New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

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New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by Jarhead » 29 Jun 2020, 1:18 pm

Hey all!

I recently watched Hornady come out with a new round- 6mm ARC. Hornady has some really smart business development managers, and they did their homework before committing to the investment to produce this round.

The target market is clearly the owners of the ubiquitous AR-15 in the US, as it is very easy to convert a .223 AR-15 to 6mmARC- change the bolt, change the barrel, get a new magazine. Boom! You now have 6.5 Creedmoor-like ballistics in a lightweight AR-15 platform. No watermelon is safe at 1000yards!

I am struggling to think of a similar application in Australia.

Can you think of any? The only benefit I can see is same ballistics in a smaller cartridge than most 6.5's so powder, brass and projectile costs should be less.

I am sometimes dense and shortsighted so am reaching out to the group to help find any other advantages for shooters green and gold.
Regards,

Jarhead
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by snag » 29 Jun 2020, 5:33 pm

We have watermelons here too.
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by TassieTiger » 29 Jun 2020, 5:54 pm

In my opinion - it’s about the marketing $$$.
243 hasn’t had much attention of late, can we do a spin off to generate some buzz ?
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by Jarhead » 29 Jun 2020, 6:53 pm

LOL Snag. No disagreement there.

Hornady may next try for a super high BC round that can hit an Australian watermelon from the US with an AR-15 derivative...…

Tassie, you are showing your age! So am I when I agree with you 100% about .243 :D
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by Bill » 29 Jun 2020, 7:02 pm

its an interesting concept and the case has been designed for high BC 103gr - 108gr projectiles at moderate speed 2750-2800fps.

Light recoiling it would an efficient and easy to shoot cartridge. If Howa bring out a HB mini action Id be tempted.. :thumbsup:
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by marksman » 29 Jun 2020, 9:36 pm

its copycat of robert whitley's 6mmar, the 6mm arc is hornady's copy without giving any credit as usual
http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/202 ... -platform/
http://6mmar.com/Page_1.html
https://www.6mmbr.com/gunweek068.html
aussies cant use ar15 rifles so l cant see a real area for the 6mmar or 6mm arc
robert whitley is a very very cluey bloke who has improved many cartridges, l hold his opinion very highly and have a couple of his reamer designs
you might as well have a 6mm br as they cannot keep up with the 6mm dasher and is no way near as inherently accurate of either
no ar15 and its a waste of time :thumbsdown: just as Tassie said its about the marketing $$$
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by Bill » 29 Jun 2020, 10:21 pm

marksman I get what your saying but has the 6mm br or 6mm ar ever been adopted by a mainstream ammo manufacturer or rifle maker ? cheap ammo, components and rifles are what punters want.
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by marksman » 29 Jun 2020, 10:48 pm

the 6mm br is a factory offering Bill, cooper, savage and remington come to mind but as l said earlier the 6mm ar is for an ar15 rifle
it would not cost much to have any 243 factory chamber cut off and re-chambered to 6mm br, ar or the arc if the smith has the reamer

the 6mm br is a much better case to work with https://www.6mmbr.com/6brfaq.html
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by Bill » 30 Jun 2020, 8:20 am

marksman I knew savage sold em a bit surprised Remington was selling them. Thats a fairly limited offering.

the other side of the equation is loaded ammo and cheap dies ? not sure the BR does well there but lets see what Hornday come up with.

I understand why the 6mm BR is a good design for the longer range stuff but short and fat case will reduce round capacity in small light actions like Howa mini's.

Packaging and marketing just as important as performance. :thumbsup:
When a guy is digging his own grave, you don’t fight him for the shovel.

Success leaves clues, Fools follow failure !

20 Hornet, 218 Bee, 222 Rem, 256 WM, 6mm ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5x55 Scan, 270 Win, 357 Mag, 358 Win, 9.3x62, 500 A Square
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by marksman » 30 Jun 2020, 11:19 am

Bill wrote:marksman I knew savage sold em a bit surprised Remington was selling them. Thats a fairly limited offering.

the other side of the equation is loaded ammo and cheap dies ? not sure the BR does well there but lets see what Hornday come up with.

I understand why the 6mm BR is a good design for the longer range stuff but short and fat case will reduce round capacity in small light actions like Howa mini's.

Packaging and marketing just as important as performance. :thumbsup:


to you :thumbsup: :lol: :clap: :clap: :clap: good luck :drinks:
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by SCJ429 » 30 Jun 2020, 7:30 pm

Bill wrote:marksman I knew savage sold em a bit surprised Remington was selling them. Thats a fairly limited offering.

the other side of the equation is loaded ammo and cheap dies ? not sure the BR does well there but lets see what Hornday come up with.

