Tim from Ko-Tonics had a good comment I feel like should be its own post:
I am glad you enjoyed our 6.8 SPC upper, and thanks for the kind words.
Just a brief comment about Linoge’s “it better be awesome at that price.â€
1) Cheap blasting 6.8 SPC ammo can be had for $12-$13 per box if you look around. Silver State Armory will be coming out with such a round at the end of the calendar year.
2) 6.8 SPC will never be as cheap as .223. For what 6.8 SPC does, it’s much more comparable to .308 in terminal ballistics and all-around usefulness. 6.8 SPC is FAR more lethal than .223. You get what you pay for.
3) The beauty of the AR-15 system is that you don’t need a whole new rifle to get into 6.8 SPC, you just neeed an upper, bolt and magazine. Your current .223/5.56 NATO AR-15 lower will work just fine, with no modifications of any kind. When you want to do some blasting, just put your .223 upper back on.
4) 6.8 SPC is an OUTSTANDING hunting cartridge for deer, hogs, or any other critter weighing less than 400 pounds.
I have a FAQ on 6.8 SPC, as well as a 6.8 SPC hunting page, on our www.ko-tonics.com Web site, point your browser over there if you’d like more info.
Again, thanks for all the nice comments.
I was indeed awesome. Thanks Tim! I can’t wait to show it off to all my shooting buddies back home.
Yeah… I guess, as usual, I should have phrased that a little better. Being “just” a target shooter, spending a full buck a throw does not appeal to me, and being trapped in Kalifornistan as I am, and not being a tremendous fan of the AR15/M16 frame, the whole “Wow, cool, it just plugs right in!” thing does not mean a whole lot either.
That, and the absolutely amazing plethora of calibers out there just confuses the hell out of me.
2) 6.8 SPC will never be as cheap as .223. For what 6.8 SPC does, it’s much more comparable to .308 in terminal ballistics and all-around usefulness. 6.8 SPC is FAR more lethal than .223. You get what you pay for.
…so he’s claiming that because it does more he can charge more for it? Or perhaps he’s using ‘special’ brass or ‘magic’ propellant?
I think I’ll stick with my Enfield, which shoots a much heavier bullet twice as far through a rifle that cost me a tenth of what an AR/Ko-Tonic set up goes for.
Umm… it uses a lot more brass, lead and copper, so it will always be more expensive than .223 just by material costs… but the main reason is there will never be the economy of scale for 6.8SPC production that there is for .223. Meaning the costs of operating the production equipment gets spread out over fewer people.
I think that’s why everyone was hoping for NATO adoption or something…
I really enjoyed shooting that, especially with the Eotech and hitting the 300, 400, and 500-yard gongs – the accuracy was seriously sweet my teeth hurt. So you bought it? Kewl!