6 ARC Longevity
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I think it's here to stay. It really maximizes the long range capability of an AR-15 or mini-action over 5.56mm, there's factory ammo options (now Black Hills?), plenty of barrel maker and rifle offerings, and the magazine kinks seem to have been worked out from what I can tell. I don't see it falling into the same pattern as the .224 Valkyrie.
yeah i feel like it's here to stay and may kill the 6.8spc I have loved for so many years. This is purely based off of emotion and feel of the interweb and nothing statistical.
Yeah, total flash in the pan. Have you heard about this 6.5CM cartridge Hornady just came out with?
All kidding aside, I think 6ARC is going to be around for the foreseeable future also. I don’t know of another company in the industry that does as good a job as H in pushing new products and making sure they have good support.
All kidding aside, I think 6ARC is going to be around for the foreseeable future also. I don’t know of another company in the industry that does as good a job as H in pushing new products and making sure they have good support.
It basically existed as a Grendel wildcat for almost two decades, with as strong a following as a wildcat can have. I think it'll stick around.
It really interested me. Performance out of a Gas is great and from what I've heard even more impressive (or can be loaded to perform better) out of Bolt action rifles. When I first looked at it only Hornady had any ammo, I'll have to check out the Black Hills loading!!! Listening to the TPH podcast and the Votex podcast has got me thinking of getting a rifle in 6mm ARC.
Really cool when a wildcat makes the transition to a Factory offering. Especially these recent calibers that have came out.
I have seen where 6 ARC is a solution for varmint hunting to maybe deer.
Kyle at the Social Regressive outfitted a 6 ARC from CMMG and it was to be a truck gun.
Texas Predator Hunting podcast also uses 6 ARC for predator hunt. Coyotes and hogs and bobcats.
So, I think it is here to stay for that use. Nearly invisible recoil.
Kyle at the Social Regressive outfitted a 6 ARC from CMMG and it was to be a truck gun.
Texas Predator Hunting podcast also uses 6 ARC for predator hunt. Coyotes and hogs and bobcats.
So, I think it is here to stay for that use. Nearly invisible recoil.
Probably the best all around small frame AR cartridge out there. It damn near maximized the mag well with a super high bc bullets for weight. I'm taking mine on a mule deer hunt to Montana this year as a backup to a 6.5 bolt gun. It's probably the perfect deer caliber inside 400 -500 yards. Low recoil, cheap, inherently accurate, factory ammo is cheap. The other is the 350l for straight wall states/counties
. .223, 6 arc and 350l have you covered for anything you could use a small frame AR to do.
. .223, 6 arc and 350l have you covered for anything you could use a small frame AR to do.
I think when the ICAR receiver/mags/clones/etc is released, the 223 will be an afterthought for distance in a gasser.
I think the 6 ARC is here to stay. Excellent little cartridge with great performance in the AR15 and fun in a bolt gun too. I have it in each.
It’s a great ranch rifle with lighter loads like ELD vt. Then load up to the 105-108 class for deer.
6ARC Mini-Fix (yeah I know, fight me) is probably one of my favorite rifles these days for humping up and down hills and still being able to shoot .308WIN distances.
Depends on what you mean by longevity. If you mean is it going to be put out on the pile of obscure cartridges any time soon, the answer is absolutely not.
I think the entire discussion along those lines was created because of when the cartridge was first launched there were shortages all over the place.
6mm bullets have been popular for going on 70 years or more and have zero indication of losing ground. In fact quite the opposite.
About the ONLY thing that would slow down the ARC is brass production because literally every other part and component is something very very popular.
The fact that it's in a small frame AR platform doesn't harm it's prospective growth by any means.
Will all of the bolt gun people drop everything and go to 6 ARC, no. Will it be dropped by the legions of AR fans? Hell no to that too.
25 years from now I think you could go to your local gun shop and get some 6 ARC ammo.
I definitely hope it is here to stay. I built a 6arc gas gun about 6 months ago and love it. I regularly shoot it out to 650yds and have found it very accurate. As long as the wind is not too crazy it holds its own with 6.5cm at those distances. I have the itch to build a bolt gun chambered in it.
Last time I shot groups with it...
Last time I shot groups with it...
