The new 6.8 Rem SPC: handgun hunting? Military? Or both?

American Handgunner, Nov-Dec, 2004 by J.D. Jones

This is a new cartridge developed by Remington and the U.S. Army 5th Group with Sgt. Steve Holland (who was the recipient of the 2004 Hathcock Award) ram-rodding the Army end of the project. It started life as a possible substitute cartridge for use in the M-16. Why a new cartridge? Simply more power than the 5.56, which has undergone numerous "refinements" as has the M-16.

The .276 Pederson (1920s) was the first .270 cartridge the U.S. Army became interested in and came quite close to being the U.S. service cartridge instead of the .30-'06. We learned in the late 1970s the .30 Remington cartridge in bolt action silhouette pistols was a weak sister. The .30 Remington (also .25) is simply a 30-30 case, changed to rimless instead of rimmed. Case head expansion and dropped primers occurred long before ballistics got interesting. That's changed. The 6.8 has a strengthened case head approximately .025" smaller in diameter than the original .276, straighter body, sharper shoulder, shortened to 1.680" and necked to accept standard .277" (.270 Win) diameter bullets and high pressures.

Initially, it was hoped 5.56 M-16 parts would do the trick for the conversion, and rebated 5.56 case heads were tried. That design, the bolt head, extractor and magazine also required change. And, the gas system needed tweaking. The same case has been tried at each caliber step from .22 through .338. The 115 grain weight in .277 provided the best combination of internal and external ballistics desired in a combat cartridge. This may or may not prove true as a hunting cartridge.

There have also been no problems in the AR-15, Contender and Encore. Bolt action rifle conversions will give magazine problems.

Here's an idea of what to expect ballistically: From 20" barrels, you'll get about 2,730 fps, and 14" barrels about 2,560 FPS with the Remington 115 grain OTM (Open Tip Match). This is both accurate and produces wide, relatively shallow wounds designed to inflict maximum damage on human targets. This is consistent bullet performance with what is needed for broad side Whitetail shots.

The handloader will not be able to improve the ballistics of factory ammunition. Few powders available to the hand-loader will match it. Currently, the Hornady 110 grain AMAX bullet is the closest thing to the factory bullet, which appears to have been made by Hornady. Sierra, Hornady, Nosier and Barnes have also made bullets for this project.

I use Ramshot 1660 and 1670 to duplicate factory ballistics. Hodgedons H335 is also in the ballpark. Many other powders will work, but be around 100 fps slower. In about 1980, I developed the .270 JDJ on the .225 Winchester case for the Contender. It does 2,475 with the 130 Grain Barnes Triple Shok bullet in a 14" Contender, and considerably faster with 100 grain bullets. About the best I could get with 130s in the 6.8 case in the Contender was around 2,300 FPS in anything that would go through the M-16 magazine.

Yes or No?

The .270 JDJ has provided adequate experience with similar ballistics. I would consider the 6.8 Rem SPC a viable Contender Whitetail handgun hunting cartridge superior to the 7 X 30 Waters if factory ammunition is used. It should easily be good for 200 yards in a 14" Contender. At this point, Remington Ammo is scarce and being sold to police and manufacturers. I expect it will soon become available.

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Having used the 6.8 in SSK M-16s, bolt actions and the Contender in various barrel lengths for around six months, both with factory and handloaded ammo, I've a pretty good idea of accuracy is one thing, as good as 1.5" 300-yard groups can be had.