I use ammo search engines to find how many shops have the cartridge in stock and at what price, and observe trends over time.

I have been watching 6 ARC since 2020, and it seems to be dying off a slow death. COVID shortages soon after 6 ARC was announced made sure that it never got off the ground. Another interesting observation is that 6mm Creedmoor has overtaken 243 Win in availability and popularity.

Ammo search engine link for reference: https://www.ammobuy.com/rifle-ammo
 
Here is a novel way of looking at a cartridge: I use ammo search engines to find how many shops have the cartridge in stock and at what price, and observe trends over time.

I have been watching 6 ARC since 2020, and it seems to be dying off a slow death. COVID shortages soon after 6 ARC was announced made sure that it never got off the ground. Another interesting observation is that 6mm Creedmoor has overtaken 243 Win in availability and popularity.

Ammo search engine link for reference: https://www.ammobuy.com/rifle-ammo
also, AmmoSeek
 
Here is a novel way of looking at a cartridge: I use ammo search engines to find how many shops have the cartridge in stock and at what price, and observe trends over time.

I have been watching 6 ARC since 2020, and it seems to be dying off a slow death. COVID shortages soon after 6 ARC was announced made sure that it never got off the ground. Another interesting observation is that 6mm Creedmoor has overtaken 243 Win in availability and popularity.

Ammo search engine link for reference: https://www.ammobuy.com/rifle-ammo
Do you mean 224 valkyrie?
 
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Here is a novel way of looking at a cartridge: I use ammo search engines to find how many shops have the cartridge in stock and at what price, and observe trends over time.

I have been watching 6 ARC since 2020, and it seems to be dying off a slow death. COVID shortages soon after 6 ARC was announced made sure that it never got off the ground. Another interesting observation is that 6mm Creedmoor has overtaken 243 Win in availability and popularity.

Ammo search engine link for reference: https://www.ammobuy.com/rifle-ammo
IMO, Hornady is struggling to keep up with demand. When they pop out a batch, alluvasudden, everybody has the exact same variety at "blowout" prices (~$1.40 CPR), lasts about a week, and then it's gone for another couple of months. Yeah, I'm not a reloader, yet.

I'm not a hunter, I shoot at a local long-distance rifle range (1,500yds), the nearest target is about 600yds-or-so, so for me, 6.5CM, in AR-10 admittedly, does the job cheaper. Although I do have a couple of precision-build AR-15's in 6ARC, it's just not cost-effective in comparison to 6.5CM. yet. maybe one day ...
 
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IMO, Hornady is struggling to keep up with demand. When they pop out a batch, alluvasudden, everybody has the exact same variety at "blowout" prices (~$1.40 CPR), lasts about a week, and then it's gone for another couple of months. Yeah, I'm not a reloader, yet.

I'm not a hunter, I shoot at a local long-distance rifle range (1,500yds), the nearest target is about 600yds-or-so, so for me, 6.5CM, in AR-10 admittedly, does the job cheaper. Although I do have a couple of precision-build AR-15's in 6ARC, it's just not cost-effective in comparison to 6.5CM. yet. maybe one day ...
For me, the cost savings of already owning a high end precision lower from a 223 wylde upper vs building a whole ar10 was a big selling point for me since im not independantly wealthy and also have little kids.
 
Although I do have a couple of precision-build AR-15's in 6ARC, it's just not cost-effective in comparison to 6.5CM. yet. maybe one day ...
I never thought of it this way. As a reloader, 6mm in a small frame equals cheaper bullets, 2/3rds the powder and probably longer brass life.
With factory ammo you're stuck with 80% of the performance for the same cost as something like 6.5CM.
 
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For me, the cost savings of already owning a high end precision lower from a 223 wylde upper vs building a whole ar10 was a big selling point for me since im not independantly wealthy and also have little kids.

I already had the AR-10 in 308 since 2015, so it was "just" the new-build upper. Believe me, I'm not independently wealthy, I'm not harping on the poors here. Just pointing out that for store-bought ammo, 6ARC vs 6.5CM, etc. and in my area, primers and powder is still unobtanium, hoping that will change, in a year or two.
 
