Can we agree that there aren’t nearly enough oddball cartridges on the market? I mean, really, there are only about 18.23 trillion different caliber options out there.

But seriously? As a ballistics geek and reloader, I kind of like that. Is there a law that says we can only have ten calibers and every new entry has to be demonstrably better than those using some vague and fluid judging criteria? Nah. I’m all for embracing diversity.

The 6.8 Remington SPC is a great example of something a little different. There are better long-range cartridges. There are cartridges with more and less recoil. There are cartridges that use skinnier or fatter bullets. You get the idea. I just like it for what it was designed to be.

Some years ago, the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, United States Special Operations Command and Remington got together and kicked around ideas for a cartridge that would offer more stopping power than the light 55 and 62-grain bullets fired from a short-barrel carbine. The 5.56mm was designed to perform when it’s moving fast. When velocity drops from short-barrel use, it loses some of its effectiveness. Hence, the call for something with more punch.

Read the rest: Why the 6.8 Remington SPC Cartridge Deserves Another Look – The Mag Life