It's here to stay, only because of factory support, wildcatting the Grendel is more expensive and a pain.
Hornady should have blown the case out more, straight walled ish, moved the shoulder forward two mm, and 40/42 degree.
I think people will end up wildcatting it.
Hornady should have blown the case out more, straight walled ish, moved the shoulder forward two mm, and 40/42 degree.
I think people will end up wildcatting it.
LOL. Yes Hornady puts out some great product.
Man that's some good shootin!! I would love build a 6 ARC in both gas and a bolt gun. How did you go about your build? I think I'm gonna have to man up and buy or build a 6 arc. Really haven't seen and or heard any negatives on this cartridge.
And for states where .22 cal is illegal to hunt some game it solves that issue.
If anyone has any questions about it's efficacy on deer, don't. I've killed a dozen or more deer with it, my nephews a few more, and my buddies have killed dozens more. It's absolutely plenty of cartridge to kill deer. I prefer the 103 eld-x for deer, but I've used 105gr and 108gr factory ammo from Hornady, and they work fine as well. I'm going to load some 95gr sst this fall, and I think it may be the sweet spot for deer.
All of that has been done already, with negligible gains. If anyone wants a highly modified 6mm Grendel based wildcat they were already doing it way before ARC existed.
For the other 99.999% of shooters, they want to pull ammo out of a box and shoot it, pull brass from a bag and load it, buy standard dies, order in stock barrels off a website and never own a custom reamer that needs to be sent to a gunsmith.
I don't think many people will mess with the ARC recipe.
Hornady doesn't do shit. They steal other people's designs and throw a bunch of marketing behind it. I'm glad the platform was standardized but it's nothing new. They are a shit company.
Same with the 300blk that acc stole. 300 whisper had been around for decades.
As much as I'm not a fan of Q, I really like their fix and would love to have a mini fix in 6 arc.
Same, really really don't like KB, but I'm not too proud or stubborn to admit when a complete shit human is responsible for a really good product.
New 6mm Advanced Rifle Cartridge
are y'all seeing around 19 for the standard deviation also? i just thought it might be a little more consistent than that? for the factory 108 eld m loads from hornady? i'm stocked up on sierra 110 smk's and tubb 115 dtacs anyway, might as well start working up loads
www.snipershide.com
We are all well aware of your hatred for Hornady. They took the gamble and spent the money to bring it mainstream, end of conversation.
Is the industry moving to that as a standard? That's what is keeping me in the short term wait game?
I'm certain it would, just like anything I've shot with .300, 6.5G, 6.8, etc, they all died the same. Great to have a "mainstream" caliber, one that's actually adopted.
Taking a gamble? You mean ripping off a known, proven product and making it mainstream? God damn what a HUGE risk that was.
Same as stealing the Henderson trimmer design, having it made in China and selling for a fraction of the original.
They are a shit chinese company without a unique thought. Basically holosun except holosun actually innovates.
Hahahaha. Yes let me fire up my 20 million dollar ammo plant. It's been collecting dust waiting for the right gamble.
From my understanding, Magpul is going whole hog into mag production which makes me assume the ICAR project has been in the works for quite some time.
Again, assumptions, but I’m guessing there’s been cogs turning since DOD started looking at the ARC cartridge. The standard AR platform obviously makes quite a few concessions which supposedly the ICAR addresses.
Grendel was selling about 10:1 over 6.8 SPC around the time the 6 ARC was introduced. 6 ARC outsells Grendel by quite a bit. I think it's here for a while.
I almost hit the report button to tell them how dumb of a comment this was.
Did Hornady dream up the whole concept of having a 6mm projectile shooting out of a standard AR-15? Absolutely not. What Hornady did do is something that even the best shooters in the world and the most creative people on the planet cannot do.
They offered and provided large scale corporate support for a 6mm offering that fits in a AR-15 platform. Had they not taken the lead to do that it's almost a certainty that any and all 6mm offerings would be stuck in the wildcat space with little to no future and no commercial support.
Hornady was able to do what none of the wildcat people could do. That is to bring the cartridge (or even the concept) from level X to level Z.
It's no different than trashing Apple because they didn't invent the cell phone. Only with Hornady, without them 98% of the market doesn't exist, and 98% of the people don't have a 6mm offering at all because 98% don't engage in anything wildcat.
