6x6.8 thoughts?

midwestpredator

midwestpredator

Active member
So ive been kicking around the idea of a 6mm build but have not made a decision on caliber yet. I started out thinking a 6br or brx and i still think it would be great, just not sure if i want to spend all the time and money and then have to tinker to get it to cycle. Plus brass is $$ and for the brx fire forming too.

Lately i have been looking into the 6x6.8. So lets hear the good, bad and ugly on it.

Main purpose will be vermin from pdogs to coyotes and maybe mt lion if i get the chance and i have considered something like a 85gr sgk for deer but maily be shooting 70-75gr pills. most shots from 1-400yrds. Thinking 20-22 in barrel in maybe spr or similair contour, possibly fluted so might consider a 24in . I already have a 24in non fluted ss bull so im thinking about keeping this one a touch lighter.
 
I run the 6mmDTi which is similar only difference is the 30 degree shoulder vs the standard. Mine is a 22 inch fluted barrel FWIW and it seems about right. I have been quite impressed with mine and 400 yards is a piece of cake with the 70-75gr bullets. There is a sticky with lots of data in the reloading forum that will give you some idea on what to expect.
 
I have one in a 20". its my go to coyote rifle. Love the round its easy to load for. and I have shot everything from porkypine to deer with it. I run a 70gr NBT. Im looking at possibly building another. thats how much I love it. I know several others who have it and they are the ones who turned me onto it.
 
^^^ What magazines re you running 6.8 or 6.5 grendal mags? I read both work, but hate to buy a mag that don't work.
Im tossing both around for my next build.
Any issues with the bolts in them?
 
I run 6.8 mags and I have not had any issues with the bolts in the wildcat 6.8’s that I have shot. I have owned and tinkered with 4 so far from 22 caliber up to 25 caliber. Of course all the ones I used were sprinkled with Mike's Minnesota Magic Dust.
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Thanks for the info guys. Glad to hear good things about this round. I too was wondeing about bolt iissues and if the arp super bolt is worth the extra coin or if a reg. 6.8 bolt woll hold up fine.

Hardwick - any idea of velocity you are getting with those 70s and what powder are you running?

Keep the info coming guys, this round has my attention so far!
 
With the BHW 6X6.8 I run 6.5 mags from ASC. Velocity on the 70's out of the 20" run 3200+ without any strain or pressures in my rifle. The18" loses about 65 FPS.

Greg
 
I was able to get all my parts ordered and luckily everything was in stock. now I just need to secure a couple different bullets to test out.

I went with C-Prod 6.8 mags, they had them and since this is off a 6.8 case I figured I might as well get these vs the 6.5 mags.
 
Originally Posted By: midwestpredatorI was able to get all my parts ordered and luckily everything was in stock. now I just need to secure a couple different bullets to test out.

I went with C-Prod 6.8 mags, they had them and since this is off a 6.8 case I figured I might as well get these vs the 6.5 mags.



Nothing wrong with that thought pattern. I run the others because I started with the LBC wildcat family and I run what I brung. LOL

Greg
 
no doubt. this is the first wildcat for me and my first custom. I am like a 5yr old the night before Christmas and presents cant be opened till tomorrow.
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or in my case at least 1-2weeks.
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sorry for the late reply. I havnt ran it over a crono. but im calculating somewhere around 3100fps. I run a 6.8 mag also. I was the same way. I had bought everything for it and then got deployed so I had to wait over 6 months before I could finally even load a round into it.
 
I shot right at 16 pounds of powder thru my first 6WOA barrel. Mostly a 75gr Vmax running 3100.

It performs like a 243 lite....you are going to enjoy this cartridge.

After having owned 243WSSM and a 25WSSM in AR platforms, my thoughts are if a 6.8 necked down to 6mm won't get it done, time to move up to a bolt gun cartridge. The others were not worth the trouble for the return.

Regards
Kelly
 
well I have had all my parts for a week or so now and had the time to build the 2 uppers.

Parts list:

Double star uppers
Delton bolt carrier
DPMS bolt
RRA FF tube
DPMS gas block
Harris 9-13" bipod
BCM gunfighter "small" CH
BHW barrels chambered in 6x6.8, one 20in and one 22in
Scope is a vortex viper 6.5x20x44 BDC
Burris pepr


Here they are:






Big thanks to R Johnson for all the help and advice.

 
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And I was able to get a few test rounds down the barrel.

This was after about 7-8 rounds down the tube: 70gr sierra SMK all targets were shot at 100yrds, 4 holes in center were not from me. Target was old
0926131207_zps81d46e1d.jpg


After the 70s and a barrel cleaning:
0926131221a-Copy_zps5c853740.jpg


Here the 6x6.8 loaded with a 70gr SMK next to a 223 with 50gr Zmax for comparison
0925132115b_zpsfd00d322.jpg


I went back to the bench and loaded up some 70gr SBK at the same charge weights I used on the 70smk but this time, I worked my way up to 29.5gr ar comp in both 70s.

Here are the 70sbk results. no speeds on any of these, chrony wasn't picking them up. the 2 that are circled are garbage. my target had fell back words and I didn't notice till after.
09301320211_zpsca2d6a88.jpg


Went back today to re-test the top 2 charge weights. left side is 70smk and right side is 70sbk. top is 29.2gr and bottom is 29.5gr. these are the re-test from the previous target when it was leaning. just a smidgen better
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. bottom group is 70sbk retest at 29.2 and 29.5gr. all 3 shot groups.
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I will probably have to do some seating adjustments to get the sbk's to shoot how I like but for now they are good enough to test on some fur and see how they perform. I also want to get both loads ran over the chrony to see what I have going. I will probably have to make the switch to a diff powder to get better velocity but although I did have a couple flat primers, non showed any cratering and I had virtually no swipes on any of the brass. All that said, These were all fired from virgin 6.8 rem brass and I think I could still stuff a few more tenths of powder in there if I need to.
 
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Those are looking darn nice to me.
If you can get some 300&400 yards targets shot put em up.
I will run a 200 yard zero w/my build.
 
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