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The 6mm ARC

(Advanced Rifle Cartridge)

Advanced

Achieves results never before delivered from the AR-15 platform with the ultimate blend of system weight, performance and shootability.

Versatile

Equally at home in AR-15 platforms and short or micro action bolt guns and suitable for applications from personal defense to match shooting and hunting.

Efficient

Balanced application of cartridge, chamber and propellant design coupled with bullet selection for optimum all-range performance and barrel life.

Effective

Excellent terminal performance from an assortment of bullets for a variety of applications.

Best New Caliber in 2020

Ballistic's Best: Editors Selects Logo

The 6mm ARC is available in these product lines

Hornady BLACK, Match, and Precision Hunter packaging      

 

Accurate

  • Features match-accurate Hornady bullets held to the tightest tolerances in our test lab.

Low recoil

  • Utilizes an efficient propellant charge and bullet weight combination.
  • Shooter can self-spot impacts on or off target to make rapid adjustments.
  • Less felt recoil than larger short-action-based (308 Win family) cartridges.

Flexible

  • Factory ammunition in a variety of bullet styles.
  • Handloaders can choose from a multitude of 6mm bullets for applications from varmint and deer hunting to match shooting.
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Gun makers who are producing the 6mm ARC

  • Adams Arms
  • APF Armory
  • Barrett
  • Brenton
  • Brownells
  • Christensen
  • CMC Triggers
  • CMMG
  • GAP
  • Geissele
  • Howa
  • Lantac
  • Mile High Shooting Accessories
  • Mossberg
  • NEMO
  • Noveske
  • Odin Works
  • Proof
  • Radical Firearms
  • SanTan Tactical
  • Savage
  • Seekins Precision
  • Stag Arms
  • Uintah Precision
  • Wilson Combat
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Cartridge Comparisons

The 6mm ARC does what much larger cartridges can and everything that smaller cartridges can’t. It delivers substantially better ballistics than the 223 and offers a much lighter gun/ammo system with 30% less weight than the AR-10/308 Win system. Overall, the 6mm ARC delivers optimum all-range performance and barrel life.

6mm ARC ammo comparison

How the 6mm ARC surpasses the others

Comparison What makes the 6mm ARC better?
308 Win
  • The 6mm ARC delivers substantially less recoil allowing shooters to spot their own shots.
  • The AR-15 platform features a higher magazine capacity.
  • The 6mm ARC offers a 30 to 35% lighter-weight package (gun and ammo).
223/5.56
  • The 6mm ARC achieves substantially better ballistics than the 223/5.56. It delivers less drop, less wind deflection and the ability to shoot accurate groups at much greater distance (1000+ yds).
224 Valkyrie
  • The 6mm ARC gives hunters the ability to successfully hunt varmints and deer.
  • The 6mm ARC produces a larger splash signature that allows shooters to self-spot impacts and make rapid adjustments.
6.5 Grendel
  • The 6mm ARC delivers comparable performance from a wider assortment of bullets, making it a more versatile choice.
6.8 SPC
  • The 6mm ARC is a better long-range performer.

 

6mm ARC Components and tools from Hornady

  • 6mm ARC Unprimed Cases (50 ct) Item No 86287
  • 6mm ARC Series III Two-Die Rifle Die Set (.243) Item No 546251
  • 6mm ARC Full Length Die (.243) Item No 046262
  • 6mm ARC Seating Die (.243) Item No 044244
  • Neck Size Die Item No 046047
  • Shell Holder #6 Item No 390546
  • Shell Plate #6 Item No 392606
  • Small Rifle Case Feeder Plate Item No 095314
  • Trimmer Pilot #3 (.243) Item No 390945
  • Bullet Puller Collet #3 (.243) Item No 392156
  • 6mm ARC Modified Case Item No A6MMA

View Reloading Essentials   View Cartridge Cases

What others are saying about the 6mm ARC

"It's the best all-around cartridge for the AR to date; better than the .223 Rem., 6.5 mm Grendel, 6.8 SPC and .300 Blackout, and evidently Hornady and I aren't the only ones who think so."
— Jeff Johnston, American Rifleman
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"The 6mm ARC has the potential be a very accurate cartridge. It is not limited to use in an AR-15 either, and would work well in a micro-action bolt gun."
— David M. Fortier, Firearms News
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"It uses the same design method as the 6.5 Creedmoor; this results in excellent and consistent accuracy from one gun to another and load to load."
— Jay Langston, Ballistic Magazine
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"The 6mm ARC is unique among rifle cartridges in that it fits in an AR-15-pattern action, functions reliably out of standard-capacity 24- or 17-round magazines, and remains supersonic beyond 1,000 yards in a standard atmosphere."
— Tom Beckstrand, Guns & Ammo
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"If you’d like to keep the same rifle platform while gaining an increase in energy and long-range performance without much more recoil, then the 6mm ARC is for you."
— Ryan Cleckner, Gun University
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"I was more than dazzled, as I continued to place shots on targets all over the mountain. The accuracy of the ARC is superb."
— Jeff Wood, guns.com
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