6.8 seems to have been replaced with the 300BLK

[Johnny C]

What's the deal?
Was looking through an AR mag that was a few years old and the 6.8 was the ****. Even good for Anti- material with the right rounds supposedly.
Now it's all the blackout round, which can obviously be suppressed better, but why no more 6.8 love?
Was it a fad round?

 

[AmmoManAaron]

I think the 6.8 SPC was a fad. At that time people would try out just about anything that promised to increase the effectiveness of the AR-15 platform. Over time, people found out the 6.8 SPC just wasn't that great and so now it is dying a slow death like most of the other niche AR calibers that came out shortly thereafter. .300 Blackout is the lone caliber bucking that trend and continuing to gain popularity because it is quite versatile, easy to load, easy to make brass, and can use pretty much any .308" diameter bullet. It doesn't promise to turn your AR into a long range death ray or anything like that, but it does deliver on "fun factor" when suppressed, has decent range, easy and cheap conversion (relatively speaking), tears reasonably big holes in things, and has comparable hunting performance to old standbys like the 30-30 Win and 7.62x39 that people are familiar with and accept. It doesn't over-promise like the 6.8 SPC did; it's just an honest "good" round. Also, and this could be a "chicken or egg" situation, but the super short ARs seem to be more reliable in .300 Blackout than they are in .223, so maybe another part of the .300 Blackout popularity is because people can finally get the easily reliable SBR they always wanted?

 

[ckcollins2003]

Different cartridges for different purposes.

I wouldn't call it a "fad" round... it's just not as practical of a round for shorter distance shooting as the 300 AAC. Most of the civilian market won't shoot past 300 meters with a battle rifle. There's a lot of people who think 300 meters is a "long shot" and that they need a bolt action precision rifle to hit it. Not many out there that take an AR style rifle with a red dot out to 500+ meters...

 

[Johnny C]

Ok, thanks.
Was wondering because LMT used to offer a 12" piston barrel in 6.8 for their MRP, but can't find one anywhere now.

 

[Mgderf]

...There's a lot of people who think 300 meters is a "long shot" and that they need a bolt action precision rifle to hit it. Not many out there that take an AR style rifle with a red dot out to 500+ meters...

And then there are us that have taken the AR platform out to 500 meters without the red dot. Open sights only.
Don't know if I could still do it, but I could at one time.
300 meters is just past throwing rocks...

 

[NHT3]

I guess I"m a dinosaur, I still like my 6.8 and the 45GAP. For me, they both fill a void and serve a purpose. As I see it, others just aren't as forward thinking as I am.

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[jblomenberg16]

I think the ones to start watching out for will be the other iterations using the .223 as a parent case. I love the 300BLK and the only thing I don't like about it is effective hunting range of < 200m (range at which I trust my hunting loads to reliably expand).

There are some new wildcats out there that are following the 300BLK, including the 277 Wolverine which is the bullet from the 6.8SPC in a 5.56 case, and even a 6.5 "Patriot" that has a 6.5 bullet crammed in. All are set up to run in standard AR mags, and some are starting to look pretty good in the 100gr projectile range to give good 300yd or better hunting performance.

.277 Wolverine (6.8 in a 5.56 Case) - Page 1 - AR15.COM

6.5mm Patriot Combat Cartridge (6.5 PCC) Test subject pics added on 13 - Page 1 - AR15.COM

 

[ckcollins2003]

And then there are us that have taken the AR platform out to 500 meters without the red dot. Open sights only.
Don't know if I could still do it, but I could at one time.
300 meters is just past throwing rocks...

Yup, but not everyone joins the Marine Corps either lol.

Ok, thanks.
Was wondering because LMT used to offer a 12" piston barrel in 6.8 for their MRP, but can't find one anywhere now.

Hmm... I don't really see the point in a 6.8 SBR, since the round was really designed for longer distance shooting and high velocity at longer ranges, but I guess some people just want the "new thing" that's out and want it to look as tacticool as possible...

 

[trsowders76]

I have both and enjoy shooting both. I use the 6.8 to varmint hunt and works great

 

[Johnny C]

I had just read an article in a gun rag about the LWRC 6.8 SBR, that was touting the anti material aspect as well as shooting from an automobile.

 

[sig1473]

Nothing wrong at all with the 6.8. People who poo-poo it have probably never even shot it. It is still a solid hunting/HD round.

 

[throttletony]

I think the 6.8 is a great round if you need a little more energy on target. Same thing with the Sharps 25-45 in an AR.

I think the 6.8 will stay around, although it probably won't gain much in popularity unless multiple gov/mil/leo units officially pick it up (not likely if it hasn't happened by this point)

 

[throttletony]

I forgot to add that the compatibility of brass, bolts, mags, etc. is what sold ME on the 300BLK. Plus as a new-ish reloader, I thought it looked very appealing to make my own brass from 5.56.
The 6.8 is based off of the 220 Russian (correct me if I'm wrong), and requires different bolts, mags, etc.

 

[Bfish]

I love 300blk! I just never did get hyped up on 6.8... I think the reason I loved 300 so much was because of what all you could do with it as far as subs and supers and spanning the scales.

I think the ones to start watching out for will be the other iterations using the .223 as a parent case. I love the 300BLK and the only thing I don't like about it is effective hunting range of < 200m (range at which I trust my hunting loads to reliably expand).

There are some new wildcats out there that are following the 300BLK, including the 277 Wolverine which is the bullet from the 6.8SPC in a 5.56 case, and even a 6.5 "Patriot" that has a 6.5 bullet crammed in. All are set up to run in standard AR mags, and some are starting to look pretty good in the 100gr projectile range to give good 300yd or better hunting performance.

.277 Wolverine (6.8 in a 5.56 Case) - Page 1 - AR15.COM

6.5mm Patriot Combat Cartridge (6.5 PCC) Test subject pics added on 13 - Page 1 - AR15.COM

I like seeing people being innovative, I don't like to jump on wild cats per say but I would love to see more on the 6.5, just because I love 6mm and 6.5mm stuff for some reason. If it went somewhere I'd show serious interest. Kind of like a short range cheaper to shoot creedmoor that I want so bad and would have come components for.