The 6.8 - factory barrel or go custom?

[Ranger413]

I've settled on the 6.8mm Rem SPC for my son's "deer rifle" set-up on the Contender platform.  Now my dilema.  Do I go with a factory barrel or step up to a custom offering.  I've done a bit of research and it seems as though the SPC II chamber and a 1-11" twist is the ideal set-up for accuracy and launching heavier bullets.  That and I think I'd prefer a shorter barrel than the 23" factory tube.  I'm thinking 18" would be perfect.

If I go with a factory barrel what are my expectations for accuracy out of the 6.8?  It would be the standard chamber and a 1-10" twist.  I may end up nearly meeting the custom barrel price if I want to cut the factory barrel down. 

With the custom barrel I'd be into it for at least $100 more but would have the more desirable chamber and twist rate plus the length option.

Any input either way?

Thanks in advance,


Ranger413

[tlyne]

The 6.8 SPC is a great caliber. you have 243 performance with less recoil, having said that you will get alot of opinons. The question you have to ask your self is how much other efforts and costs are you are willing to pay to get the payout of a custom barrel. we are talking about trigger jobs, best scopes, high costs for match grade bullets and time load development. you can see where I am going. If you want a deer gun and go out and shoot tincans buy a T/C barrel. If you have deep pockets and lots of time by custom. that is my 2 cents.

[valvesinmyhead]

I have a factory and it will shoot 1.5" groups at 150yds easy with Hornady 110gr V-Max.

[stubshaft]

I have a factory and it will shoot 1.5" groups at 150yds easy with Hornady 110gr V-Max.

+1 - Personally I think that a 23" barrel balances just right.  If you go to a shorter barrel it may be butt heavy.  Save the mone on a custom barrel and use it to buy ammo/reload so that your boy can get a good feel of the handling and trajectory of the rifle.

[Camp Cook]

I shoot/load for a 18.6" Robinson Arms XCR-L in 6.8spc 1-11" twist spec 11 chamber with 95gr Barnes TTSX, 30grs H322, Rem LR primer brass, Win LR primers and Lee factory crimp die crimp = 2825fps and groups average MOA out to 350 yards.

Shot 2 mule deer with this combo this last fall both were DRT @ 90 & 166 yards.

I am also now looking for a 21" - 23" factory tapered middle bore Contender carbine barrel and thinking 6.8spc or 6.5JDJ but due to already having several hundred 6.8spc rounds loaded up I'm leaning to the 6.8spc only issue is the T/C barrels are only available in saami spec chambers and 1-10" twist barrels.

[Ranger413]

I think for now I'm going to start with the factory barrels.  I've purchased one in 22 l.r. and will get the 6.8 sometime down the road.  Depending on how things feel when I get the 22 set up, I may or may not have the barrel cut.  I've found a gunsmith that'll do two barrels at the same time at a resonable price.  I think I'd go with 18" if I do decide to get 'em cut.  But, again, I'll see how it all balances out at 23".

I'm also planning on shortening the factory synthetic stock, so I'm going to post another thread to see if there are ideas out there for that.  I have some of my own but re-inventing the wheel is sometimes not the best practice.

Thanks for the replies thus far,

Ranger413

[Antietamgw]

I have factory 6.8 and 7TCU barrels, ballistically the same cartridge. I bought the 23" 6.8 barrel as I had given my son a Rem 700 in 6.8 and we have had good luck with it.  It seems a very well balanced little cartridge and I especially like the ability to buy quality, almost match grade brass from Silver State for standard quality prices. We match prepped the first 100 pcs. and I believe 90couple were within .6gr with the ones remaining also very consistant but several gr. lighter, as if from a different lot. The primer pockets and OAL were very consistant, the flash holes had only very slight burrs inside. It's good stuff.  Personally, for the Contender, I MUCH prefer the 23"  babybull barrel over anything shorter and the velocity advantage sure can't hurt if you are looking for full-power loads for hunting.  A little more muzzle weight or length would be even better, IMHO. Mine has tupperware stocks, maybe 16oz. for scope, bases,rings and probably still would be hard pressed to make 7lbs. I figure if I can't make good hits, it doesn't much matter what the potential of the projectile is.  In the Remington 6.8, we have shot the VMax and a few various 90-110 gr. bullets left from experimenting with my son's .270.  H322 powder seems to shine in the 6.8 and I can't recall any of the loads going over 1MOA. There were a number with Match bullets, Sierra I think, that were in the .4-.5's. The VMax shoots well too and you can get it in a factory load I believe. My son figures it to be perfect on coyotes. No time yet to work up cast loads though I have bullets cast and ready to go. My 7TCU barrel is a 21" tapered barrel -  too light IMO but never any complaints with accuracy or nasty TC throats.  It has been a joy with cast bullets, don't think I ever shot any jacketed out of it. I think there might be a little better selection of jacketed hunting bullets in the lighter weights for 7MM over 6.8 but as long as you have 1 or 2 selections that shoot well in your barrel, it doesn't really matter. 

[Ranger413]

The .22 barrel and stock set arrived a couple of days ago.  I've already got it assembled and am experimenting with ring heights.  I think that the rifle balances perfectly, but that's for me.  I think it so nice that I'm thinking that I'll also need a G2 rifle.  So, not sure if my son gets this one or the next one.  Ahh, the disease has begun.

I'm going to let my son make the determination on if the stock and barrels need shortened.  I agree that I'll loose some velocity with the cutting.  I was originally looking for a "handier" rifle, but seems pretty handy thus far.

Thanks guys for all of the comments thus far.

Ranger413

[Ladobe]

tlyne pretty much nailed it IMO.   Deer at the ranges that cartidge is effective at probably don't require the extra precision you's get out of a custom barrel.    If small ground squirrels was the game, I'd go custom IOW, but you probably don't need to for deer.

FWIW, many years ago Fred Smith at Bullberry determined that with Contender carbines the optimum barrel lengh more often than not is around 20" for a bull barrel.  Barrel harmonics, lock time, etc and lots of testing is how he arrived at that.   I lived near him and we talked about it long and hard many times, and I bought a lot of custom barrels from him in standard and wildcat pistol/carbine configurations to also test the idea.  All my long tubes were 20" bulls no matter what cartridge they were chambered for, and all of them shot very accurately with that length.   Important to me as most of my hunting was at very small targets at very long ranges the last 25 years or so I hunted.

FWIW

[Hopalong7]

     My huntin', fishin' and shootin' Bud bought two 6.8 carbines(one for each of his young grandsons).  The factory barrels had some ignition problems that we had to work out, but accurate they were!  They both now shoot great and the young'un's love'em.  And...BTW, both barrels have been bloodied .
Walt