My article on the 6.5 Grendel for hogs and predators

[Double Naught Spy]

http://ar15hunter.com/the-6-5-grende...and-predators/

I am an avid fan of this caliber and no doubt this comes across in some of my hunt videos. Somewhere along the way, the editor of the online magazine AR15Hunter.com came across my work and asked me for a synopsis. There are a lot of fine calibers for hunting, but I have very impressed with the Grendel.

I also like the 6.8 SPC and the two calibers are very comparable for most hunting applications.

Before anyone points out that bears are predators and maybe the Grendel isn't the best choice for Kodiaks and such, I fully agree. I should have been a bit more specific.

For those of you interested in the Grendel, I hope you will find the article interesting.

[tahunua001]

I have done a little hunting with the grendel and love it to death. I worked up a load last year with the intention of using it for elk, but unfortunately was never presented with a chance to use it. this year I will be continuing to develop hunting loads to try and get the absolute best performance out of the grendel and try again this fall.


FWIW, I've killed decent-for-the-region black bear with 6.5 japanese from a carbine and the two are actually pretty comparable when both fired from 20 inch barrels. I wouldn't hesitate to use the grendel for the same purpose, may not be the best for use against a 700+ pound brown bear but for blackies(which are the far more numerous of the bear) it'll be just fine.

EDIT:
FWIW, mine only gets about 1 1/4" groups with factory SSTs but handloads have gotten as good as 5/8". with the SSTs, a 135 yard quartering shot on a deer made it through 3 ribs and still managed to pass through and lodge in the opposite shoulder. some people whine about the SST being too explosive for deer, in my own, extremely limited experience, this was not the case.

[Old Stony]

Very interesting article....I have thought about the 6.5's many times, but just always seem to have many other calibers handy and never got around to it. I think it would be a great Texas caliber for hogs/deer and such.

[Brotherbadger]

If I hunted in a more open area(average shot around her is probably 100 yards), I'd totally build a Grendel upper. That's a great caliber. How is finding factory ammo? I assume most reload, but I'm just curious.

[Double Naught Spy]

Factory ammo is fairly limited, but as I have been notified (as I didn't know either), Precision Firearms makes 8-10 different loads for the Grendel, which is nearly more than everyone else combined, right now. http://www.precisionfirearms.com/29.html Alexander Arms makes a few (and their offerings seems to vary over time), Wolf makes the 'cheap' stuff, and the mainstream workhorse is Hornady.

I have a lot of Hornady ammo on hand, but I will definitely be checking out the PF offerings such as their Barnes bullet loadings.

While limited in the number of offerings, in the year and a half I have been shooting Grendel, I have not been unable to find ammo.

[tahunua001]

yep. offerings are kindof limited at the moment, but far from unavailable. I picked up 200 rounds of hornady SSTs partly by accident about a year ago when I was first building my rifle. I thought I accidentally bought double what I was after so I at least have a lot of brass on hand. I also picked up 100 brass casings for handloads and have been primarily shooting cheapish reloads using PRVI components for plinking.

[GeauxTide]

Nice, now my interest in the Grendel is rising. Already have bolts in 260 and 6.5-06, so a 6.5 upper for my Oracle looks promising.

[mehavey]

The Grendel is an incredible cartridge/platform combination.
01/23/12


Very little can touch it for getting the absolute MAX out of the standard AR design

[Brotherbadger]

While limited in the number of offerings, in the year and a half I have been shooting Grendel, I have not been unable to find ammo.

I think you will only see the number of offerings rise, as the Grendel is gaining popularity. Thanks for looking up the factory ammo. 10 different loads is impressive.

[doofus47]

I see you mention that you use cartridges with 100 gr bullets. Do you use different weight bullets for hogs/predators? Just curious.

Well done article.

[Grits]

I enjoyed reading the article and the video. Good work.

[Double Naught Spy]

doofus, I tend to be a bit narrow-minded on my ammo. I find something I like and then shoot it a LOT. That has been the case for the Hornady SST 123 gr. It works for everything, but it can be hard on the hides of soft skinned little predators. I have gotten some nasty, massive exit wounds with it. I am not a hide hunter when it comes to predators, so this isn't a concern for me (I shoot them as part of a wildlife management plan for one of the properties I hunt). There are frangible rounds that will do less damage for folks that want hides.

Since my primary goal is hogs, I need a round that will handle hogs first, and if it is a bit too much for smaller critters, that is fine. The other way around would not be good. Big exit wounds on hogs are fine by me.

[ZeroJunk]

Curiosity killed the cat I guess, but where did the name Grendel come from ?

Is that the name of a town, some fictional monster, or what.

I read the usual internet sources , but may have missed it.

[tahunua001]

Alexander Arms tends to name their products after Mythical entities. their first cartridge that they developed which had decent success named 50 Beowulf after the classic monster slayer. alternately, the 6.5 was named after Grendel, one of the monsters Beowulf slayed.

for Doofus, the 6.5 was developed with 123gr bullets in mind. it was intended to pack the same punch as 7.62x39, while exhibiting superior ballistics, as such the casings(although based on 220 russian) are nearly identical to 7.62x39 and therefore have nearly identical velocity per bullet weights and as a result same energy at the muzzle. because of this, 123gr bullets tend to be the most optimal as far as performance. however due to the length of 6.5mm projectiles over 7.62 projectiles of the same weight, you can not load projectiles that weigh more than 130 grains due to the required COALs being too long to fit in magazines. berger posts data for heavier projectiles with the caveat that they are single feed only for that very reason. a person can go as low as 85 grains, but I have yet to see a load that does better than 123-125grs.

[Double Naught Spy]

Of course, the Beowulf is the .50 cal AR15 offering by AA as well.

[doofus47]

Double Naught Spy

doofus, I tend to be a bit narrow-minded on my ammo.

thanks for the confirmation. We're in the same choir, b/c that's what I do.
My golden rule of ammo selection:
If you have found ammo that your rifle likes, stick with it.