U.S. Military's 'New' 6.8 Caliber Round ?

[dpast32]

Hello Folks, We have all recently noted the various news reports concerning the U.S. Military's 'pending' adoption of an 6.8 Caliber projectile / cartridge for use by our forces.
MY QUESTION IS; Is the 6.8 caliber round they're referring to the 'old', circa 2005 or so 6.8 SPC Load, or something new entirely ? Personally, I feel the original 6.8 SPC was, & remains an excellent choice for short to medium+ range infantry engagements. ( In fact, I thought so highly of the 6.8 SPC load that I purchased an Stag Arms M-5, along with a 500 rd case of Hornandy's 110 gr. TAP loads, divided equally between their Standard TAP & Urban TAP varieties. ) If anyone knows for certain exactly which 6.8 Caliber variant will be chosen / adopted for further study, & or final issue, I will be very interested in hearing about it. Yes, there are other suitable candidates out there to choose from. But, for the interim, the 6.8 SPC Cartridge will fill it's intended mission quite well, provided we don't ask it to perform a role for which it wasn't intended.


Best, dpast32

[1168]

I believe that “they” are going for a .277 bore, but not necessarily 6.8SPC.

I’m happy with 5.56.

[chef8489]

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-...iers-shooting/

[mack7.62]

Not the 6.8 SPC, I believe they gave the competitors performance quidelines and will be providing the bullets only, I found this in the comments of the linked article:

"People see "6.8mm" and just assume that it will be the SPC. The Army is basically leaving the cartridge case design to the manufacturers, as long as it uses the government-designed projectile and meets the thresholds for velocity and weight. The velocity threshold is reportedly somewhere over 3,000 fps with a ~135gr projectile."

[alx01]

The velocity threshold is reportedly somewhere over 3,000 fps with a ~135gr projectile."

Isn't that basically a definition of 7.62x51 M80A1 round?

[maximus83]

But, for the interim, the 6.8 SPC Cartridge will fill it's intended mission quite well, provided we don't ask it to perform a role for which it wasn't intended.

In practical terms, for us, this makes sense. We have no crystal ball on which specific 6.8 the Army will finally select, or when they will do it. Also, we don't know whether the other services will adopt it either. From what I can see, the Marines are not yet on board.

Bottom line: I wouldn't base any caliber selection today on the fact that the Army is talking about moving to some type of 6.8. Even the article suggest 5.56 is still going to be around for a long time. As your OP implies, I agree best thing to do for us to do is figure out functionally what we need to do with your rifle, and base the caliber decision around that. Currently I'm considering upgrading my AR's by adding an upper that meets hunting requirements for medium game in my state (at least .243). First I considered the platform issue, moving to AR10 vs staying with all AR15. In the end because of extra weight, cost, the nonstandard/proprietary nature of AR10's, and finally the extra recoil, I decided to stay with AR15 platform. Most likely I'll go with one of the three leading options that has a lot of factory loads and parts available: .300 BO, 6.8 SPC II, or 6.5 G, leaning toward the last. Not because it'll make any difference over say 6.8 loads for hunting within 300 yards. But only because I like 6.5G ballistics for longer range target shooting--gives a little more flexibility with the caliber.

[1168]

The velocity threshold is reportedly somewhere over 3,000 fps with a ~135gr projectile."

.270WSM is going to be super awesome for the great Moose eradication of 2025 after we conquer Canadia.

[mack7.62]

Yeah I had some doubt about the 3000 fps, after some more searching it looks like it will be in the 2800-2900 range.

[MontanaMarine]

135gr at 3000 fps.....necked-down 7.62 NATO?

[mack7.62]

It will need to have powder capacity equivalent to 7.62 but another requirement is that it be 20 % lighter, I would not be surprised to see a cased telescoped cartridge come out of this. I also saw somewhere it needs to penetrate class IV body armor at 600 meters, not sure how realistic the whole thing is.