8.6 Creedmoor – Blackout’s Big Brother is Almost Here

ARBuildJunkie.com recently sat down with David Stark of Discreet Ballistics to speak about his company’s groundbreaking 30 caliber subsonic loads.  We also had a chance to discuss a very exciting new caliber, 8.6 Creedmoor, which seems poised to become 300 Blackout’s spiritual big brother by taking a modified case from a 6.5 Creedmoor and pairing it with a .338 projectile. The end result is a hybrid that performs both suppressed and supersonic.

Q: Dave, you mentioned 8.6 Creedmoor in an earlier conversation, and it looks like on your web page, you have more than a little interest in this caliber. Can you explain it for our readers?

David Stark, Discreet Ballistics:  I know your website is about the AR platform, but this is so cool.  We’re on the periphery of 8.6 development, but it’s so exciting, I’d like to share it with your readers. 

The story with 8.6 Creedmoor is that Kevin Brittingham and Ethan Lessardare the guys helped develop 300 Blackout.  Of course, all due respect to J.D. Jones.  

When they first conceived of 300 Blackout, they thought, “maybe we should do a bigger version too.” So the 8.6 Creedmoor concept is as old as 300 Blackout, but they are just now getting around to really grabbing the concept by the horns and pushing it through.

What’s exciting now is they have been able to convince Hornady to go along with it, which is the most important thing, because there is no way you are going to be able to popularize a cartridge without a company like Hornady to make components for it. You need that manufacturing ability to scale, at the level of Hornady. And Hornady is an amazing company. Privately owned, their quality is fantastic.

Q: Sounds exciting. In a nutshell, what niche will this fill?

David Stark, Discreet Ballistics:   So, it’s a big brother to 300 Blackout.  This means incredible super and sub performance out of short barrels.  It’s using a 6.5 Creedmoor case that is necked up to .338.  So it uses .338 caliber bullets, which are plentiful, not to the extent of 30 caliber, but there are plenty of them out there…and it will fit in AR-10 magazines. 

What this means is you’ll have subsonic and supersonic capability in the same way that you do in 300 Blackout.  Obviously, it will use .338 suppressors, and there are plenty of options out there for that.

Q: I know the round is still in its early stages. How is your company Discreet Ballistics helping?

David Stark, Discreet Ballistics:  What we’re doing is we are helping to design an expanded solid copper projectile that will be very similar to our current 30 caliber subsonic projectile, except for it will be an additional 100 grains in weight. So not only will you have more energy delivery, you’ll have much greater expansion, so its going to be just that much more traumatic because you are going to be pushing a larger expanded bullet through whatever you’re trying to kill.

What it’s also going to do is take all the naysayers who say 300 Blackout isn’t powerful enough, and its going to shut them up.

To use a car analogy, it’s like going from 5.0 Windsor engine to the new Shelby engine.  It’s lights out and so cool. 

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