I have been wanting to get into the 6.8 game for some time now. However, the specs that I wanted on a 6.8 gun have been very hard to come by. There is a possibility of a barrel that is EXACTLY what I want coming to fruition at some point, but I am not sure when that will be.
The only other gun/barrel setup that came close to what I wanted, is the Barret M468. I have given it a lot of thought, and based on some things I have read, I decided to go ahead and get one. Dr. Roberts high praise of the Barrett also weighed strongly in my decision.
I got 2 extra, for a total of 3 30 round Barrett mags, and 2 spare 25 round PRI mags to try out. I may pick up some 25 round CProducts mags to try as well. The Barrett 30s are of course just a tad longer than the 25 rnd PRI mags. Also, the Barrett mags have a metal follower and the PRI’s of course have Magpul followers.
As for the gun itself, overall I am quite pleased initially. Only a couple of druthers. As much as I have always liked the SIR system and ARMS #40 rear sights, I have also come to really like Samson, Larue, and Daniel Defense rails. I do think I prefer the Troy rear sight overall to a #40 as well. Those two items are easily changed once I can scrounge up the extra $$ if I decide I want to change them. I already changed out the grip for a MIAD and the stock for a CTR.
My only two real complaints, mind you they are minor, are the trigger and the muzzle brake. The muzzle brake is not quite lined up straight at 12:00. I am going to call Barrett Monday and see what they suggest as to what tool I have use to try and align it properly since of course my standard AR barrel wrench wont work. I wish someone made a good 6.8 A2 flash supressor for it that would fit, but until they do I’ll probably just stick with the factory brake.
My other complaint is the trigger. Its a match grade trigger and I really prefer a standard GI trigger on my fighting guns. Not sure how well this one will hold up compared to other match triggers on the market. There is quite a bit of spongy takeup in this one. It does brake VERY nicely though. It also feels a bit sluggish on the reset. That is easily changed though as I have a spare GI hammer & trigger set. The last issue and its related to the trigger, is the trigger and hammer pins are VERY loose in the receiver. Again, easily fixed with a set of KNS pins which I have come to prefer in all my guns anyway.
So… all in all, I am pretty happy for the most part with it. Only thing missing is my usual Aimpoint, which I should be getting soon. Just have to decide first on what I am going to do about the rail system as that will dictate what Aimpoint mount I go with. Planning on a range trip next weekend to give it a run. Time now to decide one what ammo I want to keep on hand and stock up on for a rainy day. Looking for suggestions in that regards.
We initially replaced the Barrett brake with a Noveske KFH which worked nicely. We are now running Smith Enterprise Vortex flash hiders on ALL our 6.8 mm weapons with barrels longer than 10.5"–these work very well.
In addition, we replaced the ARMS SIR on our 468 with a Troy rail–although it works fine, we’ll probably replace the Troy rail with a LaRue rail in the near future mainly for uniformity of parts, as we use LaRue’s rails on all our AR’s now. In addition, just about all of our uppers now use Troy BIS.
You’ll have to give us range report. Are you going to fire it before tellin’ Barrett about the muz brake? I thought about tooling up to a 6.8 but I have so much money sunk into 5.56 it seemed like an additional waste of my income. But your M468 sure is nice and I was wondering when somebody was going to take the plunge on one.
Congrats,
Doc, Just sent you an IM asking the very questions you just answered. Didnt see your post before I sent it. Sorry bout that. Thanks much for the info!
Which Vortex are you running? The standard .308 one?
Roger that on the Larue. I’ve come to like the darn things myself.
Hawkeye,
Congrats on the nice looking boomstick. Welcome to the 6.8spc world. It’s a great cartridge. I’ve been shooting 6.8 for about 2 yrs now and haven’t shot my .223 in nearly as long.
wants you to return it ? You going to be able to part with that honey? They’ll probably have it 6-8 months just to rotate the brake a quarter turn. LOL
I hope Barrett tells you its ready to rock, the Vortex on my CMMG 14.5 barrel is cockeyed the wrench flat is not exactly @ 12 oclock, I thought about raising a stink but it would probably involve adding thread length and I didn’t want to part with it and it shoots great regardless.
It’ll be interesting to see how Barrett handles this keep us posted. Good Luck
Thanks for the info. I’ve been considering one of these uppers for a while. IIRC, doesn’t the muzzle break use a proprietary thread? I thought I had read that somewhere. BUT if DocGKR, has replaced them, then I guess it can be done… You going to try to get one of the mythical Barrett suppressors?
“Only thing missing is my usual Aimpoint, which I should be getting soon. Just have to decide first on what I am going to do about the rail system as that will dictate what Aimpoint mount I go with.”
Hawkeye since I am sure you have exp w/ SIR bi-level, sorry no pics but what I have done to get lower 1/3 co-witness on my SIR bi-lower rail ( I was recently educated by Grant on lower 1/3 co-wittnessing as being current sop) I have an M2 in an ARMS M68 mount and I reversed the cantilever spacer back towards the rear sight. Which doesn’t bulk up the front end of the SIR and puts the Aimpoint in the center region of the upper rail for better balance. But my point it does allow for lower 1/3 co-wittnessing or just mount the M68 on the lower rail with no spacer for 1:1 co wittnessing which ever you’d prefer.
I’ve had my M-468 since Jan 05. because it was made prior to the Ban sunset the brake is blind pinned on. I’ve replaced the A2 stock and grip with LMT and Magpul. I ran it one day of a 3 day carbine class in Aug 2005 (Brass & bullets were hard to come by at that time) and was very happy with the way it and the EoTech performed. Ihave engaged 4" wide x 12" tall steel grader blades out to 385 yds with the NightForce and it knocks them down with more authority than my 5.56. I also like the way my Troy BUIS on my Stealth Recon locks into place as opposed to the ARMS 40L. Overall I’m satisfied with my Barrett but I believe you could put one together with a LaRue Stealth upper and 9.0 rail,Denny’s 16" Recon barrel with a Troy rear and PRI flip-up/gas block front for around the same price. I have Barrett 30 rnd and both PRI & C-Products 25 rnd mags and all seem to function well. I mostly run my own handloads but I have Hornady 110 TAP & V-max as well as Remington 115 OTM for any serious social work . By the way my complete rifle came with 100 rounds of Remington 115 OTM factory ammo,case and cleaning kit.
