[Techiesplat]

UPDATED...I could just bust...

>>>Go to the bottom for update<<<

Hey all. I've been pretty much a low profile member thus far but I guess its time I open up. Thought I'd take a little time and share my personal story of the 6.8.

I picked up my 6.8 a few months ago and immediately shot a few rounds through it (Hornady factory ammo). I was very impressed with it at the time, and even though I spent countless hours researching the 6.8, I just never could really "warm up to it". It could have had something to do with the lack of affordable ammo, or the confusion surrounding the 6.8 round. ...will it be around next week...will a "hot" load blow up in my face because I don't have the "correct" barrel...which chamber do I have...does the 6.8 really "fall on it's face" after 400 yds...

You see where I'm coming from here?

I have owned and used guns of all types (primarily handguns) for most of my life (about 40 years worth), and every gun I have owned involved a pretty simple, low tech approach to running it:
Step 1. Go to the store and buy ammo.
Step 2. Drive out to the country.
Step 3. Load said gun.
Step 4. Blow Stuff up!!

I have never reloaded ammo before in my life. I have never watched anyone reload ammo. ...no clue about reloading ammo. Get it?

O.K., so...fast forward to today. I never gave up on my lowly 6.8 and I slowly amassed a little gear and alot of info.

Let me take this time to say, after over researching the 6.8 (I waaaay over research everything...just ask my wife), I determined that it was the perfect round (for me). I don't hunt anything in my little part of the world that the 6.8 can't take down easily. I already have a 5.56 AR and a 7.62X39 AK, and I decided to sell the 7.62X51 PTR91 and replace it with the 6.8 AR. It also doesn't hurt that I am a fan of the AR format.

...bored yet?

I know, I know...get to the point already. You all have heard this story a million times...right? O.K....so...last night I sat down, organized my work area, assembled all my gear, and I made 10 rounds!!!!

Couldn't wait to get home from work today so I could try them out. Remember, this is the first time I EVER loaded my own ammo. Well, I'm happy to say that I still have all my fingers and facial type parts intact!!!! WooHoo!!!!

...and I owe it all to you guys. I've been layin' back and taking it all in for several months now...and I can say that I am fully committed to the 6.8SPC round as of today. I must say that it was with a great deal of trepidation that I squeezed off that first "homemade" round tonight, but man was it ever SWEEEET! I fired off 4 rounds without shooting for accuracy and checked each brass for signs of over-pressure...none. Then I decided to shoot the last 6 for accuracy. I don't have a proper shooting bench set up yet, so I shot 2 groups of 3 rounds standing from about 75 yds. The first group was a mess, then I settled down and shot a 1" group!! I know...right? Me so happy!! Can't wait to see what she'll do from a bench. Looks like I need more supplies.

On to the details:
DPMS 6.8SPC w/ 1-10 twist 16" barrel
Got on the list early, so the reamer showed a couple weeks ago and I reamed it out to "SPCII"
Simmons 44 Mag 3X10X44 scope
C Products 30 round mag
Remington brass
Remington 9 1/2 primers
Hornady 100gr SP #2710 projectiles
30gr of H335
OAL 2.280"

I want to thank everyone who contributes to this forum for "enabling" me in this project. I truly couldn't have done it without you all.

THANKS

>>>UPDATE 9 June 2009<<<

Finally!!! I finally built a shooting bench and set it up as a permanent unit on my property. I could only squeeze 90 yards out of the space I have to work with, but I figure...better than nothin'.
Last night was the first time I actually got to see what this baby would do. I'm still "dialing in" the bench and my positioning, but I am very excited about last nights performance. Shooting the above mentioned handloads, I shot a 3 round 1" group with the 4th round a called flyer which opened it up to 1.5". More impressively though, my son in-law is home from the sandbox for a couple weeks and he shot a 4 round 1" group on his first try. We only had enough light last night for a couple rounds each, but I'm sure with a little more time behind the wheel, this setup will easily shoot one ragged hole.
...and more impressive still is the fact that these are my first handloads ever. Thanks to 68forum, all the hard work/testing was done for me.

 

[Raph]

That's really cool, congrats!

 

[ArtFWTx]

Nice success story. I'm happy for you. Now you can develop loads to maximize your rifle. DPMS barrels tend to be accurate so I'm sure you'll be having lots of fun with it and your hand load recipes.

 

[Cold]

Good read, thanks for sharing!

 

[Bushman_269]

Congrats! Welcome to your new addiction - Handloading!

You can never go back to factory ammo now that you have experienced to supreme joy of shooting your own creations. Wait till you harvest you first game animal with a load you rolled your own on! It only gets better with practice and experience. Practice safe loading techniques and have a blast (wait that didn't come out right), I meant have fun. Yeah, that's the ticket.

 

[Guest]

You aren't kiddin when you say addiction and can't go back to factory ammo. About 2yrs ago the 6.8,reading posts on the original 6.8forum from Paulo, Tim, and Constructor got me to get a single stage press and start reloading. I have reloaded over 10k rounds since. I couldn't imagine NOT reloading. I have a few bolt guns that have never seen factory ammo.

+1 to you!!

 

[rushca01]

Congrats! Come on in the water is fine, post away!

 

[Equalizer_2]

Welcome to the world of reloading. You don't save any money by reloading, you just get to shoot more for the same money.

Just one rule to remember with reloading, do absolutely nothing else! When you reload, you reload. You don't drink, watch TV or anything else. Follow that rule and you will really enjoy yourself.