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I never thought of it this way. As a reloader, 6mm in a small frame equals cheaper bullets, 2/3rds the powder and probably longer brass life.
With factory ammo you're stuck with 80% of the performance for the same cost as something like 6.5CM.
You also have to factor in barrel life. CM burns them out pretty quick, and ARC last a long time.

Now that the ammo manufactures are starting to catch up on inventory some of them are going to start churning out 6 ARC ammo. ARC is a reloader round, and it is relatively cheap to reload, not much more in cost to .223, and their is a rather large choice of bullets for just about any type of shooting you are doing.

When other ammo companies start making it competition will drive the price down. A box of 108 or 105 at a local range is $27 and always in stock.
 
Now that the ammo manufactures are starting to catch up on inventory some of them are going to start churning out 6 ARC ammo.

I certainly don't mean to sound negative here, I love new cartridges but I am not a reloader so I have been watching factory SKUs with keen interest for a year.

Unfortunately there has been no uptick in 6 ARC inventory so far. Even 224 Valk and 6.5 Gren have more inventory than 6 ARC. (Source: https://www.ammobuy.com/rifle-ammo)

On a side note, LMT Defense just did a liquidation sale on their uppers in experimental cartridges like 224 Valkyrie, so seems like they have given up on it. 556 is really hard to beat inside of 300 yards, which is where most people do most of their shooting.
 
I certainly don't mean to sound negative here, I love new cartridges but I am not a reloader so I have been watching factory SKUs with keen interest for a year.

Unfortunately there has been no uptick in 6 ARC inventory so far. Even 224 Valk and 6.5 Gren have more inventory than 6 ARC. (Source: https://www.ammobuy.com/rifle-ammo)

On a side note, LMT Defense just did a liquidation sale on their uppers in experimental cartridges like 224 Valkyrie, so seems like they have given up on it. 556 is really hard to beat inside of 300 yards, which is where most people do most of their shooting.
I hear you, i would suggest for a barometer of a cartridges popularity that you pay more attention to how frequently ammo goes back out of stock than how much is in stock. Especially a newer cartridge like 224 val or 6 arc. I see 6arc go out of stock frequently and within a couple weeks, is back in stock both online and at my local sporting goods stores. We will see hownit goes long term, from what i can see in my personal experience, 6 arc actually performs how federal said 224 val would perform before everyone couldnt get it to stabilize.
 
Lots of people have realized that the 224 with the 80.5 gr that federal is loading now in their fgmm isnt much better than a 77gr 556 and once you factor in decreased barrel life its not worth it for long range/prs stuff. 6 arc with its heritage in the 6ppc and similarity to the other 6br/bra/dasher/gt/ect is well proven and easy to find loads for, it is still a new one so who knows for sure where its going but a 6ppc thats been standardized for long range bullets is pretty sweet.
 
Lots of people have realized that the 224 with the 80.5 gr that federal is loading now in their fgmm isnt much better than a 77gr 556

Where did you hear this? People can't even hardly duplicate Mk262 ammo at 2750 in Mk12 clones without crimped primers. That factory offering is pushing that bullet over 2900 and 3k is easy to attain with 80 grain bullets when reloading. Barrel life is not an issue with a Valkyrie.
 
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I certainly don't mean to sound negative here, I love new cartridges but I am not a reloader so I have been watching factory SKUs with keen interest for a year.

Unfortunately there has been no uptick in 6 ARC inventory so far. Even 224 Valk and 6.5 Gren have more inventory than 6 ARC. (Source: https://www.ammobuy.com/rifle-ammo)

On a side note, LMT Defense just did a liquidation sale on their uppers in experimental cartridges like 224 Valkyrie, so seems like they have given up on it. 556 is really hard to beat inside of 300 yards, which is where most people do most of their shooting.
Inside 300 yards isn’t even fun unless you’re shooting a rimfire or extremely small targets under some sort of time pressure.
 
