We describe calculations of $c \bar c$ production to next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) and next-to-next-to-leading logarithm (NNLL) near threshold in $pp$ and $��^- p$ interactions. We study the relevance of these calculations for existing $c \bar c$ total cross section data by examining their sensitivity to partonic threshold kinematics, their convergence properties and scale dependence.

20 pages, 10 figures, new pion PDFs used, some discussion added, conclusions unchanged