6.8x43mm SPC Cartridge for Urban Warfare CQB and Short-to-Medium-Range Sniping

Defense Review ^ | 11/30/06 | David Crane

[thinkthenpost]

I doubt if CQB is what you are expecting that you will have 77gr. 223's in your load out. The old 55gr. .223 had a rep as a great wounding round, (I don't know if it was deserved or not) but the 62gr. SS109 penetrator are standard issue now I believe and are said to go straight through a target and never deform or mushroom so rather than transferring any energy to the target the SS109 pokes pencil holes and leaves the person hit still in the fight. The faster barrel twist of the current M-16 is not as accurate with the older 55 grainer's I am under the impression.
I was a Navy guy so we had M-14's, .45's, and shotguns for shipboard security, any Army or Marines know the 223 ammo available in theater?

[ctdonath2]

Apparently the 77gr is working very nicely for CQB, recalling the 55gr effectiveness but from short barrels. Hence I wonder how that compares to 6.8 on comparable platforms.

Penetrators probably got popular because the paper-pushers thought it was a happy medium between 55gr effectiveness and AP punch ... with the unfortunate result that it did neither well. Reading between the 6.8SPC lines, I'm wondering if it may prove similar: it is inferior to .308, and rave reviews only do CQB comparisons using something known inadequate (SS109). By only printing 77gr 5.56 vs. 6.8SPC comparisons where the later shines, I have to wonder what's behind the curtain.

[reginhild]

The question of this thread is short-to-medium range sniping.

The 6.8 SPC is a definite no-go. Look at the latest Guns & Ammo issue with the tested 6.8 SPC...100 yard groups of 4 to 5 inches. Medium range would be out to 500-600 meters and you would be shooting 20" to 30" groups with this cartridge. Search posts by those who own the 6.8 SPC and you see 95% of them going well over 1 MOA in accuracy. The 5.56 is much more accurate.

For energy delivered and sniping the 6.5 Grendel is the way to go. Again, search posts by users and the majority of 6.5 Grendel shooters are getting 1/2 MOA at anywhere from 100 to 800 meters. There is also an article on the 6.5 Grendel in the latest Shooting Times (Mar 07) and groups are 1/2" at 100 yards.