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Where did you hear this? People can't even hardly duplicate Mk262 ammo at 2750 in Mk12 clones without crimped primers.
I dont own a 224 val so could be wrong. The bc of a 80gr vs the bc of a 105gr. but from what ive heard people are replacing barrels around 2500rounds vs the 4000 of the 6 arc.
Where did you hear this? People can't even hardly duplicate Mk262 ammo at 2750 in Mk12 clones without crimped primers. That factory offering is pushing that bullet over 2900 and 3k is easy to attain with 80 grain bullets when reloading. Barrel life is not an issue with a Valkyrie.
Just comparing the transonic range of the two federal gmm loads is how i got that mostly. 77gr 223 vs 80.5 224val. The val does have an advantage over 223 but not enough of one it seems to me to justify buying a barrel in. I havnt heard many reports of barrel life of the 224, a couple guys replaced after around 3k rounds. Its higher pressure than 6 arc and so i assume a gas gun load of 6 arc compared to a 224 val factory load would be better for barrel life. Sounds like you have more experience with the cartridge than i do. My experience is 223 vs 6arc and enjoying the ease of 1k yd shots and how much easier it is to see impacts at the longer ranges than with 223. So far i havnt had to oppertunity to go past 1031yds but since calculater says im still going 1280 at 1k yds i should be able to go another bit further. We will see as i get time :)
 
placed a back-order with Starline for 6ARC brass back in Sept (end-of-month), 3 months ago. now being shipped. just an FYI.

I guess it's been a while since I placed the order, so the CC authorization had expired. I got an email asking me for CC information, sure looked like scam/fraud. Had to go on their website and poke around to verify bonafides, and then make a phone call and talk to a human to renew my CC authorization. I don't like to give CC info over the phone anymore, it's a different era.
 
placed a back-order with Starline for 6ARC brass back in Sept (end-of-month), 3 months ago. now being shipped. just an FYI.
6 ARC cases have always been hard to come by. If you know anyone who shoots 6 ARC but doesn't reload ask him to save them for you. Oughta put another order for more ASAP before they go OOS again.
 
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it seems to be more available than a year or two ago, I would call it "steadily available", perhaps not "readily available". I've always bought mine from sources that showed up on AmmoSeek. I don't know about retail-store or LGS availability.
 
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A bit spendier, but PF has several loads…


I have some of their 95gr LRX loads. 2654 fps through my 18” Odin and 2464 fps out of my 13” Criterion from PF. I haven’t shot for group size yet, but the groups from when I chrono’d them were right around moa (5 shot strings at 100yds).
 
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I just finished yesterday a 6mm ARC rifle for a customer with 18" Proof CF barrel and Kahles K18i scope. The customer wanted it sighted in at 100 yards with Hornady 103 ELD-X.

Off a bipod with a 75 YO wearing trifocals:

Two shots to get on paper.

The first five shot group was 1.5".

The second was 0.80".

The third was under 0.50".

IMG_4247.jpeg


Nice SD! I expect this barrel will get at least 30-40 FPS faster with use. Temperature yesterday was 40 degrees F, which may have played a role in the velocity. The Hornady 6mm ARC ammo seems to pick up 2 FPS for every degree F.

This was, as you can see, the first time out with the new Garmin Xero. Set up on this jewel is easier than opening a new box of ammo.
 
Seekins 6 ARC 18” Shaw SS 1:7.5”
Magnetospeed V3

3/21/23
60F 20% 30.34 in

Hornady Black 105 BTHP
2512, 2554, 2559, 2558, 2532,
2556, 2536, 2545, 2547, 2550
SD 13.9
1” 10 shot group
0.78” 5 shot group


9/7/23
86F 60% 29.83in

Hornady 106 gr TAP
2660, 2687, 2693, 2688, 2653
SD 18.2 1.5” group
 
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Like MSTN and db2000 I’ve had good groupings with Hornady factory stuff. The ELD-X groups as well as the -M. The TAP, well, its main focus is terminal performance and group size is a second or maybe third concern behind barrier performance! My TAP groups are about twice as large as the -X, -M and Black. Still, .5 moa ain’t too bad.

MSTN, I agree on the Xero setup. Damn I am loving mine!
 
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