6.

8 mm Remington SPC
The 6.8 mm Remington Special Purpose Cartridge
(aka 6.8 SPC, 6.8 SPC II & 6.843mm) is a rie cartridge that was developed by Remington Arms in collaboration with members of the U.S. Army Marksmanship
Unit, United States Special Operations Command[4] to
possibly replace the 5.56 NATO cartridge in a Short Barreled Rie(SBR)/Carbine.

tiles and the fact that it was based on the .30 Remington
case.
In general, adapting an AR-style rie to the new cartridge only requires the replacement of the barrel, bolt,
magazine & muzzle device (if applicable) of the 5.56
mm-chambered rie; but to further streamline and simplify the conversion process many parts manufacturers
sell complete upper receiver assemblies chambered for
6.8 SPC alongside their conversion kits focusing on the
key individual parts. While a complete 6.8 SPC assembly
is a somewhat more expensive route, the conversion of an
existing 5.56 mm/.223 rie to 6.8 SPC using a complete
upper assembly takes less than a minute on an AR platform rie without the need for specialized tools or skills.
In contrast, when swapping out the individual component
parts, a signicant level of gunsmithing experience, special tools, and time are generally required to detach the
barrel from the ries upper receiver and the gas system,
and conversely those same needs are required for the reassembly of the upper receiver with the new 6.8 SPC barrel. Also, there is the issue of having to readjust the sights
if a new barrel is placed on an existing upper receiver.

Based upon the .30 Remington cartridge,[5] it is midway between the 5.5645mm NATO and 7.6251mm
NATO in bore diameter and muzzle energy. It uses a 7.0
millimetres (0.277 in) (7.0358 mm) diameter bullet, the
same diameter (not usually the same weight) as that used
in the venerable .270 Winchester hunting cartridge.

Development

The 6.8mm SPC cartridge was designed to address

the deciencies of the terminal performance of the
5.56x45mm NATO cartridge currently in service with
the U.S. Armed Forces.[6] The cartridge was the result
of the Enhanced Rie Cartridge program. The 6.8 SPC
(6.8x43mm) was initially developed by MSG Steve Holland and Chris Murray, a United States Army Marksmanship Unit gunsmith,[7] to oer superior downrange lethality over the 5.56 NATO/.223 Remington in an AR pattern
service rie with minimal loss of magazine capacity and
a negligible increase in recoil.[8] The goal was to create
a cartridge that would bridge the gap between 5.56 mm
and 7.62x51mm NATO.

The 6.8 mm Remington SPC was designed to perform

better in short barreled CQB ries after diminished performance from the 5.56 NATO when the AR-15 was
changed from the rie conguration to the current M4
carbine. The 6.8 SPC delivers 44% more energy than the
5.56 mm NATO (M4 conguration) at 100300 metres
(330980 ft). The 6.8 mm SPC is not the ballistic equal
of the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge, but it has less recoil, has been said to be more controllable in rapid re,
and lighter, allowing operators to carry more ammunition than would otherwise be possible with the larger caliber round. The 6.8 mm generates around 2,385 J (1,759
ftlbf) of muzzle energy with a 7.5-gram (115 gr) bullet. In comparison, the 5.56x45mm round (which the 6.8
is designed to replace) generates around 1,796 J (1,325
ftlbf) with a 4.0 g (62 gr) bullet, giving the 6.8 mm a
terminal ballistic advantage over the 5.56 mm of 588 J
(434 ftlbf). One of the enigmatic features of this cartridge is it being designed for a short barrel carbine length
rie that the standard rie length is (usually 41 cm (16
in)). The round only gains about 7.610.7 m/s (2535
ft/s) for every 25 mm of barrel length past the standard
410-millimetre (16 in) barrel (all else being equal) up to
barrels length around 560610 mm (2224 in) with no
gain/loss in accuracy. It also does very well in ries with
less than 410 mm (16 in) barrels. In recent developments
(the period 2008-2012) the performance of the 6.8 SPC

