PCP Ammunition will show its new 6.5 SOCOM cartridge at the 2018 SHOT Show according to information released by the company.
Although details about the new cartridge are scant, it would appear that the cartridge was designed for the new sniper rifle system that the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) is exploring. Earlier this year, SOCOM indicated it was looking at 6.5mm cartridges for use in a semi-automatic snipe rifle platform.
Although the .260 Rem and 6.5 Creedmoor were mentioned in this Military Times article, a new cartridge that offered substantial benefits over existing ones could draw the attention of SOCOM. Those benefits would have to outweigh the known performance of the existing rounds, however. But weight may be one of the key factors in the search.
In the same Military Times article, Major Aron Hauquitz said that SOCOM was also looking at developing polymer ammunition to reduce the weight carried by soldiers in the field. Since PCP Ammunition manufactures polymer cased ammo, it seems the company may be ideally suited to make a run at the sniper cartridge need.
Based on the limited information released by the company, the 6.5 SOCOM will indeed use a polymer case. So far, one load has been mentioned by the company, and it uses a 130 grain Berger Hybrid Tactical bullet. No information on velocity or other measurables was available at the time of this writing.
The cartridge will be paired with a new semi-automatic rifle called the GF-10 at launch. The rifle will be manufactured by Gorilla Firearms, a sister company to PCP Ammunition and Gorilla Ammunition. The GF-10 is designed as a lightweight AR-10 style rifle.
As additional information on the new cartridge and rifle come out, I will update this page. Thoughts on the 6.5 SOCOM are welcomed in the comments section below.
5 replies on “New Cartridge: 6.5 SOCOM”
I wonder if it isn’t a new designation for the .264 USA.
Could be. I suppose someone else already was playing with a polymer case version of that cartridge: http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015/07/26/potd-the-polymer-cased-264-usa/
Meh… How many 6.5mm cartridges that fit in an AR10 do we need? I guess in a few years one will rise & the others will fall, like how the .223/5.56 remains and the .222 Rem & .222 Mag have disappeared. My money’s on the 6.5 Creedmoor, as it seems to be fairly popular & offers benefits over the .260 Rem in AR10 applications.
The only way you’re going to increase performance to any substantial degree is to increase case diameter & turn the AR10 into a single stack, like how a .458 works in an AR15. But whatever they decide on, they’ll con American companies into spending millions on R&D and just go ahead & award the contract to some off-shore company.
More Title 10 and MFP-11 wasted spending at SOCOM. I see little has changed in the past 20 years.
It Looks to be the same dimensions as a .260 Remington judging by case length and shoulder angle. I wonder if this is simply the .260 polymer cased. Any updates on this as SHOTSHOW is now over?