6mm Arc brass

Got another 100 formed.

It takes a bit of work but once they're done they're done. I'm using the mixed head stamp stuff as "range brass." Good for blasting ammo. If I lose a few it is no big deal.
 
Bumping out of curiosity. Anyone else come up with a solution for ARC brass?
 
I have been able to get loaded 6arc amo at our lgs it was $27 a box (hornady black 105gr )but i also got hornady match108gr for around same price.I was able to get 80 cases of hornady brass from grafs about a year ago ,it was all they had or i would have gotten more.I was told starline is going to do a run of brass in the spring so keep an eye out.I wish lapua would do a run.
 
Slightly off topic, but can someone tell me the difference/advantage between the 6mm ARC and the .243 Win.?
I would think an AR-15 design built around the .243 Win. would be possible with less effort/expense than the 6mm ARC.

I'm thinking about a new military rifle&cartridge on the AR-15 platform as the 6 ARC seems to be,
 
mkl said:
Slightly off topic, but can someone tell me the difference/advantage between the 6mm ARC and the .243 Win.?
I would think an AR-15 design built around the .243 Win. would be possible with less effort/expense than the 6mm ARC.

I'm thinking about a new military rifle&cartridge on the AR-15 platform as the 6 ARC seems to be,
Click to expand...



IIRC the .243 is to long to work in an Ar-15 you’d have to move to an AR-10 and if you do that why wouldn’t you run something bigger like a .308?
 
My friend and co-worker that is shooting the Savage 110 has been buying factory 105 and then reloading it. Last I saw him he was also loading some 87gr for coyote hunting.
 
mkl said:
Slightly off topic, but can someone tell me the difference/advantage between the 6mm ARC and the .243 Win.?
I would think an AR-15 design built around the .243 Win. would be possible with less effort/expense than the 6mm ARC.
Click to expand...

Comparing 243win and 6 ARC, let’s start here, because the difference is pretty obvious between these two:

B417F22D-3B38-4789-92CA-623AD231061D.jpeg

The MUCH larger 243win is a much hungrier cartridge, eating almost 50% more powder than the 6 ARC, delivering about 400fps faster muzzle velocity out of equivalently loaded bolt action rifles - another 100-150fps difference between 243win and 6 ARC in a gas gun. This comes with the consequence of about 1/3 the barrel life, as a 243win will smoke throats within 750-900 rounds, while the 6 ARC is pretty content well past 2500 rounds. One is using ~45-50grn of powder, the other is using only ~27-32grn.

The 243win, loaded at ~2.8”, doesn’t fit into an AR-15 action, which only accepts ~2.3” cartridges, hence the 243win is only available in LR-308/AR-10’s, or the proprietary hybrids like the DPMS Gen II’s, Mega’s, or new Ruger SFAR’s - and across the board, building large and especially building medium frame AR’s costs more than building AR-15’s. Plus their extra dimension and weight.
 
USBP379 said:
Bumping out of curiosity. Anyone else come up with a solution for ARC brass?
Click to expand...
I'm waiting for my solution. Starline accepting backorders for "Grendel Basic Brass" which is, to me, unformed, unmarked 6mm ARC cores. They advised me to anneal the brass below where the 6mm ARC neck will form.
I plan to anneal, size without expander, trim to about 1.480", anneal at actual 6mm ARC neck, size With expander, trim to 1.475" for loading.
I'll expect them to stretch a bit more after firing and true shoulder forming. But no matter. Upon purchasing my Burstfire Annealing Center I anneal and trim (verify trim) after every firing.
Now wating for Starline to actually fill the backorder - 3 week anniversary tomorrow.
 
Working with Starline Grendel basic would seem to be much more work than just sizing and trimming 6.5 Grendel. I assume the basic brass would require sizing and working in several stages to avoid creasing the necks or buckling the shoulder.

I did talk to Starline briefly at SHOT. I asked the rep about both 6 ARC and 5.45 x 39. He said both casings had been requested by consumers but that Starline has no current plans to make either.

I'm not particularly surprised that 5.45 might not be something they are readily working on but 6 ARC would seem to be an easy button product. Time will tell I guess.
 
A video on fire forming. Works pretty well in my experience although costly being that it required a bullet, powder and primer.

