In one aspect, tungsten carbide material systems are described herein which, in some embodiments, can provide desirable characteristics including chemical inertness, high hardness, reduced sensitivity to local compositional fluctuations and/or enhanced machining properties. In some embodiments, a tungsten carbide material described herein comprises 5.85-6.13 wt. % carbon, 0.85-1.05 wt. % chromium, less than 0.3 wt. % binder, less than 0.3 wt. % impurities and a balance being tungsten.