Is a 6.8mm Remington SPC in your future?

Guns Magazine, March, 2005 by Holt Bodinson

Just when things were getting a bit boring around here, Remington launched a new medium-game hunting cartridge for 2005. Rumors about the existence of a special ops cartridge that was more powerful than the 5.56 and compatible with the existing M16/M4 platform have been swirling around for several years. Well, it's minor no more. The 6.8mm Remington SPC (Special Purpose Cartridge) is a fact. In fact, this new, compact 270-caliber cartridge might be on your dealer's shelf as you read this.

Bringing a military round into the commercial sporting arms market is old hat at Remington. Remember the 5.56x45 that Remington morphed into the .223 Rem? Well, the 6.8mm Rem. SPC may not become as popular as the .223, but it certainly will carve out a niche for itself in the light rifle/medium game arena.

It's an interesting cartridge with an interesting pedigree. Looking for a larger case but with a case head size that could be accommodated by an M16 size bolt, the military in cooperation with Remington found just what they were looking for--the old and virtually obsolete .30 Remington.

You may remember that famous series of Remington rimless cartridges that was created to compete head-to-head with Winchester's .25-35, .30-30, and .32 Special. The .25, .30, .32 and .35 Remington were efficient, accurate cartridges and chambered primarily in Remington's Model 14 and 141 pump actions, Model 8 and 81 semiautomatics, and Model 30 bolt action.

What made the .30 Remington rimless case so useful in developing the 6.8rom Rem. SPC was its small and unique rim size. The rim of a .30-06 and most other standard non-belted game cartridges measures .473". The rim of the .30 Rem. measures only .421" and the military found

that an M 16-size bolt could be adapted to safely accept a case of that size.

The next step was to shorten the .30 Rem. case so that it would function through an M16 magazine. The case length of the 6.8mm Rem. SPC is 1.68" and loaded with a .277" 115grain bullet, it's overall length is exactly that of the 5.56x45, or 2.26" to be exact.

With 17 percent more case capacity than the 5.56 and a bullet almost twice as heavy and five calibers larger delivering 78 percent more energy at 100 yards, the 6.8mm Rem. SPC was what the military was looking for. Lots of smack at close combat ranges combined with improved 500-meter accuracy and lethality.

Sounds like a decent deer cartridge, doesn't it? Remington thinks so.

Until this year, the 6.8mm Rem. SPC has been loaded only with a 115-grain FMJ, BTHP, or Sierra MatchKing at a velocity of 2,800 feet per second. Now the 6.8mm SPC has been mated with Remington's premier game bullet, a 115-grain bonded Core-Lokt Ultra at 2,775 fps.

Remington likes to compare the ballistics of the 6.8mm SPC with those of that time-proven deer slayer, the .30-30 firing a 150-grain bullet. Accordingly, the 6.8mm Rem. SPC produces 23 percent more energy at 100 yards, 36 percent more at 200 yards, and at 300 yards, the 6.8mm SPC still retains 1,072 ft-lbs of energy compared to the .30-30's miserly 565 ft-lbs. The 6.8mm SPC is 4" flatter at 200 yards than the .30-30, and in rifles of identical weight, the recoil of the 6.8mm SPC is 30 percent less.

In fact, when it comes to recoil, Remington's figures show that when fired in a Model Seven rifle, the 6.8mm SPC with a 115grain 115 gr. bullet at 2,800 fps produces 8.8 ft-lbs of recoil while what we think of as a very mild cartridge, the .243 Win. with a 100-grain bullet at 2,960 fps, produces 10.7 ft-lbs. That's 18 percent less recoil in favor of the 6.8mm.

Depending upon its performance in the field, the 6.8mm Rem. SPC just may turn out to be an ideal chambering for youth and lady's rifles. Chambered in light, short action rifles like Remington's Model Seven, the 6.8mm could handle varmints and medium size game without the disconcerting muzzle blast and recoil of larger cartridges.

How does this new, little .270 really perform in the field? Well, I bad a brief opportunity to wring it out in a prototype Model Seven at Remington's 2005 seminar held at South Carolina's fabulous Buck Ridge Plantation. Initially, Remington will be offering the 6.8mm in a Custom Shop Model Seven with a 22" barrel, composition stock, and black Teflon coating. The sample I tested was representative of the final concept and was fitted with a brilliant Bushnell 4200 Elite 2.5-10x40 scope.

Shooting the 115-grain bonded Core-Lokt Ultra ammunition was a pleasure. Not only was there a minimum of felt recoil but those 115-grain Core-Lokt Ultras produced little minute-of-angle groups at 200 yards. Remington has made great claims for the accuracy of the Core-Lokt Ultras, and in the 6.8mm, they were indeed true.

Deer hunting at Buck Ridge Plantation is conducted from stands overlooking openings running through the hardwoods. I had an opportunity to take only one shot. It was a heart shot at about 100 yards. Typical of a heart shot, the deer took off in a death run that ended 50 yards inside the tree line. The 115-grain Core-Lokt Ultra exhibited complete penetration with a 1 1.2" exit wound. One shot and one deer tells us nothing about the consistant performance the 6.8mm Rem. SPC on medium size game. We'll just have to wait until lots of rifles and lots of factory ammo reach hunters' hands.