There is so much gold here. I am a big fan of the 6.8 SPC. I don't hunt four legged animals, just twos. The 6.8 SPC is a near perfect law enforcement round if you take all the emotion out of the equation and just look at it logically. Optimized for good patrol rifle sized guns. Good on cars. Can be put in sniper systems optimized for typical LE sniper engagement ranges and scenarios. Low recoil and as easy to run as a 5.56 gun. You get 80% of a .308 without many of the issues in recoil, penetration, and size of the .308 systems. The list goes on. What has always been TOTALLY baffling to me is the relentless effort to push it as a hunting cartridge. As a person who hunts evil humans, I have never understood wanting to hunt Moose with a AR-15 based platform. I have a bunch of really awesome hunting rifles that are far more practical for this endeavor if I ever decided that I needed to start killing four legged animals. Essentially, the 6.8 SPC is a under appreciated LE system, that I blame a lot on a whole bunch of folks trying to make it into a hunting round.
I also do not want to be one of those guys who craps on someone else's world without a good reason (no, really....
). I understand that some folks want to hunt with the AR. Okay, got it. So I look at all sorts of stuff, and boy it sure looks like 6.5 Grendel makes a better hunting round than the 6.8 SPC does. So I figure if I really wanted a sporting AR, the Grendel makes a ton of sense.
I am working on the "New 30-30 Concept" for awhile. I have been lazy on the paperwork, but when it is done, my Texas 30-30 12.5 LMT LM8 in 6.8SPC is capable of taking all the game in Texas (which is smaller than up north), should slay pigs like a boss, and is very acceptable in this state for people as a defensive carbine, and would make a great LE carbine. A 6.5 version may make more sense farther North, or for someone who is far more concerned about the hunting aspect as I am.