Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles 6.8 vs. 7.62x39 vs ???

I think it comes down to personal preference.

The 7.62x39 will capably handle the .311-.312" bullets from 60 grains to 180 grains, and many folks have found that it does quite well with .308" bullets, too, giving flexibility into those bullets and ranges up to 240 grains, if you want to run subsonic.

With the 174s and 180s, you can be knocking on the door of .303 Brit level performance, and I don't recall anyone ever saying that old Brit round couldn't hold it's own on game.

The 6.8 simply doesn't offer that flexibility.

Thats pretty much it. It doesn't help me any that I absolutely HATE the .277 caliber to start with... thats why when the 6.8 came out, nope... when John necked it down to 6mm, send me one right out....

grins.

Personally, I love my 6.8

never said the .277 was bad, just happen to hate the 270 win for some reason and don't like the caliber as a result.

That being said I could see a use for 190 wildcats in .277 out of a mag....

VA, I don't think some of those bullet choices will work in an AR because of the magazine limitations, which is the subject at hand.

The problem with this question is that the 85 grain TSX is closer to 3000fps in the 6.8spc, not 2700 fps.

Now, when you consider the 85 gr TSX at 3000 fps or the 110 gr Accubond/TSX at 2650fps compared to the 70 gr .223 at 2800fps, then you have your contrast.

I'm personally partial to the 95gr TTSX and 100gr Accubond. Throw those around 2600-2700fps at a hog and you'll see some righteous penetration.

Yeah, they can. Seat the heavies deeply, and they'll work. It's been done, frequently.

So you get 3000FPS with an 85 grain TSX? What powder are you using? How much?

So from SSA an 85 TSX at 2920 BC about .24 or a 70 grain TSX BC about .31 at 2750, they are not light years apart. As far as penetration, my bet would be on the 70 grain at 2750.

Running slow 85 tsx from the 6.8 necked to 6mm... 2750ish IIRC or so.... never seen a hog keep a bullet yet. Once again its does it do what you are after.

All we are beating to death here is do you need a 30-06 because your 308 is incapable? Never owned an 06 either other than Garands.... 308 has been pure death on out to the other side of 700 so far....

FWIW I've never managed to recover a 62 tsx out of the 223 either.

At some point you have enough for most jobs. At another point the 6.8 is NOT enough to be able to do ANY shot, at ANY angle on ANY basic animal depending on yardage also... IE need bigger than the other 2 rounds you really need BIIIGGGGEERRR IMHO.

Ask Silver State. 3000 fps is a factory tactical load for the 85 gr TSX.

No matter how you slice it, 3000 fps or 2920 fps is a heck of lot different than 2700 fps, so why compare a hot .223 load to an anemic 6.8spc load?

I'm not claiming they are light years apart, I'm asking why you make such misleading statements (frequently).

You really think a 70 gr bullet .223 @ 2750fps is going to penetrate further than an 85 gr .277 @ 2920fps with equal bullet construction?

Really? Laughin....

I'm not sure what your point is. I just pointed out that Jimmy made a misleading statement.

I must have looked at the 95 grain TSX load at SSA and its 2750.

I'm sure, but the issue is, how much case capacity are you giving up to seat a 174 or 180 grain bullet in the 7.62x39 in an Ar-15 magazine?

I'd be willing to bet dollars to doughnuts you won't get anywhere near the .303 British performance comparison you made.

Which is really the point. Take away the AR-15 magazine restriction and the 6.8spc will launch 130's and up to 150's which would be the equivalent (range of bullets) of the 174's and 180's in the 7.62x39.

Fair enough.

my point was, you are saying you get righteous penetration from the 6.8, yet my point is I've never found an animal that could stop an 85 from the 6woa. OR the 223 with a 62. And I've tried some angular shots.

That being the case, you won't find anything to stop a similar bullet combo in the x39 round either.

You can argue numbers all day long, but bottom line, both the 6.8 and X39 kill, kill very well and with the right projectile, you just won't be able to recover a bullet.

they are wearing me out, if I can find a cheap upper just to try the damn thing I may do it, just so's I can shoot a deer with it to see if there is a difference, the 85TSX would be my choice the 3000FPS is an interesting fact.

I agree with you. But if we are going to make relative comparisons, there has to be some measure of performance.

I will say that I have found some bullets in larger hogs though, especially quartering away shots, but these were 30-06.

Beg to differ.

If 2.190" COAL won't fit in a mag for an AR, you've got issues. You can seat the 174s to that, and push them to or over 2200, easily. Lil'Gun, H4227, RL-7, N120.

You can get the 240s to 1700-1800, or very easily drop them subsonic. Again, the same powders are a good place to start, or use TrailBoss.

You can SMARTLY work the pressure of the 7.62x39 up above the 51k SAAMI spec set for the SKS into the 58k range of the SPC, and doing so adds a bit to it's performance ceiling. Again, SMARTLY, just like working the .280Rem up above it's lower limit set due to the 760 Remingtons when you're using it in bolt guns otherwise designed for and using .270s.

Am I running these right now? No, not in an AR, but I know several people that are and it's pretty easy, really. The "little Commie round" is pretty damned flexible. My 7.62x39 is a bolt gun, and the flexibility there is increased even more.

in a comparison scenario we should always compare apples to apples and not otherwise, but it often does not work that way.

As to 30 cal from an 06, its simply bullet choice again.

Bottom line Barnes changed a LOT of things when they came on the scene many years ago. Folks that ignore that change are missing some good stuff.

After having had a 7x300 wtyb with 160 cup and core stop in the NECK of a 50 pound pig at just over 200 yards, it once again confirms my thoughts... WTF would you shoot anything other than an X? I play with other bullets just to see whtas out there, just like rounds, but when it counts its bullet choice and shot placement that trump the rest.