Thread: 6mm ARC

The is no doubt that the x39s (Grendel, ARC etc) and x43s (6.8SPC, 224 Valkyrie etc) produce ballistics that are ideal for nearly all NZ game to as far as you like although they are no match for a magnum at the longer ranges. For many many shooters they are ideal in terms of recoil and overall rifle weight in "mini" actions as well as SAs. They are very hard to beat as a target rifle cartridge at reasonable ranges. I've had very enjoyable runs with 7.62x39, 6.5 Grendel, 6mm ARC, 6.8 SPC and 224 Valkyrie in various hunting and target rifle configurations.

For me the "Achilles heel" of this cartridge class is feeding in bolt guns. Every one of mine has had a cock-up of some sort in feeding at some stage. I've tried lots of things in term of magazines etc but eventually (in 50-100s of rounds) something has gone awry. Compared with a 223 or 308 class one will go for literally 1000s of rounds without a failure. I don't know why this is but it is a thing and is common to a heck of a lot of these shorter cartridges e.g. the BRs, Dasher etc.

The final point is that like just about all cartridges we tend to see "the bright side" and with these small guys there is heaps of "my Grendel produces xxxx fps with xx" and we go "oh goody, that'll do me" only to find that my barrel simply won't go that fast, or people push the limits unknowingly putting themselves at risk (to achieve what other people have claimed). I've run 4-5 barrels with these cartidges and only one has produced "internet " velocities, and that with reduced brass life indicating that my pressures were "right up there".

I've had a lot of fun and learnt a lot from the x39s and x43s but I've only got one left and it's survived by being a particularly exceptional shooter in target rifle mode. It's given me the shits with occasional missfeeds in PRS matches so it doesn't go there much but it's fine for non pressure shooting from mounds.