6 ARC brass

[Gwalt5]

I’ve HEARD, so not my experience, let me be clear. The AR comp isn’t the BEST choice for heavier bullets in 6 ARC. Have you had the same experience or is that not accurate? Lowest weight I am shooting is 105 and heaviest is the 108s. I am absolutely willing to do testing with the AR Comp powder in my rifle but I think you can give me a better answer if I provide you with some more details of what I am shooting. This is a productive conversation and I appreciate your input.

 

[Gwalt5]

I have seen belted 6ARC brass, but only from one specific barrel. That barrel (not mine) was going to belt whether it was reformed Lapua or Starline. Hornady brass was not used as there wasn't any to be found then. It was sent back and replaced. The replacement barrel has not shown a belt.

I seem to remember seeing sectioned 6ARC brass, but I cannot recall which forum. Going from memory the Horrnady had a longer ID taper from the casehead, Starline had less ID taper, and Lapua had very little of a taper. Maybe web thickness is a better word than taper in this case.

My Proofs have never shown a belt, and we will just have to see what the new Ruger American does when I start shooting boltgun loads.

I am not sure being suppressed has anything to do with your belts, but that case is pretty much done. 29.8 is pretty spicy. Out of curiosity what brand of barrel? I saw where you stayed it was a 14.5", just not brand.

Barrel is from SGT of Arms out of Texas. It is a built upper from those gentlemen. I was one of the first customers who received their in-house barrel. As mentioned before I haven’t had the belting on the hornady brass which led me to believe the brass was somehow different than hornady. I like starline brass and don’t have bad things to say about them it just seemed the hornady could handle the load better on my firearm.

 

[Gwalt5]

What bullet are you shooting with this load??

107 SMK or 108 ELDM

 

[Park ranger]

I see the belts on mine. Using 2520 powder and it works well. They sell a belt buster die that I use.

 

[SD guy]

I know this might be a hot take and I wouldn’t say it unless I experienced it with my own eyes. First I am shooting 6 ARC gas gun with 14.5” barrel so NOT a bolt gun. The hornady brass is more durable at higher pressures than the Starline brass I loaded. I was above max load but not by much. I was seeing consistent belting on starline brass. I know not everyone else has had same experience and I am not here to argue, just my experience. Below was the worst one, I also shoot suppressed and also loading with LVR. The brass with hornady with same load did not experience this same fate

Case capacity & velocity difference between head stamps, comes into question for me I suppose.

 

[bozo699]

Thank you.
From a different thread a few minutes ago. " Friends don't let Friends reload Hornady brass"

We all start from somewhere, & hopefully learn. Best wishes and good luck

I still say that’s the best statement EVER!
Wayne

 

[padom]

I’ve HEARD, so not my experience, let me be clear. The AR comp isn’t the BEST choice for heavier bullets in 6 ARC. Have you had the same experience or is that not accurate? Lowest weight I am shooting is 105 and heaviest is the 108s. I am absolutely willing to do testing with the AR Comp powder in my rifle but I think you can give me a better answer if I provide you with some more details of what I am shooting. This is a productive conversation and I appreciate your input.

I have no data with AR Comp and heavier 100gr+ pills.

I find the 80's are the sweet spot for 6ARC but thats me. 85 Sierra HPBT SGK #1530 and 87 VMAX straight hammer stupid tiny groups and fast.


Here my 85gr Sierra AR Comp load test. All groups were 0.6's or below

Here same 85gr Sierra's but with CFE223. Accuracy was there but temp changes caused huge velocity swings and high SD's with these temp swings causing consistent accuracy to be all over the place depending on the temp. If you shoot your load at the same temp you developed the load it was good though...

Here some 87 VMAX CFE223 testing 10shot groups

 

[DHD]

Barrel is from SGT of Arms out of Texas. It is a built upper from those gentlemen. I was one of the first customers who received their in-house barrel. As mentioned before I haven’t had the belting on the hornady brass which led me to believe the brass was somehow different than hornady. I like starline brass and don’t have bad things to say about them it just seemed the hornady could handle the load better on my firearm.

Familiar only because I have one of their belt buster dies. They are out of business regheaviest.

I have so many different heavier bullets for 6mm, so I tend to try to use them in 6ARC. I am beginning to think more like Padom that maybe the 87-100 grain bullets may be perfect for the case volume. Though I will often pull out a 103-108 grain bullet to load, I do have a good selection of 87-95 grain bullets and the speeds are nice.

I have stated before that I never even tried AR Comp, so there is that. Burn rate charts being what they are with some variances, it is either dead even or very close to one of my favorites. So, I have played with that range of powders and AR Comp may not give high speeds with heavier bullets in this case. However, like 8208, AR Comp may very well give stellar accuracy with the heavies.

 

[Rob01]

I use Hornady brass and load CFE 223 with 110 ATips in my 6ARC bolt gun and it shoots great. 26” barrel and if memory serves about 2750fps with the 110s.