Let's see, I can put up $2m dollars in investment and turn it into $20m with little to no risk...
Remind me to never let you be a financial advisor to, well, anyone.
Already out there. People have done everything from 22 to 338 arc.
Grendel case really is pushing it for a 6mm 105 class. Any more is just to big of a velocity penalty to make higher bc bullets worth it.
Grendel case really is pushing it for a 6mm 105 class. Any more is just to big of a velocity penalty to make higher bc bullets worth it.
If you can’t walk into Cabelas and buy a rifle and ammo, then the cartridge doesn’t exist. Wildcatters are gonna wildcat, but their creations aren’t a thing until they’re picked up by an actual manufacturer.
^^^^ I know I quoted you, but I believe these go together.
@DeathBeforeDismount I'm just gonna point out it's not just Hornady that takes proven designs and ligitimizes them.
Like how Remington stole these wildcats back in the day.
22 varminter=22-250
25/30-06=25-06
7mm 308=7mm-08
7mm/30-06= 280
7STW=7STW
17 Mach IV= 17 Fireball
And on, and on, and on.
Winchester did it too with the 220 Swift, the 243, 300 and 338 mags, etc, etc.
Wildcatters have always done the leg work for the big corporations to adopt them.
The Hornady High Speed trimmer is not made in China. Motors are imported but the rest of that product is made on site at Hornady.
Assembled in USA , made in China.
Like it matters, damn near everything else Hornady makes is made in china anyway. They should put the CCP flag on their products since stealing and offshoring is their MO.
Still not true. It is machined on site. The motor imported but the trimmer itself is machined in house. I get you may not like them, but that doesn't mean you know a thing about their production. Most of their products are built in house.
Thats hilarious. You can do your own research, go look at boxes in stores and online and see where things are made. ALOT of their products are made in china. Most of their high dollar products are. Safes, scales, cleaners, tumblers, case prep tools,ect.
Their dies are machined poorly. There is so much runout and variance on the comparator tools they are hard to trust.
About the only thing they make worth using are their lock rings and one shot.
Their dies are machined poorly. There is so much runout and variance on the comparator tools they are hard to trust.
About the only thing they make worth using are their lock rings and one shot.
What's hilarious is your tendency to double down the hate and factually incorrect statements no matter what. I don't have to go look at boxes in a store, I have access to actual data. Some of their products are made overseas, but the majority of their products are made in the US, more so than most companies selling consumer products. As of 2024, over 80% of their offering was made in the US. Not assembled in the US, MADE in the US. So tell me again how nearly everything they sell is made in China and how they should put the CCP flag on their products?
To answer your question, I think it's here to stay. Hornady launched 6 ARC summer of 2020, five years ago. It's still gaining momentum. It's a great cartridge, ton of fun to shoot from a gas gun. Haven't shot it in a bolt gun but seems to also do well in that platform.
I built one in 22/23, first with a 22" BA barrel that shot okay, then with a 25" CLE/Bartlein that shoots awesome. Took it on a few prairie dog trips with 87gr vmax handloads and have done a lot of fun/steel banging with 105gr factory ammo. It does great.
Its Factually correct that Hornady generally makes shitty products compared to everyone else
Its Factually correct that they Steal others designs
Its Factually correct that their ammo has some of the worst consistency box to box since COVID
Its Factually correct their bullets suck, blow up, have massive BC variance to the point they are now stealing other companies designs overtly.
Its Factually correct most of their big dollar items including just about everything with electronics is made in China
Its Factually correct the vast majority of their measuring devices (reference tools) are made in China and piss poor quality.
Its Factually correct that most high level shooters steer clear of their products for most of the above reasons.
Its Factually correct that they have a massive marketing budget and throw a ton of gear and money at people to push their shit.
Again, they act like a chicom company. Steal others designs and offshore production. Its almost like they cannot come up with a unique idea or product themselves. With a company that big and that much money to theoretically perform R&D you would expect something unique or new or different. 6 ARC was not their design. They just throw marketing behind a 6 grendel which has been around for like 20 years. Im glad they made it mainstream but its not like they came up with a new clean sheet design.
