Hornady's 6mm ARC. Who's all in?

[Hambo]

What does the hive mind think? Is the ARC the cartridge that keeps the AR viable well into the 21st Century or is it just another AR Wildcat in a market awash with oddball chamberings?

Like any real wildcatter, I'm going to wait to see which one survives. In 5-10 years, I'll become fascinated by the ones that didn't and scrounge dies and form brass, while lecturing on why you all chose poorly.

[Bergeron]

True that the 7.62x39 or Grendel bolt face is pretty thin but are bolt failures all that common? Heck, I've seen .223 bolts fail. I guess nothing lasts forever exception M1 Garand bolts....

https://www.whiteoakarmament.com/blo...w-6mm-arc.html

While an AR bolt really is a wear item, and should treated as such, I don’t like the idea of less life than a 5.56 bolt. The improvements to bolt design and material such as offered by KAC, LMT, and JP are encouraging, but we’re still butting up against materials science and physics with a .440” bolt head in an AR-15 small frame rifle. There’s no opportunity to go to a M855A1 pressure spec, at all, and like WOA was saying, the 52kpsi peak chamber pressure is a direct comment on an AR-15 .440” bolt.

There is a lot to like with the 6ARC, and it would be fun to play with one, no matter the rifle design. I’m sure people with them will greatly enjoy their rifles, and I do think it’s a great was to have a carbine that’ll also be good for use on light-skinned medium game, particularly for states with a 6mm floor.

I still would only want it in a stronger gun, with a larger (and hopefully polymer) magazine. I sure don’t expect any manufacturers to cater to my weird wants, though, and I do think that 6ARC shooters will enjoy their guns, and I really would prefer the cartridge flourish.

[Tokarev]

While an AR bolt really is a wear item, and should treated as such, I don’t like the idea of less life than a 5.56 bolt. The improvements to bolt design and material such as offered by KAC, LMT, and JP are encouraging, but we’re still butting up against materials science and physics with a .440” bolt head in an AR-15 small frame rifle. There’s no opportunity to go to a M855A1 pressure spec, at all, and like WOA was saying, the 52kpsi peak chamber pressure is a direct comment on an AR-15 .440” bolt.

There is a lot to like with the 6ARC, and it would be fun to play with one, no matter the rifle design. I’m sure people with them will greatly enjoy their rifles, and I do think it’s a great was to have a carbine that’ll also be good for use on light-skinned medium game, particularly for states with a 6mm floor.

I still would only want it in a stronger gun, with a larger (and hopefully polymer) magazine. I sure don’t expect any manufacturers to cater to my weird wants, though, and I do think that 6ARC shooters will enjoy their guns, and I really would prefer the cartridge flourish.

Here's a stronger gun. At least I think it probably is:

https://www.ruger.com/products/miniT...eets/5854.html

This would be, in theory, nothing more than a barrel swap although the curved 7.62x39 mag may not work well with the more straight walled ARC case.

Accuracy Systems shows 6 ARC as an available option although I wonder how many he's actually converted:

https://www.ruger-mini-14-firearms.c...ini_prices.php

Regarding plastic mags; how well does 6.5 Grendel work in the 6.8 Magpul mags? It might be possible to put a 6 ARC together on that receiver set although you'd still be saddled with the AR15 bolt.

Maybe this is all much ado about nothing as I assume Hornady knows what they're doing and had a good reason for not basing the 6 ARC off the 6.8 case. Time will tell, I guess.

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[Tokarev]

The Mini-30 sort of got me wondering about bolt guns.

Ruger has two options that should be readily converted. One is a 7.62x39 that feeds from Mini-30 mags:

https://www.ruger.com/products/ameri...ets/16976.html

The other is a 6.5 Grendel that feeds from AR mags:

https://www.ruger.com/products/ameri...ets/36926.html

Either format might work although the AR format would seem to be the easier choice. Add a Magpul or MDT stock and you'd have a fairly light, short and handy bolt gun.

Does anyone make AI pattern mags that work with Grendel sized cases?

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[Shotgun]

Like any real wildcatter, I'm going to wait to see which one survives. In 5-10 years, I'll become fascinated by the ones that didn't and scrounge dies and form brass, while lecturing on why you all chose poorly.