 

[X Count]

I don't compete and am not at the level of most members here but I have been piddling with a Howa Mini in 6mmARC for a little bit. I bought 50 pieces of Starline brass and now have 8 loadings on them. I've lost 2 pieces, one user error and one on a deer and dropped the empty out of the tree.
I'm running them plenty warm and so far primer pockets are still holding primers. Currently shooting Sierra 85hpbt's at about 2960 out of 20" barrel. I've had them over 3000 but they shoot better at this speed.
I just got some Peterson brass and with the same charge weight they are running about 40fps faster. I got the same velocity from new and from once fired so I'm assuming the brass is a bit thicker but I haven't confirmed by checking H2O capacity. I was comparing side by side under the same conditions so I am confident in my velocity comparisons.
A friend gave me a bunch of Hornady he saved from a gas gun that I pin tumbled but haven't loaded yet. I'll update when I get a chance.
Wife and I are leaving to shoot speed goats in a couple weeks. Got good dope to 400 so wish us luck!

What powder are you using?

 

[SteveOak]

Also, if doing a 6 ARC bolt gun (6BR is the easy button 6 ARC was designed for an AR15 mag)... Make sure you have your smith throat the freebore longer to get the bullets up out the case since you are no longer mag length limited in a bolt gun...

6 ARC reamers are designed for an AR15 to fit in a mag unless your smith has custom ordered a 6ARC reamer with longer freebore specifically for a bolt gun, which puts your bullets down in the case eating up capacity. Your better off just going 6BR.

And for AR-15 barrel diameter limitation.

 

[Gwalt5]

Familiar only because I have one of their belt buster dies. They are out of business regheaviest.

I have so many different heavier bullets for 6mm, so I tend to try to use them in 6ARC. I am beginning to think more like Padom that maybe the 87-100 grain bullets may be perfect for the case volume. Though I will often pull out a 103-108 grain bullet to load, I do have a good selection of 87-95 grain bullets and the speeds are nice.

I have stated before that I never even tried AR Comp, so there is that. Burn rate charts being what they are with some variances, it is either dead even or very close to one of my favorites. So, I have played with that range of powders and AR Comp may not give high speeds with heavier bullets in this case. However, like 8208, AR Comp may very well give stellar accuracy with the heavies.

I don’t think they are out of business or maybe we are talking about two different companies. Here is link https://www.sgtofarms.com/

 

[DHD]

I don’t think they are out of business or maybe we are talking about two different companies. Here is link https://www.sgtofarms.com/

Same one.

MTE Machining is made up of a few of the ex-employees.

 

[Evan]

Does an AR really have that much unsupported case that you can blow out the brass like that? I would assume the barrel was improperly chambered if that came out of a bolt gun.

In my 222, Starline has significantly less internal volume than Norma. A safe but high charge in Norma will blow the primer out of a Starline. Have you checked the H2O capacity of the Hornady and Starline to see if there is a difference?

 

[TrapperBR549]

What powder are you using?

Leverevolution

 

[JaoeyP]

I have no data with AR Comp and heavier 100gr+ pills.

I find the 80's are the sweet spot for 6ARC but thats me. 85 Sierra HPBT SGK #1530 and 87 VMAX straight hammer stupid tiny groups and fast.


Here my 85gr Sierra AR Comp load test. All groups were 0.6's or below

Here same 85gr Sierra's but with CFE223. Accuracy was there but temp changes caused huge velocity swings and high SD's with these temp swings causing consistent accuracy to be all over the place depending on the temp. If you shoot your load at the same temp you developed the load it was good though...

Here some 87 VMAX CFE223 testing 10shot groups

I have yet to have a barrel/chamber that won't shoot 87gr vmax bullets into stupid tiny groups. 243 win, several 6gt barrels, and my 6ARC have all shot that bullet really well. And in spite of their lowish BC they hold up really well at longer ranges. I've shot them to 1000 on steel with ease and have prairie dog kills past 900 with them. Love this bullet.

 

[JaoeyP]

Thank you.
From a different thread a few minutes ago. " Friends don't let Friends reload Hornady brass"

We all start from somewhere, & hopefully learn. Best wishes and good luck

Hornady brass can be decent. It isn't the quality of Peterson, Alpha, or Lapua, but it isn't all garbage. One has to understand some things about it.

1. Once fire brass from Hornady factory ammo is NOT the same as once fired brass from handloads. Hornady factory ammunition is built to have maximum performance as ammunition NOT to be the ammo with brass you will get the most loadings out of. You will not get the same life out of this as purchasing unfired Hornady brass.

2. Not all of their brass is the same quality across cartridges. My 6GT brass from Hornady has been better than any other Hornady brass I've had. It has 11 firings on it. Primer pockets are starting to go. It's first 3 firings were on the edge of over pressure. Maybe I could have gotten more firings if I hadn't stepped on it those first few cycles.

3. Just because it won't take the same pressure as brass costing 1.5-3x the cost doesn't make it junk. Load it to it's capabilities and carry on.

4. Sometimes cheap brass is best. If you're hunting or shooting a match where it's impractical to pick up your brass cheaper brass is far better to leave behind than expensive brass.

5. I find its price is pretty relative to its number of loading. Example: 6gt Hornady is $.80/piece. You can get 11 loadings on it. Alpha 6gt is $1.25/piece. It will go 16-18 loadings. Which is better for the money?

6. If you're seaking THE absolute most consistent brass for bench or F-class it probably isn't going to be the lower priced Hornady brass.