I doubt it very much, at least in the near future. The .260 is an accurate little beggar, as are most of the 6.5s. If a cartridge is accurate it just doesn't disappear. It tends to float around, making a comeback every so often like the .220Swift, 7x57, and .257Roberts. All of them are quite dated but still going strong. A good case in point is my .222Rem.Mag. It seems to have a cult following. Let the .223 be replaced as the military cartridge and the .222Rem.Mag. will rise again. It's just too damned good to disappear. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Please correct me if I am wrong, as I can't lay my hands on the correct magazine right now to check. I think that the 6.8 SPC is a cartridge designed by Remington to function in the AR15-M16 platform. It is intended to give greater lethality to special ops forces by allowing the use of a heavier projectile with greater frontal area than the 5.56 NATO. It is based on the old 30 Remington cartridge which is basicly a 30-30 with no rim, (designed to function through the early Remington slide action rifles).
As stated in one of the earlier responses, this cartridge has far less internal capacity than the 260 and can not match 260 balistics. A fair comparison would a 30-30 in relation to a 308.

The 260 Rem. never really caught on so there is not much to replace. If the military stays with the 6.8 mm then keep in mind that US military cartridges become dominant.

What the 6.8 might even do is to replace some of the 243 Win's market share as a starter cartridge for woman and children.

There is a strong possibility the 6.8 may already be dead as a military cartridge, anyway.

I was speaking this afternoon with a person with a true inside track (he is a former Special Forces Major, and a current editor for a National Rifle Association magazine).

His inside sources tell him the 6.8 is dead in the water and that new experimentation is currently underway with a cartridge that very closely parallels the 6 TCU. That is not deemed to have a very good shot at adoption either, as the 90 gr. bullet being used is only 13 grains heavier than special-use 77 gr. bullet currently available to the military in the 5.56 round. It has slightly larger diameter, slightly less sectional density, and about the same velocity as the 77 gr. 5.56 does.

Of course, no one knows for sure what will tanspire, but the word is that ammo supply practicalities and the existance of now-reliable AR-10 clones makes the 7.62 Nato the practical favorite should a future need for a larger cartridge reach serious adoption consideration.

Alberta Canuck

6.8???????????/

Does the desciption "Aborted wet dream paint any pictures for any one?" Or it could have won first prize on the old radio best joke show "Can you top this?" roger

Well, a 260 with a 160 gr RN will out-penetrate a 220 gr '06 and will shoot a 120 gr BT nearly as fast as a 270 factory 130 grainer. The 6.8 pushes a 115 gr .277 at 2600 fps, which is fine for discouraging bad guys, but no where near the hunting round that the 260 is.

To turn the tables, the 260 would be a fine military round capable of very long range sniper work as well as close range fully automatic fire. For the latter, AA's XMP 5744 will drive an 85 gr FMJ 3200 fps with a nice pressure curve and less heat than the 223, since it needs only 33 grs of propellant in a much bigger case to do the job. Recoil in a gas operated weapon would be the same as the 6.8, and sectional density would be the same. A quick burst for this will cut down a good sized tree, so vegitation is not an issue.

With 140 gr boat tails, this round regularly shoots 7 inch groups at 1000 yards and with a sectional density of .289 it will breeze through a flak jacket with ease.

Any firearm that shoots the 7.62X51 NATO round will shoot the 260 simply by screwing on a new bbl with different gas porting, so it is a fine choice for military modifications to proven hardware.

The 6.8 SPC was developed by a couple 5th Group guys to better help the spec ops guys do their thing. Like many good ideas in the military, the blanket stacker and shoe clerk types will kill it because it might be a little work for them.

The 6.5-308/.260 is an eminently sensible cartridge, but it inspires no passion in me. I do get worked up about the 6,5x55 SM, the 6.5-284 and even the 6.5-06. I don't know for sure , but suspect that a lot of 6.5 shooters feel the same way. I think the .260 will limp along and fade in and out of view for a while, but it ain't on no fast track to ballistic superstardom.

Oh, and the military has NO plans to rebarrel their 308 platforms. It is still flailing around looking for a next generation compromise cartridge.

As was mentioned above, the new Mk262 Mod1 77grain HPBT round out of the M-16 has proven to be a huge crowd pleaser. That would be a good round for the designated marksmen. Give the Joe-bag-of-donuts guys whatever cause they can't hit shit anyway, and let the snipers and spec ops guys use the 308. There are some newer variations on the M-14/M1-A that are very nice handling, more compact, extremely accurate, and compatible with all the queer-tron powered aiming devices.

You got to laugh (or cry); the Army was looking at adapting the 6mm HLS/6mm International back in 1971.
JCN