 

[Jamesb74]

Welcome to the world of reloading. You don't save any money by reloading, you just get to shoot more for the same money.

Just one rule to remember with reloading, do absolutely nothing else! When you reload, you reload. You don't drink, watch TV or anything else. Follow that rule and you will really enjoy yourself.

This is absolutly true. although I do throw some music on in the background but that is a differnt thing. Welcome to reloading and 6.8.

 

[JerBear]

Welcome to the wide world of reloading, but beware--it is habit forming and will lead to stronger addictions! Once you've done it for awhile, you'll find yourself dreaming of building a reloading/shooting cabin next to the 600 yd. range you built on the 40 acres you bought out in the wilderness...

Anyway, that's what I'm dreaming about!

 

[Techiesplat]

Thanks for the positive words everyone. I forgot to mention that I was so happy with the first 10 rounds last night, that I went inside and loaded up the remaining 90 Hornady projectiles.

Looking forward to the long weekend. I plan on hitting a friends 200 yd range to really "let this dog hunt". I'll let you all know how that goes later.

I do have a couple questions though:

1. How many times is safe to reload 6.8 cases? (I'm guessing it depends on the brass and pressures you use)
I weighed the brass and the SSA weighs about 3 GRAINS (whatever that works out to) more than the Remington brass. Don't know if that makes a difference or not.

2. After shooting several more hand loads from last night, If I'm happy with the performance, do I really "need" to adjust the powder weight up or down? (No, I do not have a chrono to play with...yet)

3. I'm going to try and load some Sierra 130gr stuff and I noticed from the info that Paulo posted, it looks like if you use the same powder with heavier bullets, then you should use less powder. I'm guessing that (from tons of confusing stuff that I have read) this is because the heavier bullet is harder to "push" out of the barrel and therefore will create more pressure? Is this true?

That's all for now. Thanks again everyone.

 

[JerBear]

I do have a couple questions though:

1. How many times is safe to reload 6.8 cases? (I'm guessing it depends on the brass and pressures you use)
I weighed the brass and the SSA weighs about 3 GRAINS (whatever that works out to) more than the Remington brass. Don't know if that makes a difference or not.

You're right--it depends, but I've reloaded SSA small primer brass up to 10 times and it's looks OK.

3 grains??? Something is wrong here--gotta weigh more than that.

2. After shooting several more hand loads from last night, If I'm happy with the performance, do I really "need" to adjust the powder weight up or down? (No, I do not have a chrono to play with...yet)

No if it's accurate and reliable; focus instead on consistency when measuring (trim length, powder weight, and overall cartridge length). Without a chrono it's hard to do load development; accuracy and NO signs of excess pressure are your friends.

3. I'm going to try and load some Sierra 130gr stuff and I noticed from the info that Paulo posted, it looks like if you use the same powder with heavier bullets, then you should use less powder. I'm guessing that (from tons of confusing stuff that I have read) this is because the heavier bullet is harder to "push" out of the barrel and therefore will create more pressure? Is this true?

That's all for now. Thanks again everyone.

Yes, basic rule--less powder for heavier bullets!!! First thing to do is start with the powder mfgr. load data--often they don't even recommend using the same powder for light and heavy bullets. You CANNOT guess at this!!! Please read the manual! One of the "sticky" threads in the "reloading forum" has the mfgr. load data--check them out and work your loads up carefully and DO NOT exceed the maximum!

 

[Techiesplat]

Bumped TTT for update.

 

[BLACK LION]

Good read, thanks for sharing!

copy that ... +1

 

[sharpshooter08]

Good read and welcome to the 68 world!

 

[David]

+1 on doing nothing else while reloading. Once, in my younger and (even) dumber days I reversed the "grains" and the "tenths" on my scale and loaded 46.3 gr of a propellant instead of 43.6 into a 308 Win with 165 gr bullets.

I knew something was amiss when the chrono read 3000 fps and change. You all know what that meant.

It was a Remington 7600 and I couldn't get the action to open. A 'smith disassembled the gun and pried the case out of the bolt face. It looked like a belted magnum and you could have put a shotgun primer into the primer pocket, so obviously the brass had flowed entirely into that Remington bolt face. The gun was unharmed and shot fine afterward before I sold it to buy something self-loading.

Needless to say, that's the sort of thing you do only once. It kind of sticks with you.

When I originally worked up loads for my M1S [SAAMI & 9.5:1 twist] 20" chrome-lined barrel I found that only Remington 9 1/2 primers could take the beating of getting anywhere near manual max for H322 and 115 gr bullets. Is this typical in others' experience?

[For the record, I've already decided not to shoot these hot loads in the M1S barrel and will await my Xtreme from Tim W. before I launch any more 6.8 bullets.]

 

[works4me]

I wonder where we would all be if Paulo did not buy that damn reamer?

Thanks Paulo

 

[paulosantos]

I wonder where we would all be if Paulo did not buy that damn reamer?

Thanks Paulo

Anytime. Cool Avatar.

 

[Equalizer_2]

I know I would be trying to unload an upper that just did not allow the 6.8 to stretch its legs. I will probably keep it to play with but my primary will be my SAM-R.

 

[Capt. Tyree]

Handloading

Handloading is one of the few things in this world that is part science and part art, with the final expression of bullets accurately placed downrange as being a good part sport. It's all about attention to detail, understanding one's equipment and it's limits, and the continuous improvement of oneself in all those aspects.

It is one of the few things in life that we truly do get better at as we get older.

How well I can understand those same feelings of pride in successfully completing this first project. May we all have many more projects and the resources available to complete them.