01-15-2025, 01:48 AM
What he said.
Now I don't know how familiar you are with rifle systems and shooting, so hopefully this won't sound too basic, and no disrespect intended here, but I start here when I see a title and OP like yours.
Commercial mfrs use bulk canister powders that are not necessarily available to us on the shelf, and Hornady is no different.
The high ES you're getting is because they bulk loaded it for accuracy in a 24" (or whatever) barrel, and for any other lenght and any other rifle (no 2 rifles are equal), relatively good accuracy at 100 yds will be there but actual on-node, hand-developed, accuracy, likely not. This is true for most factory rounds.
The 108 and 105 factory loads respond pretty much the way you described for lots of 6 Arc barrels, I know b/c I have three of them currently in use... couple more on the shelf.
If you want to get into reloading, which is a great hobby as I (40+ years into it) and many others will attest to, you must start out at the beginning. No shortcuts. With basic tools and equipment, good load books, and a little training with someone else who knows it... This last is a recommendation, the other items are necessities.
6Arc is a good caliber, but one where you must obey some strict limits, or you could wind up blowing up your barrel, gun or even yourself. Reloading, especially for someone starting out, is only for those who are willing to "color inside the lines." Once you have several thousand rounds downrange, well then, what you decide to do beyond these recommendations is up to you but you'll have some understanding of the limits and precautions and safety needs, etc to keep you safe.
Another point on the 6 Arc, as with the 6.5 grendel, is they are medium pressure, nicely accurate loads that do not "answer the call" with mucho-high pressures and a gazillion feet per sec muzzle velocity. You need to stay within its limitations.
So. Pulling a factory round apart won't get you much useful info. From lot to lot there isn't even a guarantee that it's the same powder.
As to equipment, and components, there is some startup cost, and it can be a lot to begin with.
It might be good to know a few things at the beginning.
1. What is your goal? If it's just to plink or maybe hunt a bit out to 100, 200 yds, then maybe just shoot some various factory loads to see what can achieve that. even with a flyer (assuming it's the bullet), the 108 103 or other loads might be plenty accurate enough for your purposes, and cheaper overall. Shop ammoseek online as well as any Lgs.
2. By the way, what is your rifle setup? AR or bolt? 16, 18, 20 inch barrel or what? Who put it together and how assured are you that it is well-assembled? What kind of optics, attachment, what trigger, what pull weight, who made the barrel... all of these system details could also be the reason for your "flyers", or of the accuracy and even some of the ES/MV details coming out the muzzle. Three components are uppermost in an AR (or any rifle for that matter): barrel quality, trigger quality, and optics quality. When you skimp in any of those your accuracy suffers.
Now I don't know how familiar you are with rifle systems and shooting, so hopefully this won't sound too basic, and no disrespect intended here, but I start here when I see a title and OP like yours.
Commercial mfrs use bulk canister powders that are not necessarily available to us on the shelf, and Hornady is no different.
The high ES you're getting is because they bulk loaded it for accuracy in a 24" (or whatever) barrel, and for any other lenght and any other rifle (no 2 rifles are equal), relatively good accuracy at 100 yds will be there but actual on-node, hand-developed, accuracy, likely not. This is true for most factory rounds.
The 108 and 105 factory loads respond pretty much the way you described for lots of 6 Arc barrels, I know b/c I have three of them currently in use... couple more on the shelf.
If you want to get into reloading, which is a great hobby as I (40+ years into it) and many others will attest to, you must start out at the beginning. No shortcuts. With basic tools and equipment, good load books, and a little training with someone else who knows it... This last is a recommendation, the other items are necessities.
6Arc is a good caliber, but one where you must obey some strict limits, or you could wind up blowing up your barrel, gun or even yourself. Reloading, especially for someone starting out, is only for those who are willing to "color inside the lines." Once you have several thousand rounds downrange, well then, what you decide to do beyond these recommendations is up to you but you'll have some understanding of the limits and precautions and safety needs, etc to keep you safe.
Another point on the 6 Arc, as with the 6.5 grendel, is they are medium pressure, nicely accurate loads that do not "answer the call" with mucho-high pressures and a gazillion feet per sec muzzle velocity. You need to stay within its limitations.
So. Pulling a factory round apart won't get you much useful info. From lot to lot there isn't even a guarantee that it's the same powder.
As to equipment, and components, there is some startup cost, and it can be a lot to begin with.
It might be good to know a few things at the beginning.
1. What is your goal? If it's just to plink or maybe hunt a bit out to 100, 200 yds, then maybe just shoot some various factory loads to see what can achieve that. even with a flyer (assuming it's the bullet), the 108 103 or other loads might be plenty accurate enough for your purposes, and cheaper overall. Shop ammoseek online as well as any Lgs.
2. By the way, what is your rifle setup? AR or bolt? 16, 18, 20 inch barrel or what? Who put it together and how assured are you that it is well-assembled? What kind of optics, attachment, what trigger, what pull weight, who made the barrel... all of these system details could also be the reason for your "flyers", or of the accuracy and even some of the ES/MV details coming out the muzzle. Three components are uppermost in an AR (or any rifle for that matter): barrel quality, trigger quality, and optics quality. When you skimp in any of those your accuracy suffers.