6.5 or 6.8 which is better

[JeremyC]

Looking at building a new ar want some suggestion on which cal is better for distance shooting

 

[EvilElmo]

I have no first-hand experience with either, but from what I've read 6.5 is by far the better choice for long range. But ultimately that depends on what you mean by "distance shooting". How far are we talking?

 

[Prometheus]

I had a chance to fire a Krebs custom AK chambered in 6.5 grendel and I was amazed by it's accuracy using wolf gold.

Between the two, personally I'd go for 6.5, I prefer it's ballistics overall.

 

[dross]

From what I've compared, 6.5 wins in every way.

 

[BKExpress]

No question that 6.5 is better at longer distances.

 

[melensdad]

The 6.8 SPC is a good short range round. But the 6.5 is good at all ranges and excels in the AR15s micro length action as a solid long range round.

But look at the charts, they speak for themselves:

 

[42769vette]

6.5 for the easy win

 

[aclark]

I thought I could page melensdad to come school you, but he beat me here. That being said, can't wait to finish my 6.5 that is waiting for a bolt/barrel. Should be a shooter for sure!

 

[JeremyC]

Thanks for all the info fellas. Appreciate it. Looking like I'm going to go with the 6.5 Grendel. Any ideas where to start looking for some parts have a lower and all that goodness just needing the upper half, barrel, BCG. Seems like everyone is completely out of parts right now.

 

[LANShark42]

220, 221.... Whatever it takes....

 

[melensdad]

Thanks for all the info fellas. Appreciate it. Looking like I'm going to go with the 6.5 Grendel. Any ideas where to start looking for some parts have a lower and all that goodness just needing the upper half, barrel, BCG. Seems like everyone is completely out of parts right now.

Well now that the Senate defeated the anti-gun bills my guess is that the market may begin to return to some level of normal. Give it a little bit of time and we may begin to see some increases in parts inventories.

 

[bowtie]

Id go with 6.5 grendel anyday I love mine. Ammo is starting to come back and at the same price it was before everyone went bananas if you dont reload

 

[melensdad]

Not to hate the 6.8 or .277 bullets but they are also not as popular to use and thus there has not been as much devlopement with those bullets for long range

Even if there were good long range 6.8/.277 bullets they would be too long to fit into the AR15's short magazine. The current 6.8SPC loads pretty much maximize the OAL that is possible to use in the magazines and so even a modest improvement in the Ballistic Coefficient would require a longer/heavier bullet and that can't fit into the 6.8 case and feed through the AR magazines ... unless you seat the bullet back into the case, at which point you lose powder capacity so now you have the worst of all worlds, a heavy bullet with less powder to push it.

6.8SPC loads have been pumped up in pressure, sometime to dangerous levels, in an effort to get the round to perform. But the reality is that its hard to take a bullet, which has the ballistics of a 1979 Volvo sedan, and get to to perform at medium to long ranges.

Other options are solid copper rounds that are lathe turned, and very expensive, they are lighter weight and can be made with somewhat better ballistics, but it all comes at a high price.

One other factor to consider is simply the cost to shoot these guns. 6.5 Grendel ammo can be had for about 60-cents a shot when the Wolf ammo is on sale, or 75-cents normally. Premium 6.5 Grendel ammo runs about a buck a pop. The plinking 6.8 rounds are about a dollar a shot, premium closer to a $1.20.