Presently in my 6.8 SPC rifle I’m shooting Silver State Armory’s 6.8 SPC 85 grain Barnes TSX tactical load. Pretty accurate stuff, and has enough oomph behind it to deal with Texas critters be it hogs or deer or whatever.
As it is, I have the rifle zeroed to be dead-on at 100 yards. Some folks (foo.c especially) have been encouraging me to use 1″ high at 100 yards instead. With my .308 rifle that just didn’t look right, at least looking at ballistics calculations and trajectories on paper. As well, when I did my .223/5.56 AR’s I’d want them more in a RIBZ configuration. Well, I’ve been playing with a lot of ballistics and trajectory calculators (and just picked up Ballistic for the iPhone, wicked awesome) and well… at least on paper I can see that for this 6.8 85 grain load that going 1″ high at 100 yards is going to give me the best setup. That I’ll be able to just put the crosshairs on what I want to hit from 0 to 200 yards and that ought to work out just fine for me.
Of course, I start thinking towards handloading for the 6.8, because Barnes’ new 95 grain TTSX was made specifically for 6.8 SPC rifles and the performance data so far on that bullet is highly encouraging (check out the 68forums for details). I’m not ready to handload for this yet, but it will be where I end up. And even here, 1″ high at 100 yards will be a good zero point.
I guess I was so discouraged after that one hunt… it just had me down. But since I took the 6.8 back out, I’ve really found myself with renewed interest and vigor in exploring 6.8 more and more.
Stuff From Hsoi 
You should try the 90gr TNT round for practice and save the TSX for hunting. I think the ballistics are quite similar. SSA sells the bulk packs. If you want to reload, it’s hard to go wrong with a 90gr TNT driven by 29.5gr of Reloder 7, SSA brass, Wolf SRM primer. Very accurate (0.7 moa from my Bison barrel) and pretty cheap, especially if you buy the 650 bullet value pack.
I have 5 boxes of the 95gr TTSX. Accuracy not great with Reloder 7, about 1.2 moa. Have some loaded up with Reloder 10x but haven’t had a chance to shoot those; I’ve heard 10x is the way to go for is bullet.
That seconds what another guy told me, going with the 90gr TNT’s for practice, as they’re going to be about the closest thing to the 95 gr TTSX’s (Barnes bullets are great, but EXPENSIVE). But I didn’t know they sold them in 650 value packs. Awesome.
I too have heard that R10x is THE powder to use… or at least, Bill Wilson seems to be having a lot of success with it. I poke my head into the 68forums from time to time, and whenever it came time to seriously load for 6.8 I was going to probably read that forum’s section on reloading end to end to ensure I had good starting recipes. 🙂
I just need to finish all my 9mm reloading before I start on 6.8 loading. All the changeover stuff (hassle) on my press.
Couple more things:
– I see MidwayUSA actually has the Speer TNT 90 grain’s on sale for slightly less (price-per-bullet) than I could find the box of 650. Looks like a good deal… shame I can’t buy right now. 😦
– What do you use for reloading, in terms of press? What I’ve been curious about is how well the powders meter. I haven’t done much rifle reloading, but what I did do well.. the Varget (stick) just didn’t meter as nice as I would have liked… but TAC (ball) metered amazingly nicely. Since I’ll be doing this in a progressive press, something that meters well and fairly problem-free is ideal. Supposedly Reloader 7 meters well (smooth, consistent). I’m curious about Reloader 10x.
Some of the other recommended powders (H322) I also wonder about in terms of metering.
Curious if you have any comments here.
Any comments here?
The best price I got on the 650 value pack was actually from SSA… got two for $120 each.
I use a Classic Cast single stage. As far as powder measure I use a Lee Perfect Powder Measure. I prime all my brass beforehand, drop powder on 50 or 100 rounds at once, and then seat the bullets. I also have a Lee Classic Cast turret but I don’t use it for rifle; it doesn’t save me that much time given how particular I am about things.
I agree that TAC measures well, as does RL-7 and H322. RL-10x is OK, it’s a little less consistent.
SSA seems to be out right now then. Oh well. Like I said, I can’t pick the stuff up now… matter of money, but also I’m trying to be disciplined here: finish all my 9mm reloading first, then finish out the little bit of .38 Special I have, THEN I can get back to rifle stuff. So, I’ll probably do my purchases when I get close to finishing the 9mm stuff.
Thanx for the info on the metering. I think folks are getting good results on the 95 grain using H322, so if it’s metering well and giving good results that may be where I go.
Thanx!
I’ve been reloading 6.8 spc on my Dillon 550b using Lee dies and new SSA cases and Wolf 5.56 primers, So far I’ve loaded the Sierra 110 Prohunters, Hornady 110 V max, and the Barnes 95 TTX using 29.2 gr. of H322. Accuracy for the Prohunters and the V max is about 3/4 MOA at 100 yards, The Barnes opens up to about 1.25 MOA, but that’s fine for pig busting. Someday I’ll chronograph the loads, but I’m of the mind that if it’s accurate and there is no pressure signs, I’m happy.
H322 is a very short extruded powder, it meters well, but nothing meters as well as TAC…
I’m going to try TAC as well, around 30 grains should give good performance
Oh the upper is an AR performance “Hunter”, which has there trick 6.8mm x 43mm chamber. So far I’ve tried my hand loads, and SSA 90r TNT and 100gr Nosler Accubonds. Only the Barnes grouped over 3/4 moa.
I’ll probably use up the rest of the Barnes I have on hand and just load the Prohunters for 4 legged critters, and the Vmax for crack heads, as both are much cheaper..
-Dave
The Barnes 95 TTSX are what I’m most interested in. Been reading on the 68forums about them. Most folks are saying to use R10X with them, but I’ve been curious about how well that meters. Word is H322 meters better, and of course TAC meters excellent… but all the reloading data I’ve seen in 68forums leads me to think I just won’t get the performance out of TAC (the Barnes want to be driven fast and the TAC won’t get there like other powders will… but of course, will it still be enough? probably….).
So I’d be curious to know what results you get.
Thanx for sharing this info!
I’ll let you know as soon as I get around to loading the 6.8 spc again, as I’ve got about 400 rds (110 PH and 110 Vmax) loaded up for now. The Dillon is currently set up to load 50 Beowulf, my upper and components should be here Friday…. Gotta love the versatility of the AR platform. Next year I’m thinking a 50 BMG upper is in order ;)…
Dave
Sounds like fun. 🙂