Tennessee-based Barrett Firearms is planning a caliber conversion kit for the company's proven MRAD MK 22 Advanced Sniper Rifle System to fire 6.8.

The military selected the MRAD as the MK 22 ASR, its new modular, multi-caliber precision platform across the force in 2018, and it has reached full operational status in recent years. A Marine Corps team recently used the MK 22 to win the 2026 International Sniper Competition.

While the first MRADs for the Army were chambered in .300 PRC, the quick-change barrel conversion kits for the rifle have been offered in numerous calibers from .260 Remington to .338 Lapua Magnum.

In the near future, Barrett plans to add 6.8x51 to that mix. 
 

The new high-pressure, high-performance 6.8x51mm cartridge is used across the U.S. Army’s SIG Sauer-developed Next Generation Squad Weapons platforms, including the M250 Automatic Rifle and M7 Rifle, the latter a development of the SIG MCX Spear. 
 

Barrett stresses that the conversion kit is intended to "provide increased flexibility for warfighters seeking to employ the enhanced terminal performance characteristics of 6.8x51mm ammunition within the in-service MK 22 sniper system."

With 6.8x51 on the consumer market already, you can bet the option will likely be available on standard MRAD models sometime after the military gets theirs.