6mmARC Military Application

[LRRPF52]

I have no doubt that Hornady and several companies will support the 6mm ARC. I wouldn't put too much stock in the unspecified military unit. The 6.8, scar, h&k 416, several other weapon platforms were all claimed to be in use by military units. Most of the time that meant they were tested and one might sit in an armory of a sof unit and collecting dust. Various units in the military are constantly developing and testing a plethora of weapons to see if they fulfill a requirement. Most sit on a rack and collect dust. I can remember when everyone thought that sof was using hk416. None of the shooters ever used them. They all used 10.5 DD SBR with a surfire suppressor. Some may carry various lengths depending on their role, but nothing crazy. That might have changed now, but the large scale adoption of a new caliber and platform isn't something that happens overnight and without substantial amount of testing. Unfortunately, a lot of money gets wasted by the good idea fairies.

With all that being said, I personally think that the 6mm is the perfect diameter bullet to maximize the potential of the AR 15 platform. Whether or not the military entity adopts and uses it does not dimish that. The big army, marine corps, and white sof units will not be changing away from their current rifle platforms for a long time. I think a mainstream 6mm ar round that is supported by several well known companies is going to be well received in market if the price is right and the production capacity is there.

Hk416 has been in use for many years now.







Mk.18 CQBR Block II uppers included handguards from DD, but most of the critical components are Colt, like the upper, barrel, BCG, gas tube, etc.

SCAR-Hs and SCAR-Ls have been adopted into the Arms Rooms of multiple units across SOCOM, including AFSOC, USASOC, NAVSOC, and MARSOC, though support for them in the long-term has been under dispute.

Hornady isn't going to take a cartridge to the market and claim it was for a DoD unit if it wasn't true. Tom Beckstrand made a video talking about all of this recently. He used to be A Co Commander in 3-325 AIR when I was there before he went SF, and we've talked at-length at SHOT over dinner regarding certain things in the market. Very knowledgeable guy with some of the best articles on optics you will ever find in the gun industry. He's a straight-shooter who doesn't get into the marketing hype campaigns you often see.

6mm ARC isn't meant to be a large-scale adoption of a new cartridge, just a specific request for the DoD entity that has been wanting a lightweight, long-range capable AR15-based system that has all the reach they need over 5.56, without having to lug around 7.62 NATO or .260 Rem SR25s.

Hornady has also done small project special ammunition design for DoD units in the past, like they did with the 6x35 PDW that went into the Knight's Armament KAC PDW.

There was another effort to make a 6x45mm SAW M16 back in the 1970s that escapes most people's tracking of the AR15 development over the years. That was primarily meant for the new LMG SAW, not rifles, but there was an odd AR15 they cut and welded the receivers on to make it large enough for the magazine to fire 6x45mm SAW.



This delivers 6x45mm SAW performance without having to modify the receiver set.