Ha! Good post, and isn't that the truth. It's seems like most of the Grendel guys, and now the ARC guys, enjoy building their own rifles. That's a hobby unto itself. They talk about which of this and that is best for their builds. Most also seem to enjoy reloading and tweaking their load recipes to get some perceived level of performance increase. We have an element in the shooting sports who like tinkering with their guns and loads as much as shooting I think. Grendel and ARC fit those guys to a T.

[OlongJohnson]

Like any real wildcatter, I'm going to wait to see which one survives. In 5-10 years, I'll become fascinated by the ones that didn't and scrounge dies and form brass, while lecturing on why you all chose poorly.

But you'll be running them with a 10-inch Contender barrel, so they'll all underperform and put a flash-bang in your face anyway.

The Mini-30 sort of got me wondering about bolt guns.

The Howa Mini is another good option chambered in 7.62 Commie and 6.5G. Especially the Carbon Stalker version that is trickling into the market, if you want to go that way. Much smoother, nicer action than any lower-cost Ruger. There are 1.5 sources for hinged-floorplate bottom metal to make it more carryable in the field, and one of them also makes a 17.5-oz stock if you don't go for the factory lightweight stock. There has been noise in the past about the 6.5G having feeding issues with factory mags, but I recently went down this rabbit hole and didn't see much recent. The hive mind on 65Gforum may have figured it out.

In an AR platform, a 6x45 or .25-45 Sharps may nip at the heels of the ARC as a hunting option with a standard bolt face.

ETA:
I just checked Hodgdon data, and .257 Kimber sends a given bullet weight considerably faster than the 6mm ARC. People who do the .25-204 wildcat use .257 Kimber load data, as it's only tiny differences and ultimately the same parent case. Basically equals the .250 Savage. A 6-.204 would likely be similar to the 6 ARC or maybe a little better. The .204 case comes out a little long for mag length in an AR unless you're shooting light/short bullets, but works well in the hinged floor plate setups for the Howa.

[Tokarev]

But you'll be running them with a 10-inch Contender barrel, so they'll all underperform and put a flash-bang in your face anyway.




The Howa Mini is another good option chambered in 7.62 Commie and 6.5G. Especially the Carbon Stalker version that is trickling into the market, if you want to go that way. Much smoother, nicer action than any lower-cost Ruger. There are 1.5 sources for hinged-floorplate bottom metal to make it more carryable in the field, and one of them also makes a 17.5-oz stock if you don't go for the factory lightweight stock. There has been noise in the past about the 6.5G having feeding issues with factory mags, but I recently went down this rabbit hole and didn't see much recent. The hive mind on 65Gforum may have figured it out.

In an AR platform, a 6x45 or .25-45 Sharps may nip at the heels of the ARC as a hunting option with a standard bolt face.

For 223 based Wildcats I'm pretty happy with my .277 Wolverine. I use it in a 12.5" AR and am getting 2350 fps with a 90gr Gold Dot. Users running 18" barrels or whatever are getting around 2850 fps from these lengths.

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[littlejerry]

I think it was SLG who originally brought up 6.5 Grendel on PF. He was pretty clear in describing it as a hobby gun for hunting and nothing serious use. I think that's a good description and realistic expectation of Grendel and the ARC. Hobby cartridges for long range and or hunting.

[SecondsCount]

I think it was SLG who originally brought up 6.5 Grendel on PF. He was pretty clear in describing it as a hobby gun for hunting and nothing serious use. I think that's a good description and realistic expectation of Grendel and the ARC. Hobby cartridges for long range and or hunting.

The Department of Defense must have needed some 6ARC for their hobby of shooting bad guys in the face when they adopted it.

6ARC should have less bolt thrust than 6.5G, which was the issue early on with the Grendel.

[Borderland]

I am in the Grendel crowd. I think target shooters are going to prefer the ARC for long range shooting; ARC ballistics are better than the Grendel. However, it's hard to beat the Grendel for pigs and predator hunting. I do not speak from any experience with the ARC. I hear of some Grendel shooters who have had some fun shooting the ARC, but they prefer the Grendel for pigs. The extra bullet weight of the Grendel is preferred.

Pigs might be the future of hunting, at least where the state can generate some revenue from it.