Barrell length 26". Velocity 2950 fps with an ES of 30.4 and SD of 4.1 (10 shots).
Honestly, I was getting that speed with 75gr Amax and 75gr VLDs out of a 20" service rifle chambered in 223 Wylde. They were my 600 yd slow fire load. Yes, I had to feed them one round at a time. If I wanted to step up from a 223 in a gas gun, I'd just go to a 223 AI and call it done. The ARC will feed heavier bullets from an AR mag, but they are running too slow to generate any significant increase in down range performance IMHO. If your application requires a heavy bullet, and a gas gun then the ARC is probably the best bet just because it fits in the mag, but in that situation I'd take a serious look at what you could get from a Hdy 75gr HPBT Match bullet out of a 223AI which CAN fit in an AR mag. My guess would be that the actual down range performance would be similar to what you can get out of the ARC chamber, but the brass and bullets are both going to be a LOT cheaper.
Switch the conversation to a bolt gun, and its a completely different story. Now you're in the same category as a 22BR. 22ARC, 22 BRA, 22 GT, or 22 Dasher? The question is really a matter of how much case capacity you need to push your bullet of choice to the velocity node that you really want to reach. If you're like me, you automatically want as much case capacity as you can get, but if you increase your case capacity, how many powders are there that can take advantage of the added volume? Even though all but the ARC have been around for a while now, I'm still not seeing a lot of reports about super accurate loads at higher velocities. That doesn't mean those loads don't exist. I just haven't seen anything about them. Most of the time shooters are bragging about the accuracy of their load, but you end up finding out that they aren't pushing the bullet any faster than the would out of the smaller BR, ARC, or even PPC case. I'm wanting to build a bolt gun in one of these cartridges, and I've come to the conclusion that I probably won't gain any down range performance from the BRA or GT case without spending a lot of time and $$ at the bench trying a bunch of different powders. There was a time when I would have LOVED to do that, but I just don't have the free time these days. I'm better off sticking to the BR case because there's so much data available for it. I think that data can be easily leveraged to the 22 ARC in a gas gun also. That's just a question of how much do I want to spend for good brass, and how do I want to get it. Do I want to spend the money and neck down 6BR Lapua brass, or do I want to buy 6.5 Grendel brass from Peterson and neck that down, or do I not care all that much about the quality of the brass and just go with 22 ACR brass from Hornady? Since I'm looking at a custom build, I've decided the cost of the brass won't be a factor and I'm most likely going with 22BR. If I want more speed than that, I really need to step up to 22 CM, 22XC, or 22x47. I'm not ready for something that eats a barrel in 1500 rounds yet, so I'm going with the BR case.
As far as shooting the same bullet goes, the faster you push the bullet, the less it will drift in the wind. There's no other magic involved. A higher BC bullet from a case of SIMILAR size will always have less wind drift even if the lower BC bullet is a little faster. If you're shooting at unknown distances (like with PDs) the question is whether you'll gain more by having less wind drift (heavier, higher BC bullets) or a flatter trajectory (lighter, lower BC bullets). I'm wanting to whack PDs at 300-500 yds, and most of my misses with a 223 at those distances are due to trajectory so my plan is to focus on something that will push the 62gr ELD-VT around 3500 fps. If I were trying to bang steel at longer (known and fixed) distances, I'd be more interested in 80+gr projectiles.
