6.8 SPC for Deer Drives-Enough Gun?

[jasonprox700]

I have been wanting to get a AR-10 in .308 (possibly the new .338 Federal!), but the weight is a factor.  With the 6.8, I can get a more compact package and a lot smaller price tag.

I would be hunting in thick cover where shots are not very far.  Deer would be moving very fast and shots would be at varying angles. 
What are the heaviest bullets I can shoot without taking up too much case capacity and sacrificing too much performance?  What would be a good bullet for me?  I would like to use something that gets good penetration when hitting bones (shoulder, brisket) and will still hold together fairly well. 

I use a .280 for my "normal" hunting situations (stand, stalking).  It works very well and I am very confident in my abilities and my guns abilities.  With my handloads that I use for hunting, the bullets are leaving the muzzle at over 3,000 fps.  I know that is a little fast and not needed, but that is how my gun likes them. 

I am not really that familiar with the SPC's performance.  Does it have what it takes?

I still want an AR-10 in .308, but for now an AR-15 platform based round is something that I am interested in. You can never have to many guns anyway, right?

[Savage]

How about an  AR upper in .50 Beowulf? I would imagine a flat top upper with a 16" barrel and a holo or red dot sighting system would be about perfect!
Savage

[jasonprox700]

I thought about the .50 or else the .458 SOCOM, or the new .450 Bushmaster.  Not really sure yet.

[Savage]

Jason,
Seems to me, any one of those would be a good choice. All you would need to do is buy an upper in one of those calibers for your AR and you'd be in business!
Savage

[Cheesehead]

I have an AR-15 in 6.8 with a holo sight and plan on using it this deer season. Just got two ten round mags to make this rifle even more compact as compared to the larger 27 round mags. I am going to load the 6.8 with 115 grain ultra corlokt Remington bullets for ranges of 20 to 200 yards. I will let you now about the performance on deer about late November.

Cheese

[teddy12b]

Jason,
     I'm like cheesehead.  I have an AR in 6.8.  I bought it because it's almost as powerful as a 308, but the gun costs less and I can easily switch uppers and go to cheapo 223 if I want to.  I haven't hunted with my 6.8 but I read a lot about people who have and I from what I read the 6.8 will do the job quite nicely.  You can get the barnes TSX in 6.8 if you're that worried about bullet performance too.

[poncaguy]

I just got a 15" Encore barrel in 6.8 Rem, going to use it for deer this fall in Oklahoma. Very nice round........

[Cheesehead]

The 6.8 continues to grow in popularity judged by the number of rifles and handguns now chambered for this new round. Also ammo and reloading components are more available.

Cheese