Its Factually correct that they Steal others designs
Its Factually correct that their ammo has some of the worst consistency box to box since COVID
Its Factually correct their bullets suck, blow up, have massive BC variance to the point they are now stealing other companies designs overtly.
Its Factually correct most of their big dollar items including just about everything with electronics is made in China
Its Factually correct the vast majority of their measuring devices (reference tools) are made in China and piss poor quality.
Its Factually correct that most high level shooters steer clear of their products for most of the above reasons.
Its Factually correct that they have a massive marketing budget and throw a ton of gear and money at people to push their shit.
Again, they act like a chicom company. Steal others designs and offshore production. Its almost like they cannot come up with a unique idea or product themselves. With a company that big and that much money to theoretically perform R&D you would expect something unique or new or different. 6 ARC was not their design. They just throw marketing behind a 6 grendel which has been around for like 20 years. Im glad they made it mainstream but its not like they came up with a new clean sheet design.
This speaks to me as I did this, as well I watched other cartridges misstep over the years. Having gone down the Valkyrie route, and I like the Valkyrie, it showed the 22s work, they just need speed vs some of the other calibers. The handicapped it at 2750, and now that the 80s go 2900fps and they offer lighter faster options, it's dead. I feel the same way with the 6.5Grendel, it never worked, I watched dozen try it initially and it never worked as advertised and that is the key factor, as advertised. With ease we got the Valkyrie to work but too late.
Now, when they announced the 6ARC I was like, not this time, I am waiting. At the same time the Arc dropped the 6GT did as well, different missions, similar numbers to make you wonder, but that small frame AR size was the difference.
Initially and I still have the images, the numbers I saw were too slow for me, I said, same as the Valk, so I waited and went 6GT with a boltgun.
This was a no go for me, but figured time would tell.
Fast foreword to today and things have improved, we now have a solid variety of ammo, at a good swing of speeds. Some of it is still 2750fps, but other stuff is much faster. We can make this work, and we know handloading is key to getting what we need.
The 80s, its in the 80s, going 3000fps, that is the sweet spot when we need it, as well the gas gun stuff with the ammo goes 2885fps. All good numbers where they didn't try to squeeze it all in a box. They have variety.
Rifle is built, I am hoping the barrel speeds up a little, which it might, i have barely 80 rounds through it, so maybe it will speed up a touch which would be the easy button.
Everyone I spoke to likes it, all the side adjacent military guys using it, like it, so there is some lifespan here.
So far the best numbers are with the 103gr ELDX, really good downrange results with them.
So I'm in the early days, honeymoon faze with the 6ARC but I like it alot so far
Now, when they announced the 6ARC I was like, not this time, I am waiting. At the same time the Arc dropped the 6GT did as well, different missions, similar numbers to make you wonder, but that small frame AR size was the difference.
Initially and I still have the images, the numbers I saw were too slow for me, I said, same as the Valk, so I waited and went 6GT with a boltgun.
This was a no go for me, but figured time would tell.
Fast foreword to today and things have improved, we now have a solid variety of ammo, at a good swing of speeds. Some of it is still 2750fps, but other stuff is much faster. We can make this work, and we know handloading is key to getting what we need.
The 80s, its in the 80s, going 3000fps, that is the sweet spot when we need it, as well the gas gun stuff with the ammo goes 2885fps. All good numbers where they didn't try to squeeze it all in a box. They have variety.
Rifle is built, I am hoping the barrel speeds up a little, which it might, i have barely 80 rounds through it, so maybe it will speed up a touch which would be the easy button.
Everyone I spoke to likes it, all the side adjacent military guys using it, like it, so there is some lifespan here.
So far the best numbers are with the 103gr ELDX, really good downrange results with them.
So I'm in the early days, honeymoon faze with the 6ARC but I like it alot so far
If you get a chance Frank, you need to try a 6GT out of a gas gun. They are becoming more popular for gas gun div in PRS and a riot to shoot. Easily get a 109 to 2850-2900 and not come close to pressure. Also do not have the inherent weakness of the grendel bolt in the small frame. Added weight of the large frame makes it easier to shoot.
Im getting about 2650 out of a 22" suppresed 6 arc gas gun with that hornady 108 eldm. Going to reload the brass with some 109 bergers and see if I can tighten everything up.