I understand why the 6mm BR is a good design for the longer range stuff but short and fat case will reduce round capacity in small light actions like Howa mini's.

Packaging and marketing just as important as performance. :thumbsup:

Lapua made loaded ammo for the straight 6mm BR, and the case can do well at all sorts of ranges not just longer range. It gets beaten at 100 and 200 metres by one case design, the all conquering PPC.

Strangely no one complains about the magazine capacity of the AK47 which uses a case very similar to the PPC. The 7.62x39 is short and fat but used in a majority of military applications over the last 50 years.
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by SCJ429 » 30 Jun 2020, 7:37 pm

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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by JimTom » 30 Jun 2020, 7:45 pm

I’d give it a crack. Agreed it probably won’t do anything several other cartridges wont already do but it would have an application for some people I guess, just as the 6.5 Brittany does. Probably reinventing the wheel just as they did with the 450 bushmaster and 350 legend.
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by Cooper » 30 Jun 2020, 8:01 pm

If Howa bring out a Mini action in 6mm ARC. I will probably get one. I already have a 6.5 Grendel. But I don’t have anything in 6mm.

I reckon the 6mm ARC might go aright with 75gr to 87gr Vmax as a hunting cartridge. Time will tell.
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by marksman » 30 Jun 2020, 9:02 pm

Cooper wrote:If Howa bring out a Mini action in 6mm ARC. I will probably get one. I already have a 6.5 Grendel. But I don’t have anything in 6mm.

I reckon the 6mm ARC might go aright with 75gr to 87gr Vmax as a hunting cartridge. Time will tell.


why wait :unknown: buy a barrel and get your grendel made into a switch barrel with 6mm ar, it is the same as the arc :thumbsup:
doing this will get you a better quality barrel with the twist needed for the bullets you want to shoot as well as the chamber can be match consistency
you can get the quality lapua grendel brass to easily convert and have a 2 in 1 rifle simples
check out how easy it is to make the cases in the video at the bottom of the 6mm AR home page http://www.6mmar.com/
if thats what floats your boat find a smith with the reamer and go for it :drinks:
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by Bill » 01 Jul 2020, 6:19 pm

An interesting review and performance comparison of the 6mm ARC :drinks:

https://gununiversity.com/6mm-arc-review/
When a guy is digging his own grave, you don’t fight him for the shovel.

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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by straightshooter » 02 Jul 2020, 8:28 am

Really great marketing move.
Rebadge a 6mm PPC as a 6mm ARC with some insignificant additional tinkering.
Why do I so cynically believe that shooters as a group are the biggest suckers for marketing hype in existence?
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by marksman » 02 Jul 2020, 12:41 pm

straightshooter wrote:Really great marketing move.
Rebadge a 6mm PPC as a 6mm ARC with some insignificant additional tinkering.
Why do I so cynically believe that shooters as a group are the biggest suckers for marketing hype in existence?


l agree to that, may be something to do with mines bigger than yours :wtf: and hey mine is :thumbsup:
l can prove what you are saying by the amount of crap l have in the shed that the salesman told me would make a difference that l believed :oops:
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by Member-Deleted » 02 Jul 2020, 12:51 pm

straightshooter wrote:Why do I so cynically believe that shooters as a group are the biggest suckers for marketing hype in existence?


I reckon fishermen would give shooters a run for our money.

What do fishing lures catch? Fishermen. ;)
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by Steviebby » 25 Oct 2023, 7:36 pm

Jarhead wrote:Hey all!

I recently watched Hornady come out with a new round- 6mm ARC. Hornady has some really smart business development managers, and they did their homework before committing to the investment to produce this round.

The target market is clearly the owners of the ubiquitous AR-15 in the US, as it is very easy to convert a .223 AR-15 to 6mmARC- change the bolt, change the barrel, get a new magazine. Boom! You now have 6.5 Creedmoor-like ballistics in a lightweight AR-15 platform. No watermelon is safe at 1000yards!

I am struggling to think of a similar application in Australia.

Can you think of any? The only benefit I can see is same ballistics in a smaller cartridge than most 6.5's so powder, brass and projectile costs should be less.

I am sometimes dense and shortsighted so am reaching out to the group to help find any other advantages for shooters green and gold.

Perfect deer culling round flat enough out two 200m not to much muzzle blast like 243win and perfect with a can on I bloody want one!!
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by TuskerOrd » 29 Oct 2023, 2:05 pm

I really like the 6ARC, Ive been playing with the idea of using a calibre on a mini action for PRS. The Dasher and BRA is just outside of the capabilities of the mini action. The 6.5Grendel is only good out to 500m - I reacon the ARC is going to be the go too for me.

I've build several for Kiwi hunters over the last year, including two HB models for me and another competative shooter.
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by wanneroo » 30 Oct 2023, 2:20 am

Here in the USA it was all the talk in the gun mags for a few months and haven't heard much since.

