6.8 SPC or 5.56 (.223)?

[jer9vs2324]

I like the ballistic performancce of a 6.8 SPC. Can anybody give me some good reasons why I should get a 5.56 (.223) AR-15 instead?

[MrMurphy]

Availability.

5.56mm has been the issued round of the US military for 40 years, and is the NATO issued round. It's not "going away" anytime soon.

6.8mm is still fighting for life, we'll see how well it does. I don't have any problem with having a spare 6.8 upper, but I'd get the 5.56 upper first.

[Glockdude1]

Originally posted by MrMurphy
Availability.

5.56mm has been the issued round of the US military for 40 years, and is the NATO issued round. It's not "going away" anytime soon.

6.8mm is still fighting for life, we'll see how well it does. I don't have any problem with having a spare 6.8 upper, but I'd get the 5.56 upper first.

:agree:

Versatility.

One of the advantages of the AR system is the option of another caliber such as the 6.8 can be swapped out very quickly if needed.

[sprmedic69]

get em both

[slewfoot]

How much would a 1000 rounds of 6.8 be compared to a similar order for 5.56 in terms of money?

[RMTactical]

The 6.8 is not a bad round... but it aint no death ray...

and the 5.56 is still available and relatively easy to get a hold of. The 6.8 is expensive, hard to get, and uncommon. Until it gets picked up by a major military (doubtful) it will stay that way...

It is simply not as good of an improvement in stopping power as some would suggest...

Shot placement is your friend.

[RMTactical]

Originally posted by slewfoot
How much would a 1000 rounds of 6.8 be compared to a similar order for 5.56 in terms of money?

Good luck finding that much at one time from any one place... :animlol:

But in general it tends to cost a little over $.50/round from what I have seen.

[Glockdude1]

Originally posted by RMTactical
Good luck finding that much at one time from any one place... :animlol:

But in general it tends to cost a little over $.50/round from what I have seen.

Found some!!

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=74931825

:shocked:

[Panzerfaust]

If it were seriously all that great, the military would probably be doing a retrofit of all its M16's and M4's.

[TimP]

http://www.aimsurplus.com/acatalog/6.8_SPC.html that is about $510 per 1000 shipped.

So it looks to me that quality 223 is about $150 cheaper per 1000 than 6.8spc

From what I have seen in the 6-9 months, 6.8 ammo prices have held pretty steady, while 223 has gone through the roof.

[MrMurphy]

We're in a 2-front war, if the military EVER considers switching it'll probably wait till the war dies down.


Same reason MacArthur made Garand redesign the M1 to shoot .30-06 instead of .276 (which had suspiciously 6.8-like performance I hear)... the Army was broke, war was coming and they knew it, and they had billions of rounds of .30-06 laying around, and all their other weapons chambered that round... they couldn't afford to switch.

[bkean]

The better question is .308 or 6.8. 6.8 has similar ballistics to the .308 out to about 550 yards - especially out of a 16 inch barrel. Who the heck wants to lug a 20 inch ten pound .308 gun around when you can juice up the ar-15 with 30% less weight.

[5252]

6.8 SPC?

Why not 458 SOCOM? :popcorn:

[MatGlock]

I've got an AR and Contender in 6.8. Ammo is available but a little pricy...Reloading is your best option. The Remington brass is the best in my guns...I only have about 400 rounds. Need more brass.

[epsylum]

Also look into 6.5 Grendel.

I am sticking with 5.56 because I can't afford anything else. If I was going to get a "hey check this out!" upper, it would be one in .50 Beowulf.

[bkean]

I owned a BW .50 - that thing was brutal. I know they say it doesn't harm your lower but I don't buy it - that thing felt like a freaking 10 gauge going off.

The .458 - yah, whatever. Same deal as the .50 BW in my opinion. If you want to hunt buffalo I suppose it makes sense (or Moose).

I've heard the 6.5 and 6.8 work great for regular game (read deer) for regular folk. And cheap 6.5 (Wolf) is available for just a little over what you pay for good (heavy)/new 5.56.

[Algaroth]

I always think about trying out an .50 Beowulf AR. Anyone currently own one? Any praises?

I've read about them and I'm quite interested.

[halfmoonclip]

Just handled a .50 Beowulf; 16" and it didn't seem very heavy. Muzzle like a sewer pipe; had an urge to crawl in and look around. :)
No personal experience beyond that, but a short reflection on the power of the cartridge and the weight of the gun...
It HAS to be a handful; as a buddy said of his 3.5" 12ga, 'It doesn't kick a little bit...It kicks a whole freakin' bunch....'.
Moon

[Wolf Raider]

Originally posted by Algaroth
I always think about trying out an .50 Beowulf AR. Anyone currently own one? Any praises?

I've read about them and I'm quite interested. I've got one mounted on a Bushmaster lower. Runs great. I love it. The guys at work always get a kick out of seeing one of those rounds in a standard AR mag. It feels like a 12ga slug gun.

http://www.netmdc.com/~longfang/Images/BE%20first%20color.jpg

[glockawakka]

Originally posted by Panzerfaust
If it were seriously all that great, the military would probably be doing a retrofit of all its M16's and M4's.

If your ask me. It's all about money. I don't see how it wouldn't be "better" than the 5.56. But think of how much it would cost to retrofit every single rifle in the US arsenal. Mindboggling amounts.

[PlasticGuy]

Personally, I'd buy a 6.5 Grendel over a 6.8 SPC. With Wolf making ammo for the 6.5 now, the price is not much more than good reloadable 5.56 ammo, and the 6.5 Grendel has better ballistics than either of the other options. The only catch is the same as for the 6.8 SPC, which is that there's no promise of availability past the next few years. It may hold on for quite a while, or it might not. I highly doubt that any military will adopt either the 6.8 or the 6.5 in their present forms, so they'll likely never be as available as the 5.56 is.