The program started the design by using a .30 Remington

case, which was modied in length to t into magazines
that would be accommodated by the magazine wells of
the M16 family of ries and carbines that are currently in
service with the U.S. Armed Forces.[9]
In tests, it was determined that a 6.5 mm caliber projectile had the best accuracy and penetration, with historical data going back for decades of US Army exterior and
terminal ballistic testing, but a 7 mm projectile had the
best terminal performance. Further tests showed that a
6.8 mm caliber projectile was a compromise between the
two, providing accuracy, reliability and terminal performance up to 500 meters. The combination of the cartridge case, powder load, and projectile easily outperformed the 7.62x39mm Soviet cartridge, with the new
cartridge proving to be about 61 m/s (200 ft/s) faster.[10]
The resulting cartridge was named the 6.8 Remington
Special Purpose Cartridge due to the size of its projec1

2 APPLICATIONS

has been increased by approximately 61 to 91 m/s (200

to 300 ft/s) by the work of one ammunition manufacturer
Silver State Armory LLC (SSA) and a few custom rie
builders using/designing the correct chamber and barrel
specications. Also, more recently, LWRC, Magpul and
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) are currently introducing a
new AR platform designed for the 6.8 SPC which allows
for a proprietary 6.8 Magpul P-Mags and an overall cartridge length of 5.9 centimetres (2.32 in). The Personal
Defense Weapon (PDW) known as the Six8 is SPC II w
1:250 millimetres (10 in) twist and is able to use all current 6.8 SPC factory ammunition.[11] See Gold Dot below
for ATKs part.

1.1

1.4 ATK Gold Dot

When the LWRC Six8 was being developed, Alliant

Techsystems was contracted to develop a new 6.8x43mm
round for the weapon. Unlike smaller commercial rms,
ATK is a large ammunition supplier that delivers products
for the U.S. Army, so it had large resources and manufacturing capabilities at its disposal. Commercial cartridges
varied in case capacity and thickness, but LWRC wanted
a thick and durable case for military uses. A 90 gr (5.8 g)
load was developed specically for a high muzzle velocity
and low felt recoil from the Six8s 8.5 in (220 mm) barrel. Eective range would be over 300 yd (274 m) and the
bullet would still have enough energy to penetrate intermediate barriers. Three 90 gr loads were constructed for
Muzzle velocity from a 610-millimetre testing that included Gold Dot, Monolithic Hollow Point,
and FMJ. The Gold Dot bullet was selected with a .035 in
(24 in) barrel
(0.89 mm) jacket and a bonded core. The propellant was
7.5-gram (115 gr) Full Metal Jacket (FMJ): 850 m/s designed for reduced muzzle ash stable performance at
temperatures between 29.2 to 125.6 degrees F. Muz(2,800 ft/s)
zle velocity averaged at a 200 ft/s (61 m/s) dierence at
7.5-gram (115 gr) Boat Tail Hollow Point (BTHP): the required temperature extremes from the 8.5 in bar850 m/s (2,800 ft/s)
rel. From a 24 in (610 mm) barrel, the round produced a
group of 1.56 in (40 mm) at 200 yd (183 m).[17]
7.5-gram (115 gr) Sierra Match King (SMK): 850
m/s (2,800 ft/s)[12]

