I’ve been eyeballing a 8" LWRC PSD upper in 6.8 but I can’t seem to justify it. Reason being, I don’t know what I would gain from my equivalent setup right now (AK in 7.62x39). I don’t shoot beyond 200 yards, so the accuracy doesn’t need to be that great. The performance seems like it would be similar. Plus, I’m not sure what direction 6.8 is going these days (haven’t been reading up). AK mags are also cheap and plentiful. Ammo prices between the two are… incredibly different too
What do you all think? If I didn't already have the AK, I think I may have done it.
i’ve been asking myself the exact same question.the 6.8 is an awesome round.imho,its THE round our military should be using.i just read that some 6.8 enthusiast’s are pushing 110 gr rounds at around 2800 fps out of a 16" inch barrel.thats freakin awesome!! thats approaching .308 territory.i guess there’s a reason the SF guy’s had a hand in developing the round.the only draw back is cost.i’m wracking my brain,asking myself,should i sell a few .556 & .762 AR platforms and use the funds to get started in the 6.8 realm?
I guess I’m kind of in the same boat as you guys. I don’t really need something in 6.8, but stopping power with accuracy and range is something my AK rifles just don’t score highly with. The ammo is pretty much the only problem, just too expensive right now. What I hope will happen in the future is that the gov’t will begin using 6.8 in some capacity and the ammo will become more popular/available, but at the moment, it’s just wishful thinking.
Reload. If you spread the cost of brass over 6-8 reloads, which is very reasonable, you can shoot 6.8 for around 25-30 cents per round depending on the bullets you use.
I should be picking up my first 6.8 upper in the next month or so. What led me to the 6.8 was…
Better ballistics. I’ve been on hog hunts with the 5.56 that didn’t turn out so great, and I want to be able to hunt deer which in Florida is prohibited with .22 caliber rounds.
Better projectile selection. Some could argue that given #1 above I should just use my AK. Maybe, but the AK is pretty limited in terms of factory ammo while the 6.8 has a very broad range of loads.
Efficiency. The better ballistics and projectile options mean that a 6.8 can perform as well as, or better than, a 5.56 with a shorter barrel. I’m opting for a 12.5" barrel which should equal the performance of a 16-18" barrel 5.56.
Precision. At the same time as I was looking for a more lethal option for hunting I was also looking for a precision option for static position shooting. I was shopping 18" 5.56 uppers, but given #3 above…
Economy. Yes, I said economy. When I started looking for #4 I also started shopping ammo for same. What I found was that better quality 5.56 loads cost pretty much the same as the 6.8 loads I was shopping. I also figured that one upper, which I would be buying anyway in 5.56, that would do the same duty as the hunting rifle I was going to buy anyway, would make for a less expensive solution to my two problems.
I just took the plunge. The 6.8 seems to be gaining traction in the market vs trending downward. People complain about the ammo cost but it really is not all that bad IMO. I just grabbed a set of dies and will start reloading when I get some time. I like the fact my 6.8 is not a heavy clunker (under 8lbs with 1.5-4 optic) yet still has some punch.
I’d probably wait until they have a proven round with some time under it’s belt. I was talking to a few of the precision rifle gurus and they seem to think that there’s a chance that some half way decent loads are being developed in the 6.8. The cartridge may be salvageable.
The reason I suggest a wait and see approach is to see what the long term effects of having to load the round so hot might be.
I don’t think the log-term effects are even something that will be measurable. Outside of a few guys like Stephen at BFG, there are very few people shooting the 6.8 for volume. In fact, it’s kind of exactly NOT the point. In my case, my plan is to find a load from Doc’s recommended defensive loads that I like in terms of accuracy and lethality on pigs and deer and buy 2k rounds of it and stick it in the closet. At the volume I expect to shoot this upper/gun that quantity of ammo should last me for years, and by the time any pressure-related issues arose I would probably have moved on to something else.
Has the chamber spec and barrel twist been sorted out? I seem to remember that barrels using the Gen II chamber (or whatever it was) and the 1 in 11 twist were able to get higher velocities because the chamber pressures were reduced (given equivalent loads). Some OEM’s, like LMT and LWRC were using the original chamber spec and a 1 in 10 twist, while some were using the 1 in 11 or 1 in 12 like Noveske.
At one time I was SSA’s largest non-mil/non-commercial customer. That’s probably not true anymore as I just don’t shoot as much as I used to. I really need to get back into reloading too;).
I am just starting the process today to find the right upper for deer hunting to mate with my BCM lower that is on it’s way. Any advice would be appreciated.
Shot my upper from ar15performance first time this morning. With the FSC30 it feels similar in recoil and muzzle rise to shooting 5.56 with an A2, but the guys behind me said it was blasty. I pretty much second everything Rob said.
.