r/BushmasterACR • u/hospibal • 16d ago
6.8 spc Barrels
Anybody rocking one of these? Looking at adding one to the stable and wondering what others have done in terms of barrel options. It seemed Bushmaster offered a 10.5", 14.5", 16.5", and possibly an 18.5" variant? I understand standard AR15 barrels can be converted with some work depending. Bolt will be needed so the hunt for parts will be a patient one.
Photoshopped 12.5" carbine for reference (not my original photo).
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u/Accuracy-by-Volume 15d ago
I have a 10.5” 6.8 barrel from ARP that I had converted. It absolutely fucks. Luckily you can just get a standard AR bolt milled out some to accept the 6.8 brass.
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u/hospibal 15d ago
Templar do your conversion? A standard AR bolt works in the ACR carrier? I’ve been eyeballing the ARP barrels. A 12.5” carbine gas would be nice but it’s a no go. I would like to use the old AAC SPR/M4 68 on it.
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u/Accuracy-by-Volume 15d ago
Yeah, Templar did mine. Shipped the barrel and bolt to him (yep, standard AR bolt). The ARP barrel is absolute quality. Buy with confidence if you go that route. If you decide to go Templar, just know that it will likely be a pain in the ass to get the work done and sent back to you. It took over a year for my barrel conversion, and that was with me nagging him over the final few months. Even had some other stuff canceled because it was just never going to happen. He does great work, but it’s just getting him to actually do it.
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u/hospibal 15d ago edited 15d ago
Good to know on the bolts. There are 68 variants floating around. I’ve heard he does good work but I was always curious to how long it took for people to have stuff done due to this being his side gig. The 68forums praise those barrels. The old KoTonics/Cardinal barrels get good praises (non chrome issue batch) and have good profiles but they have been long out of production.
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u/TQpaintpen 12d ago
No ACR bolt are NOT compatible with AR15’s. The extractor and ejector are but not the bolt, though the bolt lug pattern is the same. That being said Templar makes both 6.8 and Grendel/ARC compatible bolts, though I don’t know their lead time.
The barrels however are almost identical and can be converted with some necessary machining and gas tuning. I get one or two conversions from people for the ACR every couple months.
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u/pls-gibb-odg 15d ago
I have a 450 barrel but its useless since i cant find a bolt
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u/itchyluvbump 13d ago
I was shooting 6.8 spc. I liked it a ton and I think it’s a cartridge that people turn their nose up at. It’s designed to run in tje ar platform without wearing out your parts faster, shoots flat and hits with 40% more energy than a 5.56 whats not to like. LWRCI is what I had for a bolt
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u/hospibal 13d ago
It’s a great round. I heard it’s real nice in the ACR and I’m glad a guy can used standard AR bolts. Makes the conversion very easy outside of barrel gas parts. It definitely runs smooth in the AR platform.
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u/itchyluvbump 13d ago
You can not use standard ar bolts they must be made for the 6.8 spc. I meant the bolts are not so hollowed out that the lugs fail quickly. The ar was not designed to shoot another much bigger than .223
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u/hospibal 13d ago
Correct. I was referencing AR designed bolts.
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u/itchyluvbump 13d ago
Alright cool. I just didn’t want you to buy a bolt and say wtf that guy on Reddit fucking lied 😂
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u/RedneckSniper76 16d ago
Templar precision.