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Hornady 6mm ARC "New" cartridge

damoncali said:
It's more a matter of having to have this discussion at all. If the cartridges are so similar that you even have to think about this, then you can probably just use the older cartridge. I'm all for innovation though. If it catches on, great. the mid-sized 6mm market is getting REALLY crowded though...
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I imagine it was the legal issues of standardizing the 6mm Grendel. In order to not have IP battles with a variety of entities or the liability of existing systems out there that would be interchangeable with the "new" round but not standardized, it made the most sense to change it a small amount and move forward with a unique set of specifications that would not directly conflict with anything currently available.

I agree that the small 6mm space is pretty well saturated for reloaders and wildcatters, but not for the off-the-shelf general users. I'm happy that things are moving this direction instead of towards larger and larger magnums for hunting use-cases that I and many others have no use for. I could see an exciting new world of factory-class competition coming out of something like this - it's the closest thing to a factory 6 PPC and is quite likely going to get A LOT of support from the mainstream gun industry. This could be a great way to bring new people in to BR type competition. What if GMM makes 6ARC ammo that, in high quality rifles, aggs in the 2's? Like an Berger 68FB off the shelf for short-range. Or a 95 or 105 for mid-range. What if a factory IBS class existed where that is competitive and the focus is on flags and gun handling? You could get more people excited about competing if that were the case. This round has a better chance of that then other SAAMI rounds.
 
Evan said:
I imagine it was the legal issues of standardizing the 6mm Grendel. In order to not have IP battles with a variety of entities or the liability of existing systems out there that would be interchangeable with the "new" round but not standardized, it made the most sense to change it a small amount and move forward with a unique set of specifications that would not directly conflict with anything currently available.

I agree that the small 6mm space is pretty well saturated for reloaders and wildcatters, but not for the off-the-shelf general users. I'm happy that things are moving this direction instead of towards larger and larger magnums for hunting use-cases that I and many others have no use for. I could see an exciting new world of factory-class competition coming out of something like this - it's the closest thing to a factory 6 PPC and is quite likely going to get A LOT of support from the mainstream gun industry. This could be a great way to bring new people in to BR type competition. What if GMM makes 6ARC ammo that, in high quality rifles, aggs in the 2's? Like an Berger 68FB off the shelf for short-range. Or a 95 or 105 for mid-range. What if a factory IBS class existed where that is competitive and the focus is on flags and gun handling? You could get more people excited about competing if that were the case. This round has a better chance of that then other SAAMI rounds.
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Good point. Don't get me started on patenting 100+ year old technology or things like reticles...

Also a fair point on the factory offerings. It does fill a void there. I don't think it will bring anything new to accuracy minded shooters because we do have so much. There are so, so many options in between a 6PPC and a 6XC (which I would argue is the largest sensible 6mm). But you never know. It's probably a good round that you can shoot in both an AR and a bolt gun for a lot of purposes.
 
I am very favorably impressed with the many responses on this new cartridge.

I offer a couple of observations about the ARC shoulder and neck lengths:

First: As others have already correctly observed, Hornady sacrificed a little bit of powder capacity to allow the longest nose bullets for optimal long range performance.

Second: Hornady is very familiar with the logic inherent in the Grendel design which also allows for long nose bullets. The difference is that long range bullet noses have grown a bit in the 10+ years since the Grendel design was fixed.

An additional observation: This cartridge is an excellent choice for the hunter who wants to use both light weight bullets for varmints and still be able to hunt deer with the AR15.

The Grendel, however, can use bullets weighing as much as 160 grains which allows for ethical harvesting of heavier game while using an AR15.
 
The 6mm bullets are more bifurcated with the heavy bullets +100 gr designed for precision/long range, and the 80gr class bullets for hunting. The long throat of the 6ARC may be problematic with the traditional 6mm hunting bullets... potential issue with excessive jump. I believe this is main reason that forced Hornady to develope a complimentary heavy-weight, long ogee hunting bullet. Only time at range by reloaders will determine how well 6ARC performs with traditional 6mm hunting bullets, or whether the chamber is limited to only using heavy long ogee bullet profiles... and bullet manufacturers will start designing high BC hunting bullets if demand is sufficient.

If I were selecting a cartridge geared toward hunting then the 6.5 Grendel edges out the 6ARC. The 6.5 Grendel has a greater selection for purpose-built bullets, both hunting and precision, that are all in same weight class so not as concerned with excess jump.
 
JASmith said:
I am very favorably impressed with the many responses on this new cartridge.

I offer a couple of observations about the ARC shoulder and neck lengths:

First: As others have already correctly observed, Hornady sacrificed a little bit of powder capacity to allow the longest nose bullets for optimal long range performance.

Second: Hornady is very familiar with the logic inherent in the Grendel design which also allows for long nose bullets. The difference is that long range bullet noses have grown a bit in the 10+ years since the Grendel design was fixed.

An additional observation: This cartridge is an excellent choice for the hunter who wants to use both light weight bullets for varmints and still be able to hunt deer with the AR15.

The Grendel, however, can use bullets weighing as much as 160 grains which allows for ethical harvesting of heavier game while using an AR15.
Click to expand...

I agree the 6.5 Grendel is a better choice for heavy game, (elk, ) a bit lite for moose. While the 6MM ARC better suits the varmint, deer, Eastern US elk. Although years ago I met a woman who took an adult polar bear with a 243.
 
Oso said:
The 6mm bullets are more bifurcated with the heavy bullets +100 gr designed for precision/long range, and the 80gr class bullets for hunting. The long throat of the 6ARC may be problematic with the traditional 6mm hunting bullets... potential issue with excessive jump. I believe this is main reason that forced Hornady to develope a complimentary heavy-weight, long ogee hunting bullet. Only time at range by reloaders will determine how well 6ARC performs with traditional 6mm hunting bullets, or whether the chamber is limited to only using heavy long ogee bullet profiles... and bullet manufacturers will start designing high BC hunting bullets if demand is sufficient.

If I were selecting a cartridge geared toward hunting then the 6.5 Grendel edges out the 6ARC. The 6.5 Grendel has a greater selection for purpose-built bullets, both hunting and precision, that are all in same weight class so not as concerned with excess jump.
Click to expand...

Having shot 6MM before it was a thing I wouldn't worry much about the throat issue unless it pops up, it never was a show stopper for me. My rifle is well over 30 years old.

My 6MM Remington has been shot so much it's on its second barrel. With 70 grain Hornady VMAX the last 10, 300 yard groups averaged 1 1/16" and clocked an average of 3,900 FPS. I use it mainly for crows and chucks. I had worked a load for Hornady 100 grain spire points for deer at 3,100 FPS with about 1 1/2" 300 yard groups. It was unfair to hunt deer with it.

A 107 grain sierra loads got me a bit over 3,200 FPS and produced 1 1/8" 300 yard groups. This is a factory Remington 700 BDL with a 26" heavy barrel and when the barrel failed I replaced it with a 26" heavy factory Remington barrel.
 
243Mendoza said:
Can someone show me how one get 2750fps out of a 18" barrel with a 108gr bullet under 52000psi?

I tried with Quickload without success.
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You can’t, I’m not sure why you are trying. 18” 6ARC is ~2600fps staying at that pressure or below with a 108ELD-M.
 
It seems to be the fad today to take something small (ARable) and try to make it do something big. 90% of the people who buy this don't own a chrono, so as long as they can hit a deer in the ear or Coke cans at 1K yards, it's all good.
 
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