Relaoding 6.8 SPC

[N8Dawg96]

I am having a hard time reloading my 6.8 SPC. Nosler says a Remington 9 1/2 primer is needed, but it doesn't fit in the primer pocket of the case. I am fairly new to reloading and I am really confused as to what primer I need to use. Can any one bring some for site on this problem I am having.


Thank you
N8Dawg96

 

[catskinner]

Some 6.8 brass is small rifle primers and some is large rifle primers.

 

[J E Custom]

I am having a hard time reloading my 6.8 SPC. Nosler says a Remington 9 1/2 primer is needed, but it doesn't fit in the primer pocket of the case. I am fairly new to reloading and I am really confused as to what primer I need to use. Can any one bring some for site on this problem I am having.


Thank you
N8Dawg96

I don,t know what brand of brass you have , but the 6.8 SPC is based on the old 30 Remington
and they both use Large rifle primers.

The case head is .422 compaired to the 223s .378. this allows the case to use a large rifle primer.

Let us know what cases you are using and maybe we can help you.

I have a 6.8 SPC and it uses the Large rifle primer (9 1/2 LR).

J E CUSTOM

 

[N8Dawg96]

I am using a Hornady brand for my brass. Thank you for the help

 

[durak]

I am using a Hornady brand for my brass. Thank you for the help

Hornady and SSA use small rifle primers, Remington uses large.....

 

[N8Dawg96]

Thank You for all the help. I am now going on the hard look for WSR primers.

 

[knc1105]

Is your rifle the traditional 6.8 SPC with a 1-10 twist barrel or the 6.8 SPCII with the 1-11 twist barrel? They like completely different loads and bullets. I have loaded for both, the SPCII with the higher pressure chamber and the slower twist for lighter faster bullets is awesome. I am getting 2,900fps out of a Boran Coated 100 gr Nosler which puts it on par with a 243 Win. instead of a AK-47. My older 6.8 is 2,555fps out of a 115 gr MTK which is about equal to a AK round 124 gr at 2425. The SPCII shoots flat for a AR platform. I know it's not a Grendel but everything I've shot at ended up in my freezer. They were all DRT, even a 350-400lb hog. Bang drop.

 

[J E Custom]

Is your rifle the traditional 6.8 SPC with a 1-10 twist barrel or the 6.8 SPCII with the 1-11 twist barrel? They like completely different loads and bullets. I have loaded for both, the SPCII with the higher pressure chamber and the slower twist for lighter faster bullets is awesome. I am getting 2,900fps out of a Boran Coated 100 gr Nosler which puts it on par with a 243 Win. instead of a AK-47. My older 6.8 is 2,555fps out of a 115 gr MTK which is about equal to a AK round 124 gr at 2425. The SPCII shoots flat for a AR platform. I know it's not a Grendel but everything I've shot at ended up in my freezer. They were all DRT, even a 350-400lb hog. Bang drop.

What kind of loads are you using Knc?

I looked at the Grendel before I bought the 6.8 SPC and did not find anything close to the 6.8
in velocity and energy.

The best load I could find for the Grendel was Hornady at 2620 ft/sec for 1875 ft/lbs energy.

The best load I found for the 6.8 SPC was Remington's 115 grain at 2800 ft/sec and 2002 ft/lbs
of energy.

I really liked the looks of the Grendel but the nearly 200 ft/sec velocity advantage and the 125+
ft/lbs of the 6.8 SPC swayed me and the 30 plus brands or types of ammo compared to the
6 or 7 brands or types for the Grendel 6.5 Grendel made it a simple choice for me.

All of the ammo I used as a comparison was factory ammo so I guess reloads could produce
more in ether round but you are limited to port pressure in an AR platform.

Don,t get me wrong I realy liked both but chose the 6.8 because of it,s apparent advantages.

Both rounds will beat the 7.62x 39 AK round with an average energy of 1450 to 1525 ft/lbs and
the best loads were 1659 ft/lbs of energy.

Just asking.

J E CUSTOM

 

[catskinner]

Knc, I'd like to know some of your loads also. I have some 115 grain match kings coming, but I may have to order up some 90 grain hollow points to see what I can get. I have the spcII chamber also. I have a jug of varget and one of IMR 4895 on hand, but I'm thinking I may need some faster burning powder. Any ideas would be cool.

 

[knc1105]

In my original 6.8 16" 1-10 twist the 115 MTK's shot fantastic. But I wanted to push it faster and flatter because the 115gr at 2,555fps fell off fast after 400 yards. The accuracy was still there but you were lobbing them in. The MTK bullet shoot very well but other bullets perform better on game. The SPCII allows a higher chamber pressure and a slower twist rate at 1-11 so it likes the 90-100 gr bullets smoking downrange. And that's what I wanted, a flat shooting hunting round out of a quick handling lightweight Jeep-friendly rifle. That load is with a Nosler Solid Base 100 gr bullet from the early 1980's but is almost identical the current Nosler Accubond except it has a lead tip instead of the new polymer. The original 6.8 is a 16" barrel which is what the round was developed for, my SPCII is a 20" barrel trying to get more velocity. Both loads used Remington brass with large rifle primers. That used to be all you could get and I bought a bunch, so both rifles will spend their life on Remington brass. Both have uniformed flash holes and benchrest primers. Both rifles shoot 1/8 MOA out of a sled at a 100 yard indoor range. I will PM you the info because I am reluctant to publish it because both rifles have been fire-lapped with Tubbs Final Finish and use Boran Nitride coated bullets. Fire-lapping and Boran Coating both reduce friction and drop chamber pressure so powder charges are increased. But the Boran Coating and Tubbs TMS (Throat Maintenence Service rounds) when used properly quadruple useful barrel life. Both loads are just over the published max so I worry about folks reading my post and using that in a un-lapped barrel with a naked bullet and exceeding published chamber pressures.

 

[knc1105]

I forgot to mention on the Boran reducing friction and adding so much to your barrel life it also keeps barrel temps way down. That should not matter much on a 6.8 but on my Lilja #5 contour barrel on my 338 RUM it makes a huge difference. I wanted to keep that rifle "Hunter Weight" I'm getting too old to pack a 28" bull barrel around in the mountains hunting. If you take a temp reading on the barrel using one of the thermal guns you point at it and get a digital temp reading, your barrel (for me) was cooler after firing 5- shots with a Boran Nitride coated bullet than it was after shooting only 2- Naked uncoated bullets. So it is possible to fire more bullets before barrel temps on the lighter profile barrel open up your groups. Please don't start with the cute remarks about you only fire once. We got into a herd of long range wild hogs, that we had trouble getting close enough to use our 7.62x39 AR's on, and when there are 30-40 hogs in a single herd destroying your Coastal fields you shoot till the barrel starts to glow. (I'm kidding about ruining my barrel) But in a open field at day break you could get off more shots than you normally would like to shoot a RUM caliber without stopping. The Boran coating is NOT hyrdoscopic like moly, it does not draw moisture and rust barrels like some have had happen using the moly coating.

 

[knc1105]

The SPCII load chronied 2,894-2,903 with first shot in the string of 5 being the highest at 2,903 for a 100 gr. Nosler.

 

[catskinner]

Yeah I'm definitely going to pick up some of those 90-100 grainers to try. I was thinking the 115 smk or the 120 sst to give a little better wind bucking ability. It will come down to accuracy in the end, but it sounds like it shoots everything real nice.

 

[catskinner]

What is the process with the boran coating?