Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Talk me into a 6.8

What does that have to do with the 6.8 and .308?

I am having the same back and forth debate inside my head here recently. Common sense in my blue collar budget world would have me invest in other stuff, but that 6.8 for a 16" barrel, light weight carbine, sure hits a sweet spot in small arms ballistics. It seems to be better than a Grendel in the 16" or less barrel, and it is flatter than the 300AAC-BK. I intend to cut my teeth on building one over the next year just for the fun of it. Unless there is something about it I ain't seeing.

Wish I could talk you into one, but cannot do so. With a full load of Walmart purchased 150 grain WW Power Points. Just don't think the 6.8 can be the equal from power or availability. Yes I know my workshop is a mess. The smith is a lighter 308 gun with 18 inch barrel. I hate to admit it but that new DPMS looks better and one of them is 71/4 pounds! This gun starts at 73/4 I believe. I do like the 18 inch 5R Nitrited barrel on the Smith.

If you are talking deer and pigs and the like, I've yet to see anything I couldn't kill very easily and quickly with 223 or other AR15 rounds out to 200-300 that I'd need a 308 for....no flies on the 308 though either. Just don't care for the bulk and weight...

My Wilson 16" 6.8spc with a Trijicon TRG-20 weighs 7.4 lbs.

I can't imagine taking a 10 3/4 lb rifle anywhere.

If I need more power than a 6.8spc, I'll take one of my 5 lb bolt action 7mm-08's.

I owned an AR-10 once for about 6 months. I see no use for such a heavy and bulky rifle, unless I am sitting on a rooftop in the middle east popping sandmonkeys at 800 yards.

The AR-10 is a pro wrestler, the -15 is a ballerina. Tangling with the wrestler is a lot of fun, but there are times I'd rather dance with the ballerina.

Some good responses here. If I wanted a 6.8, I would not let supposed scarcity turn me off. Then again it depends on how badly "bad" is. There were some comparisons between the 308 and 6.8. IMO there is no comparison. The 308 trumps it. Then again the platforms while similar, are not the same thing. You're getting a bigger, heavier platform with the 308. Mine, a DPMS recoils less, perception wise, than my M-4 6.8. At the same time it is more difficult to tote, etc. Jumping to the 556 vs. 6.8, the 6.8 is better for bigger stuff, generally speaking, but with substantially more recoil and as you say, higher, more difficult to obtain components and ammo. The 300 Blackout looks to be quickly gaining ground on the 6.8.

I think if you want one you should go for it. OTOH, it is really easy to leave the 6.8 out if you've got 5.56 and 308 AR platforms already, but still, if you want it, get it.

I rid myself of my last 308. It's a fine cartridge but there are better options out there. In the AR-10, it is limited to pressure and mag constraints that a bolt gun is immune to.

No way am I gonna drag a 10lb+ rifle to only fire a 308 with mild loads. The 6.8 on the other hand has portability to make up for any perceived short comings in power.

Just how dead do you want it?

A 6.8 with a rifle buffer has about as much recoil as a .223 in a bolt action.. i.e., barely noticeable.

If anyone wants a .300BO, just wait a bit. When the new NFA trust regs hit in June +-, the demand will become a trickle as people have more trouble getting cans and figure out the .300BO is about as worthless as tits on a boar hog without a can.

I could see the .300BO being obsolete in 10 years.

10.5 pounds with 20 rounds and a nice 2.5-10x 50 Kahles riflescope! I just picked up 100 62 grain TTSX bullets which will do the same in my hands as any other rifle I have killed deer with! OTOH a 150 gr 308 will punch thru a lot more stuff than 223. I don't own a 6.8 so have no idea but I think the 308 will out penetrate it.

6.5 grendel, forget the 6.8?

Esox357 you can lead them to water but you can't make em drink it.

The Grendel is king in the AR15.

More proprietary mags. Both run out of gas way too soon. Both cartridges come into there own in a 6mm, IMO. When I can buy such brass, I might bite.

Have read that here many times. Drank the koolaid and started down that path. Components looked even scarcer, so I started looking 6.8.

SPS has some 6.8 ammo in stock right now, btw.

When the 77gr .224's aren't enough I break out the the bolt guns. I did the Grendel thing and it was nice but I couldn't get the advertized velocity out of it. The 110gr .277 is gutless at long range. As mentioned above, AR-10's are just too damn heavy.

Those WSSM uppers Dtech makes look pretty interesting but I'm not so sure how much longer they're gonna make brass for them. I guess if you buy enough to wear the barrel out from the start it's a non-issue.

TC1

What powders were you using? What length barrel did you have? What bullets were you using? What velocity were you looking to get out of the package?

It's been awhile back but the barrel was 18". I used the load data off the Alexander Arms website loading 100gr Scenars and 129gn SST's. I used Ramshot TAC, Hogdon H335 and Varget. My numbers were almost always 150-200FPS slower than advertized. with a shorter barrel I know they should have been a little slower but this was a lot slower. The rifle shot good though.

this is my opinion and there will be those that disagree. to me the 6.8 is a 223 that just hits harder. It has about the same range as the 223 but not really any more than that. ok so wouldn't being able to hit harder be a great thing, YES its a great thing. But what if you could hit harder AND shoot further than the 223 or 6.8?? 6.5 grendel is your answer its got the punch of 6.8 and holds its punch ALOT further. 308 like performance at 500+ yards.

The down side is components the 6.8 is way easier to get ammo and parts for. the grendel right now its hard to get barrels, bolts and in particular suitable bullets that shine out of the 6.5, someone said they could not get the speeds they wanted from the grendel. I would just load it hotter until I got there provided the barrel was long enough. The grendel is rated for way low pressure, IMO there is room to load it up certainly to hornady factory speeds provided your not shooting a short barrel or something along those lines.