Six years after Hornady turned the 6.5 Grendel case into something faster, the 6 mm ARC still has a practice problem. Factory ammunition for it has leaned heavily toward pricey match and hunting bullets. Federal’s answer showed up last month in the form of a new American Eagle load built around a 110-grain total metal jacket bullet.
Some background on why the cartridge exists at all. Hornady developed 6 mm ARC for a U.S. Dept. of Defense customer and released it commercially in 2020, necking down the 6.5 Grendel case so a standard AR-15-size receiver could push a high-BC 6 mm bullet well past what 5.56 mm NATO manages. Shooters need a Grendel-pattern bolt and magazines to run it, and in exchange they get long-range performance out of a rifle that still recoils like a varmint gun.
Federal lists this load at 2,550 fps muzzle velocity with a .440 BC. Velocity holds at 1,991 fps at 300 yards and 1,663 fps at 500, where the bullet is still carrying 676 foot-pounds and sitting comfortably above the sound barrier. Wind is the bigger tax: 8.3 inches of drift at 300 yards in a 10 mph crosswind, growing to 25 inches at 500.
The total metal jacket construction is the part that matters for range work. Where a conventional full metal jacket leaves lead exposed at the base, a TMJ bullet is sheathed front to back, which cuts down on airborne lead at indoor ranges and keeps the bore cleaner over a long string. Perhaps best of all, the brass is reloadable.
“This new American Eagle addition is ideal for fun at the range, offering the accuracy and reliability that shooters expect either plinking for fun or shooting for precision,” said Josh Vickers, Federal’s centerfire rifle ammunition product manager.
Federal categorizes the load for competition and target shooting rather than hunting, which reads as an honest bit of shelf placement. A TMJ bullet is a practice bullet. What it buys a 6 mm ARC owner is trigger time at a price that makes trigger time possible, with terminal work left to the hunting and match offerings already in the catalog.
The new Federal American Eagle 6 mm ARC 110-grain TMJ load (product number AE6ARC1) has an MSRP of $36.99 and is available now. Go to federalpremium.com.