2 Applications
1.2

Muzzle velocity from a 410-millimetre

(16 in) barrel
2.1 Military/law enforcement adoption

5.5-gram (85 gr) Barnes TSX ; 940 m/s (3,070 ft/s) By late 2004 the 6.8x43mm SPC was said to be perform- Silver State Armory (SSA) tactical factory load ing well in the eld against enemy combatants in Special
Operations.[6] However the cartridge was not used by
5.8-gram (90 gr) Speer Gold Dot 880 m/s (2,900
conventional US military personnel. It was not adopted
ft/s)- Federal(ATK) tac/mil load.
for widespread use due to resistance from ocials. [18]
6.2-gram (95 gr) Barnes TTSX: 790 m/s (2,600 ft/s) The 6.8 SPC was designed for better terminal eectiveness at the shorter ranges of urban combat experienced
- Wilson Combat factory load[13]
in Iraq. When ghting in Afghanistan began to intensify,
7.1-gram (110 gr) SCHP; 810 m/s (2,650 ft/s) - Sil- engagements began taking place at greater distances. Experiments suggested that the relatively short 6.8 mm bulver State Armory (SSA) combat factory load
lets became ineective at longer ranges.[19] In 2007, both
7.1-gram (110 gr) Hornady BTHP TAP; 780 m/s the U.S. SOCOM and the U.S. Marine Corps decided not
(2,550 ft/s) - Hornady Law Enforcement tactical to eld weapons chambered in 6.8 mm due to logistical
factory load[14]
and cost issues.[20] An unnamed LWRC representative
said in January 2014 that the US military is once again
7.1-gram (110 gr) BTHP OTM & Barnes TSX; 790 taking a look at the 6.8 SPCII after all the commercial
m/s (2,600 ft/s) - Wilson Combat factory load[15]
development in the last 10 years.[21]
9.1-gram (140 gr) Berger VLD; 732 m/s (2,401 ft/s) While there are many rumors of evaluations of the car- Silver State Armory (SSA) factory load. (Discon- tridge by several major Federal and local law enforcement agencies, the US Drug Enforcement Administration
tinued)
has allowed individual agents to purchase the M6A2 DDEA - which uses the 6.8 mm Remington SPC - as an
1.3 Comparison to other military calibers authorized alternative to their duty weapon. In 2010 the
Jordanian state-owned arms manufacturer KADDB anTypical trajectory information from carbines with drop nounced that they would be producing 6.8 mm ries and
and velocity calculated at sea level with a 91 metres (100 carbines for the Jordanian Army.[22] There is also a contract between LWRC, Magpul, Alliant Techsystems and
yd) zero.[16]

3
The Saudi Royal guard for around 36,000 Six8 PDWs
& undisclosed amount of ATK/Federal XD68GD (90gr
Gold Dot 'training' ammo) and proprietary Magpul 6.8
Pmags specically for the LWRC Six8. See above under the subsection 'Development' Section. The 6.8 is also
being produced in a Squad Automatic Weapon or SAW
by U.S. Machine Gun Armory. The MGA SAW is
fully compatible with the United States Department of
Defense model designations: M249 and MK46. It is currently being shipped to US allies and is under testing with
the US military.

2.2

Current chamberings

There are several dierent chambers for the 6.8 SPC

which yield dierent results. They are:
1. Original Murray 6.8x43 ERC developed in 2002.
2. Murray DMR chamber, which was meant to address
improved accuracy expectations for the ERC Special Purpose Rie program in SOCOM.

2.2.1 Semiautomatic action

The rst major manufacturer to oer a 6.8 mm Remington SPC chambered version of the AR-15 was Barrett
Firearms Company, oering the Barrett M468 and later
the REC7. By 2007, most major manufacturers of AR15 type ries for the civilian gun market were oering ries in this caliber. Dedicated AR upper receiver assemblies chambered for the round are produced by a number of smaller rms. Ruger Firearms produces a 6.8 mm
for their Ruger SR-556 piston-driven AR-15 variant.[23]
The Stag Arms Hunter and Tactical models utilize the
newer chamber(SPC II) and specied twist rates to accommodate higher pressure loadings. Microtech Small
Arms Research oers their version of the Steyr AUG in
6.8. Robinson Armament Co. oers the XCR-L in 6.8,
which can be easily converted between 6.8, 5.56, and
7.62x39. Bushmaster has promised its ACR customers a
6.8 barrel conversion ability since the launch of the ACR
(4 years ago as of April 2014), it also announced a 6.8
ACR oering alongside its .223/5.56 initial oering in
April 2010, but has yet to deliver a 6.8 Remington SPC
ACR to the market. Given the track record of regularly
promised, yet undelivered 6.8 oerings for the ACR, a
signicant number of ACR industry experts, rearms enthusiasts and owners believe Bushmaster will never release 6.8 products for the ACR (nor any other caliber beyond .223/5.56). Ruger Firearms chambered their Mini14 Ranch Rie in this round for several years; however,
it has been discontinued.

