Upgrading to the 6.8 SPC some range thoughts
I remember looking at guns with their AR15s and all of the bragging that went on when I was still plinking away with a $179 russian SKS. I have memories of that time period when the owners were talking about how accurate their guns were, but when we walked down range, they shot groups that were basically the same thing I shot with SKS. After several years of walking up the ladder of cheap guns to match grade guns, I realized my shooting skills were actually better than I thought, but it was all about getting the most out of a firearm and not really which one was better than the other. Now that the AR15 has been in the hands of law enforcement and private citizens there has been a real debate about using the 55gr ball ammo for defensive purposes.
I have a close friend that has witnessed the use of 55gr Federal American Eagle and it was a one shot and drop shooting. I predicted along with a few other military personel that with the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, we were going to see a chanc in the type of ammo snipers used. The resurrection of the DMR has also come about. Since there has been a growing trend towards using retired military in security and contractor forces, these individuals have been choosing their own weapons and many of them have been choosing pistol driven guns like LWRCI AR15 upper receivers. These guns have a proven track record of requiring less cleaning and reducing the wear and tear on extractors and bolt carriers.
The caliber wars are never ending, but once spin to the argument that in my opinion is not much of an argument anymore, is that bullet designs are becoming more and more effective. When you read about the 9mm vs 45acp debates people argue about the size of the bullet, over penetration and stopping power. The reality is that hunting bullets and defensive ammo has taken a step, maybe not a giant step, but a considerable step forward in increasing a calibers effectiveness.
Adding the extra security may mean that your scope won’t come loose after a few thousand rounds. I’ve seen guys with battle rifles with $1000 optics on them and after a few thousand rounds, the mounts came loose. None of these individuals were using loctite. Over torquing screws is something to be concerned about because screwing a mount in as tight as you possible can does not mean more security, it actually means more stress. Loctite doesn’t add stress to your gun mount it just helps keep the grip on your screws so they don’t rotate after long firing periods.