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Five, 10, 15, and 25-round magazines are available from PRI, with either regular USGI-type floor-plates, or wide 6.8 SPC floor-plates.
Powder selection for maximum velocity is more difficult than .223 or .308 because the 6.8 SPC has less case volume compared to its bore area. Hodgdon H322 and Alliant Reloder 10X produced the best combination of accuracy and velocity in my barrel with the V-MAX bullet. Other notable powder choices include Vihtavuori N130 and N133, AA 2230 and Winchester 748. Any large rifle primers will work in the Remington and SSA brass. Sub-minute accuracy was easy to achieve with neither elaborate brass preparation nor a lot of load "tweaking". In short, it is a forgiving cartridge.

While 6.8 SPC can be chambered in almost any 7.62x39mm or 5.56 rifle, or Contender pistols, the most compelling platform is the AR-15 because of the SPC's heritage. An AR-15 chambered for 6.8 SPC requires only a new barrel, a new bolt cut to accept the larger case head diameter and new magazines. Standard complete AR-15 lowers require no modifications, and 6.8 SPC uppers are built on standard stripped upper receivers.

Just after 6.8 SPC's announcement, rumors flew that USGI M16 magazines would feed 6.8 SPC with little or no modification. This unfortunately turned out to


Shown here fitted with a lightweight titanium JET sound suppressor, the 18-inch 6.8 SPC rifle provides all the capability of the SPR, but superior terminal performance.
be false. After five or six 6.8 SPC cartridges are loaded into a USGI magazine, they begin to bind up; after seven or eight, the magazine walls will bow out wider than the receiver's magazine well will allow.

Precision Reflex Inc (PRI) solved the problem by designing a magazine specifically for the new cartridge. Their magazines have narrower ribs than USGI magazines to accept the larger body diameter of 6.8 SPC cases, while keeping the same external dimensions for weapon compatibility. The PRI design uses steel thinner than the aluminum used for USGI magazines and flat-ground welds to join the two halves in manufacture, instead of the overlapping spot welds found in USGI magazines. As a result, the maximum possible cartridge over-all length (COAL) is increased to about 2.310 inches from about 2.245 inches in USGI magazines. A 6.8 SPC magazine of about the same dimensions as the 30-round USGI magazine holds 25 rounds, while a smaller version holds 15. PRI offers five and ten-round magazines to satisfy some local legal requirements. C Products LLC has just developed a 6.8 SPC magazine, which should ship April 2006.


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