Big Game Powder in Gas Gun

[Burt Gummer]

First time poster and hand loader. I have an 18” barrel gas gun in you guessed it, 6arc and was curious if this would be a good fit for the cartridge seeing it’s very close to LVR. I picked up a pound to try but not sure where to start with charge weight. If nothing else I’m going to need some powder to fire form some new brass!  . Does anyone have any experience using this in their gun and if so what sort of data would you feel comfortable sharing?

Thank you for reading

[Old Bob]

Welcome to the forum Burt Gummer. LVR is a good powder for the 6 ARC with bullets 75grs & up. You ought to get Hornady's reloading handbook. It's what I have to get started with. It has separate loads for both gas guns & bolt guns.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1023637228?pid=611428

For fire forming, you can use whatever bullet, primer & powder combo you want. As long as their pressures aren't too high. I'm using Reloader #7 under 70gr Nosler Varmageddon bullets with CCI #400 SR primers. All my fire forming will be done with my bolt gun (Uintah). When I start reloading my fire formed brass, I'll try several different combos of powder, brass & bullets. Couple of things I'll use in all my gas gun reloading are either CCI #41 or CCI #450 SRM primers. They have stouter primer cups so there's less chance of slam fires in semi-auto guns.

Have fun & be safe...

[CZ527 Guy]

Welcome abord: Burt

I have reloaded a lot in excess of 30 years. & have been quite passionate about the 6mm Arc for roughly 2 years. Though little interest in the 6mm ARC in a Gas gun personally. My initial expectation was Big Game may be a bit slow for this chambering. Keep in mind I have never loaded Big Game in any cartridge. Looked at the burn rate chart to ballpark verify, remember we are cautioned with making the burn rate comparison.
Though this is my educated guess& & we will use the burn rate chart to help a bit with our comparison.

https://hodgdon.com/wp-content/uploads/2...-color.pdf

Benchmark with lighter bullets is on the fast side for this cartridge at 85 .    CFE223 & Leverevolution are dense yet on the slow side for heavy bullets for this cartridge at 111 & 113 on the linked burn rate chart. Ramshot big game coming in at 115. Id feel fairly confident that the burn rate & the bulk of this propellant will likely not meet  your goal for your AR with the 6mm ARC.

Not sure what bullets you are considering for fire forming though Id encourage you to consult reliable load data from the likes of Hornady & or Hodgdon & consider other propellants that fall in the load data for your bullet selection.

https://www.hornady.com/assets/site/horn...r-data.pdf

https://hodgdonreloading.com/reloading-d...ue&type=54

[Burt Gummer]

Thank you both for taking the time to reply. I appreciate your advise on what powders and bullets are working well with this cartridge. I happen to agree with your opinions too. 

I should have mentioned my stock of bullets and powder already include the go to powders you mentioned for heavier bullets as that’s all Im interested in shooting for now. I’ll be staying between 108-112 grain bullets. The 112’s being matchburners and various makes in the lighter ones. I’m literally just starting to ladder test, fire form, and playing with seating depth. The Big Game is something I wanted to try once I have established a good performing combination of components using known load data because its $33 per/lb by me. If it performs similar to LVR or CFE223 then it would be a cheaper alternative. Basically just trying to help the 6 ARC community get one more option for a good powder while tinkering and having fun doing it. 

Just looking for advise from anyone that has had experience loading the powder with this cartridge. I might have to resort to QL or the other one to try and develop a load but I know those aren’t that accurate with the little ARC case.