Future of the Remington 6.8 SPC

[greyling22]

I'm soon to be bailing on 300 blackout, and I was looking at a rebarrel. I have a grendel already, so I was looking hard at other options. 6.8 was a strong contender, but as I started looking for parts, I realized that while it's not dead, it's in the nursing home. I could only find 2 or 3 people making barrels for it, and quite honestly, you can get near the same performance with the rising in popularity (and has been picked up by the serbian army) grendel, as well as the similar-but-fits-in-an-ar-better and uses the same bolt head as the 223, 277 wolverine and 300 ham'r. I just don't see much future for it. now to be fair, there are many great calibers in the annals of history. 257 robers, 300 savage for example. And I suspect that 30-06, 243, 270, 7mm-08, 22-250 are also on the decline and will eventually join them.

 

[marksman13]

6.8 SPC isn’t going anywhere. It is and will probably always be my favorite round designed to fit into an AR-15 chamber. It does literally everything better than the 300 BLK and 5.56. Only the 6.5 Grendel really challenges it’s status as the best medium game killer in the AR-15, and based purely on my personal results, I give the edge to 6.8 SPC. Everything else is limited in range or it’s expensive to shoot, or in the case of the .45-.50 cal options, limited in range AND expensive.

 

[Olympus]

I like what the other member said. 6.8SPC isn't dead, but it's settled in nicely at the nursing home. LOL

 

[sarduy]

Too many cartridges overlapping nowadays.

 

[jmorris]

I’m baffled that the 300 BO is wildly popular while the 6.8 SPC kind of sits on the sidelines.

There was a lot bigger marketing push behind the 300 blk. You just have to remember that the 300-221, 300 fireball, 300 Whisper were all essentially the exact same round but languished decades earlier.

People do foolish things in the name of being “cool” or with the in crowd. Kind of like kids paying more for jeans that already have holes torn in them…

 

[mcb]

Too many cartridges overlapping nowadays.

Variety is the spice of life. Yes many cartridges overlap but most of them bring one or more unique capabilities that allows the user to select a cartridge that does what they need or want and that varies a lot from user to user.

 

[Zerodefect]

Excellent defensive round. Depends on how people react to the military switching to 6.8 caliber rounds.

Will the military switch to the caseless 6.8? And will people like 6.8spc more, even though it's not exactly like the militaries 6.8 whatever? Kinda like the current 9mm fan fare.

My issue is simple: I can build a 110% reliable 5.56 AR15 while blindfolded and drunk. But 300 and 6.8? Mag feed issues. Bolt over brass. Argh.

 

[mcb]

Excellent defensive round. Depends on how people react to the military switching to 6.8 caliber rounds.

Will the military switch to the caseless 6.8? And will people like 6.8spc more, even though it's not exactly like the militaries 6.8 whatever? Kinda like the current 9mm fan fare.

My issue is simple: I can build a 110% reliable 5.56 AR15 while blindfolded and drunk. But 300 and 6.8? Mag feed issues. Bolt over brass. Argh.

None of the currently competing NGSW companies are considering caseless. The NGSW 6.8 mm ballistic requirements are well beyond anything 6.8 SPC could possible achieve.

 

[Zerodefect]

Sorry, I was thinking of Textrons weird polymer case telescope-y thing.

 

[Varminterror]

6.8 vs 6.5 as a comparative arguement were NEVER considered apples vs apples. The 6.8 users knew it was a DOD project to get 50% more power down the short barrel of the M4, and the longest range was close to 300m. 6.5 was based off the precision shooting case of the AK, meant for 20" + barrels, for long distance shooting

This differentiation has been foolish for the entirety of the 18 years since its inception.

Originating design has very little to do with where they both ended up, and it’s either naive or foolish to ignore the fact one is firing a .277” bullet weighing 120grns to 2650fps while the other pushes a .264” bullet weighing 123 grn to 2550fps... If the SPC and Grendel aren’t apples to apples, then I can tell you, I don’t own any pairs of shoes, because since one is a right foot and the other a left foot, none of them could be similar enough to be considered similar...

I’ve built short barreled Grendels and long barreled SPC’s, and the implications versus their “designed purposes” are exactly the same. Other than giving up some BC with stubbier bullets because of the over-length case in the SPC, these two are really cut from the same cloth. I can hit 800 just as easily with either of them if built in the same rifle, can kill game just as easily with either. The Grendel is definitely less finicky in load development, and 8208 makes life exceptionally simple (if it fits, it ships), but otherwise, either is the others brother and neither is a bother...

Fickle, subjective market influences have largely driven the game between these two. The 6.8 SPC initially held a commanding lead because it went open-source several years before Wild Bill finally released the Grendel. The SPC was popular enough at one point that Ruger - the master and commander of the sea which is the common man’s firearm market - chambered Mini-6.8’s in the round, retooling for proprietary mags and bolt faces. But when the 6.5 Creed hit the streets and the US firearms market turned to long range 6.5mm shooting, the Grendel got a much-needed shot in the arm as a “mini 6.5 creed which fits in an AR-15, and the 6.8 SPC, which is associated as a mini version of grandpa’s boring old blued and walnut 270 win didn’t garner favor. A lot of folks expected the new telescoping case military round, selected as a 6.8mm in the solicitation, as well as this debacle of hyper-pressure which is the .277 Fury to drive some resurgence for the 6.8 SPC, however, the lack-luster launch of the Fury and the covid market compression made the gate a little too strait for the 6.8 SPC to regain ground - especially in the wake of the 6 ARC launch...

None of it has anything at all to do with actual performance in long or short barrels, and greater dependence upon what Lady Gaga wore to Kanye’s yacht party...