unrelated events I never got my sights on another warm target with the 30 Rem. prior to the rifl e being called back by Remington. What I did do, however, was get additional shooting time on the Buffalo Chip range, and even some radical target setups on a rolling hills ranch near my home. The cartridge never let me down in terms of accuracy and its ability to stretch range, and I am sure it has the ability to put meat on the table or clear out unwanted pests off a ranch in short order. After shooting this rifl e a good deal it would not be out of the realm of possibility to have a custom turn-bolt chambered in 30 Rem., then work through some handloads that would be applicable to varied varmints and game. If this cartridge does become a military option for the U.S. forces, watch out! It will hit the deck running and wildcat rifl e builders will have a blast with the short, well-designed (almost Russian-style) case. ADVANCING THE BASIC AR PLATFORM 6.8MM REM. SPC
The third round under review here is the 6.8mm Rem.
SPC. Why another larger, almost 30 caliber, round featured here? Because the next change to the M-16/AR-15 platform (which has blown the sales scale off the retail map of late) will be something ranging from a 6mm through the 30 caliber (7.62mm). The 6.8mm Rem. SPC round will be under con- sideration when the military replaces the 5.56mm cartridge, and could be the next generation “king of the hill” among wildcat shooters, general purpose hunters, and varmint hunters alike. As always, a specifi cally designated military round rules the roost! As of March 2011, the U.S. Army has announced they
will be seeking a new main battle rifl e, and all bets are off as to what that will be. A requirement will be a round better than the 5.56mm NATO, and the rifl e will be required to send accurate and effective rounds to 500 yards. Other elements are covered in the directive, but the main thing is that the Army wants to stay with a small package like the M-4 but enhance the gun with a better ballistics profi le regarding the cartridge selected. That cartridge could well be the 6.8mm Rem. SPC as it “outguns” the 7.62x39 Russian, completely outclasses the 5.56mm, and was designed by war fi ghters from the ground up. If required, the basic AR-15/M-16 platform would be retained as has been illustrated here already, and a good deal of money could be saved in the process. However, we all know that the government has a real hard time saving anything nowadays. Therefore, I would not make book on a budget rifl e in the main line combat category. The 6.8mm Rem. SPC was developed by a special opera-
tions soldier who was sick of the poor performance associ- ated with the 5.56mm NATO (223 Rem.) in combat. While a varmint hunter has no need to even basically understand the problems of the 5.56mm in a military confi guration, it is important to understand the fact that when the 223 Rem. in 5.56 NATO style goes away as a primary service round, and it will in time, everything will change completely in the world of smaller caliber ballistics. Learning how best to use the re- placement cartridge will become mandatory by hunters when keeping pace with contemporary cartridge development. The bottom line is that we are getting our butts outgunned in the Middle East sandbox by much better and longer-range small arms cartridges. You can bet the 5.56 NATO, a round that
www.varminthunter.org Page 37
B Works, Ltd. ullberry
World Famous for Accuracy Since 1980
✹ arrel After 30 years we are still custom crafting barrels and
woodwork for your T/C Contender®, G2™ and Encore® in addition to many bolt actions. All orders are made to your specifications with guaranteed sub-MOA accuracy using our free-floating forearm system. Stock and grip sets are hand-made to fit any shooter in a variety of woods and laminates.
Other available products and features: • Integral muzzle brakes for 75-80% recoil reduction • Encore rimfire adapters • Bullberry built Weaver-style scope bases • Guaranteed trigger adjustments set at your pull choice • Variety of scope mounts, scopes and iron sights • Dies – including those custom-made by Redding for Bullberry original calibers
www.bullberry.com
2430 West 350 North, Hurricane, UT 84737 435.635.9866 Fax: 435.635.0348
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