I did a google search and it looks like a few high end AR manufacturers like Wilson, Noveske, Nemo Arms, etc. are making rifles for it but so far it is definitely a niche cartridge.
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by Billo » 30 Oct 2023, 7:56 am

Launched just before Covid, its a been a slow burner, limited brass supply and factory ammo have choked a fair bit of its potential.

Having rebarreled my 6.5 Grendel to 6mm ARC its a better performer in all area's. Cheaper 6mm projectiles also help the hip pocket :thumbsup:
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by Wyliecoyote » 30 Oct 2023, 9:59 am

The ARC as well as a lot of other cartridges over the last 20 years were hyped up for the primary reason of replacing the 5.56 in the M4 rifles. There are huge amounts of money on offer with US military contracts so there were a hundred or more attempts to formulate cartridges and hype them up to gain favour. Just remember, the 6.5 and 6mm Creedmoor were two such cartridges and for a while were looking to be the chosen ones.
This all came about because of issues in recent desert conflicts where the 5.56 was lacking in range and power. Nothing on the M4 platform came up as suitable and as so many have said, a new rifle was needed. That is happening with the new 6.8 x 51 cartridge in the M5, M7 etc rifles. All the other M4 contenders have or will most likely disappear in time. I still cannot see what the 6.8 SPC is good for but the 30 AAC should hang on for a bit yet. The 22 Nosler may take off if brass becomes more available.
As to the 6mm ARC. That is close to the the 6PPC USA cartridge of 30 plus years ago, along with the 22 cal version that Ruger and Sako produced rifles for and Sako and Norma made cases and ammo for. All are now defunct and collectable, especially the Sako rifles. The Sako cases were rated to 60k psi, the Hornady ARC cases are not. Both hold 34 grains H2O as opposed to a custom Lapua 220 Russian case formed to 6PPC that holds 33 grains H2O.
There was a time when the 6BR was thought to be the lowly second cousin to the PPC where many went out and built 6 PPCs in fast twist barrels with the view that if the BR did well, the PPC will do better. No one today uses a PPC anything for long range other than to be stubborn or not wanting to be part of the 6 BR devotees club. The cases died very quickly when pushed trying to keep up to BR speeds which incedently is the 2830 to 2850 fps accuracy node for 103 to 108 grain bullets. The ARC will never get there safely with powders we see here in Australia. Using Hornady cases against Lapua and Sako brass is a lose lose as the Hornady data rates max loads to 51k psi where at that pressure a 107 grain bullet is below 2700 fps. You simply cannot get enough 2208 or Re15 in the case to get there. The only way you can get there is by faulty chronograph which will get exposed once you try to dial up to 900 metres.
The 6mm ARC is simply a 6mm PPC tweaked to beat litigation which most likely would have still happened if either Pindell or Palmisano were alive. This cartridge has been around since the 70s and it's capabilities and limitations are well known. There is nothing new here except that like new fishing lures, they catch fishermen by claiming that it will exceed all previously known real world data in what most know to be inferior brass.
Now if one was to do this 6mm ARC for some obscure reason, i would suggest never use the Hornady brass. I would use the indestructible Lapua 7.62 x 39 brass formed down. Lasts forever and is way cheaper than 220 Russian brass where the large rifle primer is as good as adding 2 grains of powder. Below is a pic of a 7.62 x 39 PMC large rifle primed case, yes PMC when it was US made and as good as if not better than Lapua, way back when, formed to fit my then 6 PPC USA rifle for factory class Hunter Class benchrest. All now long defunct.
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by Billo » 30 Oct 2023, 10:56 am

Hey Wyliecoyote hard not to agree with a few of your points but just to clarify the 6mm ARC is rated to 62,000 PSI

I can safely run 103gr ELD-X to 2820fps from a 22 inch tube, and yes I'm using powder thats no longer available so I wont cant comment on what other powders might or might not do, what I do know is a a fair bit of my data matches factory 243 offerings when I look at 87gr, 90gr and 100gr offerings

Its a case designed to fit the short Mini sized actions and it does it well. :thumbsup:
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Re: New 6mmARC from Hornady- any use in Australia?

Post by wanneroo » 30 Oct 2023, 11:57 pm

Apparently there is some special operations command units using 6 ARC. I suspect the rifles and ammunition are going to be lighter than the new Sig M7 and it's ammo so it may fill a niche role between the M4 in 5.56 and the Sig. The US military plans on keeping the M4 and 5.56 around for decades for support troops. The US military also uses 300 Blackout in a very limited role.

We will see if it becomes more widely accepted by the US consumer market or not. Right now it is certainly a very niche cartridge.
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