3. The Remington SAAMI submitted specications. It

was supposed to have a 1.3 mm (0.050 in) freebore,
45 cone angle, 7.1 mm (0.278 in) freebore. The
reamers and PTG prints had an 80 neck to freebore cone angle, which was a result of a mistake in
the reamer drawing submitted, and was never corrected by the reamer maker or Remington during
the process of tooling up for the testing protocols
that eventually drove the SAAMI submission.
2.2.2 Manual action
4. SPC II is current standard chamber used by most
barrel manufactures. It has been said to be very
close to the original Enhanced Rie Cartridge Program chamber. It has a 2.9 mm (0.114 in) freebore,
45 cone angle, 7.1 mm (0.278 in) freebore, 7.84
mm (0.3085 in)neck.
5. 6.8 ARP(6.8x43mm renamed )(DMR has been replaced by 6.8x43/6.8 ARP,both are/were created
by AR Performance). It has a 2.4 mm (0.095 in)
freebore, 45 cone angle, 7.05 mm (0.2775 in)
dia, and a 7.84 to 7.85 mm (0.3085 to 0.309 in)
neck.[Proprietary chamber]
6. Noveske Mod 1 designed by Noveske Rieworks
LLC. It has been said to have a 2.5 mm (0.100 in)
Freebore.[Proprietary chamber]
Only the ries chambered with the newer specied chamber (6.8mm Spec II, Noveske Mod 1 and 6.8 ARP chambers) can safely use the higher pressure military/tactical
and near max-maximum handloaded ammunition. Those
ries using the Original SAAMI specs should only be
used with the standard commercial cartridge pressure
(Specied by SAAMI).

Remington also makes a bolt-action rie chambered for

6.8 SPC, a 610-millimetre (24 in) barrel Model 700.
Ruger oers their M77 Hawkeye Compact rie with a
420-millimetre (16.5 in) barrel weighing in at 2.7 kilograms (6.0 lb).[24] Browning oers their A-Bolt rie in
6.8 SPC, and Thompson/Center oers barrels chambered
for 6.8 SPC for the G2 Contender and Encore.

3 See also
6.5mm Grendel
6.8 Forums Home of the 6.8SPCII
6 mm caliber and 7 mm caliber other cartridges
of similar size
6 mm SAW similar cartridge developed to approximate both 7.62x51mm and 5.56x45mm cartridges.
.280 British similar cartridge developed during
the 1940s in the UK

EXTERNAL LINKS

.276 Pederson similar cartridge developed in [15] 110 gr. Hornady BTHP, 2600 FPS - 16 Barrel-Wilson
Combat. Shopwilsoncombat.com. Retrieved 2011-091923 in the US.
6.5 x 47 Lapua
.300 AAC Blackout
List of AR platform calibers
List of rearms
List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces
List of rie cartridges
Table of handgun and rie cartridges
Sectional density
Ballistic coecient

