Rem 6.8 SPC accuracy

C

ccarpenter

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I purchased a Rem 700P in 6.8 SPC for use on chucks and paper out to 300 yards. I thought the .308 was a bit of an overkill and liked the recoil of the smaller cartridge. Also in MD the 6.8 (.277) is legal for deer so I wanted to stay above .223.

Right out of the box this rifle was shooting about 4.0 MOA. After cleaning up some trash under the barrel and some professional trigger work it has not improved.

I went out with a friend that is a well respected IBS member and his results were the same as mine, great for my ego but disapointing for the rifle.

All of the shooting was done with factory 115gr Rem RM68R1 MatchKing's, I have purchased dies but as of yet have not tried any handloads.

My question is, what do you think of the 6.8 SPC cartridge and will it ever perform at sub MOA levels?

If I need to have the barrel replaced and have the rifle reworked am I wasting my time on this cartridge?

I know this is not a 250 25X type question but this is the community I respect.
 
These are groups I have shot out of my Savage that has a Pacnor bbl. No trigger work, no machine work done on the rec, tupperware stock, magnum sporter bbl profile. Basic hunting rifle but with an 8>32X scope for punching paper. The is factory SSA ammo. If I remember correctly the 3 shot groups are with the Xtreme bullet. I am positive that the middle group was shot with SSA's matchking load. The first and third target are 3 shot groups.

Performance like this has convinced me to NEVER spend a minute of my time trying to make a factory bbl shoot tight groups.

Sav16683shottarget.jpg

Sav1668matchkings.jpg

68Savage2154-073shot.jpg
 
Your rifle should do much better than what it indicates. Go ahead and load for it. Factory ammo for the most part is junk. Make sure the rifle is properly bedded. I know the "P" has an aluminum block but it still needs the action bedding. Most "P" Remingtons have very long throated barrel. When developing loads keep this in mind and seat your bullets long. Being a factory rifle it probably has a fairly sloppy chamber. Neck size your brass. You did not state what optics you have. Good strong optics for precision shooting are a must.:D
 
AMEN to bedding the stock. I have an old PSS that would not shoot decently until I bedded the action to the bedding block. It was like night and day. Where it would barely shoot 1.5 MOA before bedding with loads that should have shot before bedding, it went to shooting 0.5 MOA after. From 4 MOA to something decent sounds like it'd take more than a good bedding job though.
 
Around 4 years ago the popular "rags" raved at the 6.8 spc's uncanny accuracy in pre-production 700's .
A local fellow who is a sucker for the latest and greatest, couldn't wait to get one......of course it took forever for this chambering to hit the shelves......the local dealer had to get 30 Remington brass just to make sure he would have ammo.
Four years later, it's like the cartridge never existed........one of Remingtons ideas that went up like a lead balloon.
If it truly has "inherent" accuracy in a bolt action.... very few are saying.
Yeah, that's what we need, another case head diameter to contend with.
BTW, I believe the military's interest in this endeavor also flopped, hence there will be brass availability issues.
 
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Hyping a product

I remember it well: the Remington Etronix primer ignition system/ would make the "old fashioned" primers instantly obsolete-- run out and buy one right now! Many of the "gun rags" ( including "The American Rifleman"), sung the praises for that piece of s---! Strange how silent they are when the product they loudly hailed as "the greatest" turns out to be just another piece of crap. I'm convinced the main purpose of at least some of these articles is to satisfy the advertisers who are paying for space/ to sell products: never mind if they have any value or not. About the only magazine I trust now is "Consumer Reports". They do not accept paid advertising, so are beholden to no-one.
 
Buy some small primer brass from Silver State Armory and try 115 SMK's over Hodgdons Benchmark powder, makes nice small groups!!

Tom
 
I think that 4,0 inches for a Remington Police with Remington Match factory ammunition is unaceptable... even for Remington!

So I would call Remington and send the rifle back so they can fix it.
 
6.8

had one never got it shott good 1 in. at best at 100 yrds. 3 shots sold it have some 110 v-maxs and sierra pro hunter bullets brass and some ammo will sell cheap
 
Don't you think the.........

6.8 is a little MUCH for the Curtis Bay Saber-Toothed Woodchuck???:D:D I mean, this was meant to fit the AR platform because the 5.56 wasn't killing PEOPLE reliably at 7-800yds. Now, unless those 'chucks are shootin' back,:rolleyes: I'd think it would be a significant responsibility issue as a 'chuck gun. As dense as Md. is, you'd have to be awfully careful w/that heavy a bullet, & I've seen Hornady SXs & V-Maxs ricochet into a bank when we tested them to see how they'd react in a shallow-angle strike. Be careful. Seriously.;)
 
I thought the 6.8 was dreamed up to increase close range knockdown power out of the short barrelled M4 carbine, period. Its performance was pretty much the same as the 7.62x39 but it wasn't cool to just use that.
 
It's time to bail my friend....

Reloading and a barrel will solve your accuracy woes. Rock Creek, Shilen, etc. I would stay away from the Sierra BTHP, go with the 115gr Hornady OTM. Reload specs: trimmed Case Length 1.676”, large rifle primers, .277”. The cartridge responds well to H322 powder which delivers good velocities and accuracy. Here is a link - http://data.hodgdon.com/main_menu.asp

If you load with 26 Grs. and keep the Vel. under 2500 ft/s you’ll see a marked improvement in your MOA. Rumors are that US Army brass are trying to kill the round, even though it’s better in the field, due supply logistics issues.

Personally, I’d bail. Get something that shoots well that you can make great instead of trying to make your 6.8 go from poor to acceptable.

Good Luck, Ed W

PS: I guess you could shoot chucks responsibly with a sling shot and bio-degradable pellets but what fun would that be?!?!?!?
 
Shooting through my Cardinal 16", the Rem loads are all over the place. I run SSA 115OTM Combat loads, get .5 MOA....................
 
Once again!

There is no use in trying to get a Remington to shoot until you look in the bore with a bore scope.

Why? Because there are so many factory Remington barrels out their with rifling missing in different areas of the bore. Most of the missing rifling is near the chamber and is very easy to spot.

Please do not reply telling me how many Remingtons you have that shoot 1/4 inch groups.

Facts are facts and I am trying to help.

Best wishes to all.
 
I've only been paying attention to precision guns for a few years, but the one consistent thing I see and read is a good quality bullet and barrel are the 2 biggest factors of accuracy. There are some nice bullets in 6.8 SPC family now, but .277 has not been a big caliber in precision shooting sports.

Watching the BR shooter videos in various disciplines, they all love their uncommon calibers.

There is not a lot of powder capacity in comparison to bore size so the trajectories can't compete with wildcats, like 260AI, 6.5 Creedmoor, etc.

I thought Army should have went with 257 Roberts. hehe.
 
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