 
USBP379 said:
Working with Starline Grendel basic would seem to be much more work than just sizing and trimming 6.5 Grendel. I assume the basic brass would require sizing and working in several stages to avoid creasing the necks or buckling the shoulder.

I did talk to Starline briefly at SHOT. I asked the rep about both 6 ARC and 5.45 x 39. He said both casings had been requested by consumers but that Starline has no current plans to make either.

I'm not particularly surprised that 5.45 might not be something they are readily working on but 6 ARC would seem to be an easy button product. Time will tell I guess.
Click to expand...
We'll see. In the end, if 6.5 Grendel is not available, and I've been looking for months, then this is the next best option. I tried to form 7.62x39 and ended up with a belted case...same as when Johnny's Reloading attempted to go straight to 6mm ARC. He was successful sizing to 6.5 Grendel first, then again to 6mm ARC...or shallwe say "sizing and working in several stages to avoid creasing the necks or buckling the shoulder.
 
markr6754 said:
I tried to form 7.62x39 and ended up with a belted case...
Click to expand...

Yes. I've had this happen too although not with all head stamps. Seems more common with the imported stuff. I don't recall ever having a belt form when converting Win, FC or Starline brass.

Here's something that may help. I haven't tried it personally. Also the fellow can't look in the case at the flash hole before sizing?

 
Finally got around to getting more water capacity measurements. Starline hold about 33 grains of water.
 
All for naught now. Starline has officially announced 6mm ARC brass. It looks like the first batches are already sold out. Hopefully another run will be produced shortly.
 
troy fairweather said:
I don't think starline realized how popular the arc is, I'm sure after getting a bunch of calls they seen how much money they would loose out on.
Click to expand...

Eh, if a maker is already making the same case head, then it’s just a matter of around $10-15k in new tooling for the shoulder and neck, even less if they don’t need to draw a different wall thickness. The marketing for the new case would cost more than the tooling transition.

The really hard transitions are when a new head like 6.8spc comes out and they have ZERO tooling to make the case, even the case head - or folks like Lapua which simply don’t make belted magnums - adopting that tooling to start from scratch is a big investment. But the ARC is on the same basic gear as the x39, so adopting the ARC is super cheap, relatively speaking.
 
Varminterror said:
Eh, if a maker is already making the same case head, then it’s just a matter of around $10-15k in new tooling for the shoulder and neck, even less if they don’t need to draw a different wall thickness. The marketing for the new case would cost more than the tooling transition.

The really hard transitions are when a new head like 6.8spc comes out and they have ZERO tooling to make the case, even the case head - or folks like Lapua which simply don’t make belted magnums - adopting that tooling to start from scratch is a big investment. But the ARC is on the same basic gear as the x39, so adopting the ARC is super cheap, relatively speaking.
Click to expand...
I know it would be pretty easy for them they just didn't seem willing to make any on the video I seen.
 
I think Starline seems to have a pattern of not leaning too far over their skis. When they are requested to produce a given cartridge, if they even offer a "we are considering producing these in the future," rather than saying, "we have no plans at this time to produce this cartridge," they'll have folks running around the internet talking about their plans to produce the cartridge in the future, and then be fielding calls from folks which heard online that "starline is going to start making that cartridge soon."

Similarly, I moonlighted as a bouncer at a bar during engineering school, and I gave the same advice to all of the girls which complained about "a bunch of losers constantly hitting on them and never getting the message that they weren't interested," - I'd tell these girls, don't offer any openings. If a guy sees any opening, he'll continue pursuit - so when these girls try to be polite and let guys down gently, naturally, the dudes wouldn't get the hint. But if they show a impregnable wall, refusing any openings, guys move on to easier targets.

Starline just doesn't show any openings, so guys stop hitting on them.
 
Here's another option for annealing. It is fairly pricey but seems to offer some nice features.

https://burstfireguns.com/collectio...rstfire-2-in-1-case-annealer-case-prep-center

I'm still using the EP. It works okay but is a pain to set up each time. It would be easier to use if the torch nozzle was clamped to the machine. Then all I'd need to worry about is getting the flame set where I want it. As it is now I need to position the torch and get it aimed to thr right spot as well as get the flame the length I want. It isn't insurmountable but sometimes it takes longer than it should.
 
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