Notes

[1] Silver State Armory specializes in 6.8 SPC Ammunition, 115gr OTM, and custom brass cases - 6.8 Ammunition, 6.8 SPC Ammunition, SSarmory.com, SilverStateArmory.com. Ssarmory.com. Retrieved 2011-0915.
[2] Hornady Manufacturing Company :: Ammunition :: Rie :: Choose by Caliber :: 6.8mm SPC :: 6.8mm SPC 120
GR SST". Hornady.com. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
[3] 6.8 SPC 110 grain Sierra Pro Hunter Ammunition, 20
rounds/box., SilverStateArmory.com. Ssarmory.com.
Retrieved 2012-05-26.
[4] Not a private endeavor or fully sanctioned government
project
[5] 30 Rem. Chuckhawks.com. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
[6] John Pike. 5.56-mm Cartridges. Globalsecurity.org.
Retrieved 2011-09-15.
[7] http://www.wilsoncombat.com/68project.htm
[8] 6.8 mm SPC Cartridge History & Development. Hornadys Ammunition. The Stag Carbine.
Demigodllc.com. 2006-07-31. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
[9] Paul, Gary (2011-01-04). The 6.8mm Remington SPC.
Rieshootermag.com. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
[10] 6.8 mm SPC Cartridge History & Development. Hornadys Ammunition. The Stag Carbine.
Demigodllc.com. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
[11] https://www.lwrci.com/articles/SGNLWRCsix8.pdf
[12] DTIC.mil. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
[13] http://shopwilsoncombat.com/68-SPC/products/409/
[14] http://www.hornadyle.com/products/more_detail0a5d.
html?id=72&sID=151&pID=1

15.
[16] 6.8mm SPC article. Demigodllc.com. Retrieved 201109-15.
[17] LWRCI UCIW SIX8 Review - Shotgunnews.com, 9
November 2012
[18] Another 7.62mm Bullet For M-16s - Strategypage.com, 8
January 2012
[19] The 6.540 Cartridge: Longer Reach for the M4 & M16
- SAdefensejournal.com, 26 March 2014
[20] Dan Lamothe. Corps to pass on Army upgrades to M4.
Army Times Publishing Company. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
[21] LWRC: 6.8 SPC is the New 300 Blackout
[22] LWRC ries to be license-produced in Jordan. Therearmblog.com. 2010-05-13. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
[23] Information on the 6.8 SPC Mini. Ruger-rearms.com.
Retrieved 2011-09-15.
[24] Information on the 6.8 Ruger Hawkeye Compact.
Ruger.com. Retrieved 2011-09-15.

5 External links
Denitive history of 6.8 SPC- The 6.8 SPC, Is it all
that?
6.8 SPC FAQ
Remington Ammunition Information
M468 Rie
Defense Review
Gunblast.com article
Sharper Shooting: Upgrading Ammunition Lethality
First Look: The 6.8mm Remington SPC
6,8 SPC
6.8mm SPC Cartridges Available, Silver State Armory Ammunition Manufacturer

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

6.1

Text

6.8 mm Remington SPC Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6.8%20mm%20Remington%20SPC?oldid=653110445 Contributors:

DDD, Rlandmann, Riddley, DocWatson42, Crimson30, Axeman, Tom harrison, Bobblewik, Klemen Kocjancic, AliveFreeHappy, Avriette, Freestylefrappe, Fluzwup, Night Gyr, Perfecto, Jigen III, Redxiv, Oneliner, Gene Nygaard, BerserkerBen, D.E. Watters, Pol098,
Tierlieb, Je3000, Abel29a, GregorB, Mendaliv, Rjwilmsi, Bgwhite, Splash, C777, Gaius Cornelius, Asams10, JGoodman, Maphisto86,
Hayden120, Some guy, SmackBot, Smokeybehr, Kelleym, LWF, SMasters, Sr72lantern, New Guy The 17th, M855GT, Krispos42, Nfutvol,
CmdrObot, Marco bisello, MarsRover, Meno25, AtTheAbyss, Myscrnnm, Nabokov, Aldis90, Thijs!bot, Oldwildbill, Leedeth, Zak Smith,
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J.delanoy, Grim Revenant, Reginhild, Trilobitealive, Tatrgel, Robertgreer, Monoblocks, DanMP5, Vkt183, Melensdad, Nikthestunned,
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6.3

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