Hornady 6mm ARC

[Intel6]

Basically a 6PPC, been shooting it since the 90's.

[QuietM4]

Hey pig, here's some lipstick - 6.5 Grendel looks in the mirror...

[Suck My Glock]

So it's a 6mm Grendel. Um,...I can't say I'm impressed. While I like the idea of the 6.5 Grendel, the cartridge requires a full length barrel to perform as designed. The same is true of the ARC. And if I'm not going to be able to have a CAR-15 sized envelope, then might as well go just a tiny bit bigger and get an AR10 and have true heavy calibers like 6.5 Creedomore or .243 (if I want a 6mm cartridge).

The one benefit of the 6.8 over the 6.5 Grendel was/is that it does what it does with a 16 inch barrel.

Now if somehow they were to produce something like the ARC that performed in a 16 inch barrel,...I'm game.

[Delfuego]

6mm Grendel (243LBC/6mmART/ETC/ETC) are all good cartridges. I have friends shooting 6mm Grendel in team matches and it's about the best you will get from a small frame AR. Some can be tough tune or to get feeding 100%. This will be SAMMI so that is a good thing. I just hope the reamers are designed properly.

Irony is it's never been designed for a 105gr bullet and does way better with 85-95gr. The only thing I don't care for is the name Hornady.

There is no magic cartridge, there is no free lunch.

then might as well go just a tiny bit bigger and get an AR10

AR-10 is way bigger and and damn near everything is different.

[Racewin]

So it's a 6mm Grendel. Um,...I can't say I'm impressed. While I like the idea of the 6.5 Grendel, the cartridge requires a full length barrel to perform as designed. The same is true of the ARC. And if I'm not going to be able to have a CAR-15 sized envelope, then might as well go just a tiny bit bigger and get an AR10 and have true heavy calibers like 6.5 Creedomore or .243 (if I want a 6mm cartridge).

The one benefit of the 6.8 over the 6.5 Grendel was/is that it does what it does with a 16 inch barrel.

Now if somehow they were to produce something like the ARC that performed in a 16 inch barrel,...I'm game.

A CAR-15 sized 6.5 Grendel will still produce 1300-1400 ft lbs at the muzzle, and stay supersonic to about 800-900 yards. While you are absolutely right that it won't perform as designed, and will likely have a lot of extra blast/noise, I think its still good performance for its size/barrel length. I understand there is some subjectivity here though.

While I have not looked at the details of the 6mm ARC, it would not surprise me if it has some similar values in that, while not performing as designed, can still do some cool/niche things with a short barrel.

[Delfuego]

For 6mm Grendel, 22" is about perfect to get good velocity for a 95-105gr. I personally would not go shorter, but I don't mind longer rifles if they are accurate. No free lunch.

[Delfuego]

This will be best in a prone or varmint rifle