Thread: 6.5 Grendel,, any users out there.

Originally Posted by viper

I am a leftie to Guypie but have never owned a left handed rifle , no problem using a right handed rifle, you adapt quickly

Get a left handed one and you will wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

Originally Posted by viper

Thanks HotBarrels, brother you are preaching to the converted, I've had an SKS and loved the round, it's a life taker for sure. Typically Russian, no frills and designed and built with a clear mandate. However my shooting down here will range from 50 to 600 mtrs.
The 7.62x39 doesn't reach out far enough. The area's can be quite open and getting closer will not always be practical or an option.
Have a look at the Grendel on line, very impressive , bit of a freak that works.
This isn't a project I even wanted to go down. I have shot Deer and don't enjoy it, to date I have dropped 11 and let at last count 63 animals go.... I had meat in the freezer and just enjoyed watching them .
The rifle needs to be versatile / effective and FUN.
I plan to buy a dual purpose motorbike , strap the rifle over my back, drop a Fallow , bone it out and ride out ( picture riding into a perfect sunset, world class scenery, cold beer and large breasted naked women ) ahhhh.... all done with a $1000 Howa...does it get any better.....and don't worry mate, every donkey will be head shot so no meat lost. I'll let you know when the BBQs on the hotties are serving the cold beer.Attachment 74342

Interesting you say that "every donkey will be head shot", but you also say your shooting will range from "50-600m"?
I think there are more important things to sort than which trendy 6.5 cartridge you want.

Originally Posted by Shearer

Interesting you say that "every donkey will be head shot", but you also say your shooting will range from "50-600m"?
I think there are more important things to sort than which trendy 6.5 cartridge you want.

Dude i am taking the piss on the head shot thing, I posted a set of tit's bigger than your head on the reply. Trendy ...... maybe, an effective modern cartridge that punch's above it's weight.......you work it out

Hell, trendy maybe. But damned efficient. With 120 grn bullets my 6.5x55 takes an extra 25 grns of powder than the Grendel for a (measly) 300 fps gain. The Grendel uses just 25grns to get from zero to 2600 or so.

Ok. Sorry. Didn't mean to offend. I obviously couldn't recognise which bits were the piss take.
Nothing against the Grendel, but if it were me (which it isn't) and I was wanting a 'deer' cartridge (to compliment my small game cartridges) to shoot out to 600m, I would look at something with a bit more retaining energy than a 100gn bullet has that starts life at 2800fps.
Just my opinion of course, and as we all know, everyone has one.
Totally serious about the left hand bolt thing though

Originally Posted by hotbarrels

If you are only hunting Fellow, don't over gun yourself. One thing that works in the favour of the 7.62x39 is that it has enough energy to take down an animal with a single round, but is low in terms of hydrodynamic shock (if that is the correct term) due to the bullet being designed to perform at lower velocities so the loss of prime meat to bad bruising is negligible. I harvest my goats for the table and when you compare an animal shot with the 7.62x39 versus a.308, .243, or even a .223, there is way less meat damage. A fellow isn't very big and too tasty to waste.

That is correct in some ways
The 6.5 has more killing power as the 7.62x39 and the grendel both shoot 123/125gn as standard factory ammo but the 6.5 is going slightly faster and alot faster if hand loading which means more energy which means more killing power
You are probably right when it comes to
hydrodynamic Shock but the difference would be marginal especially if you were responsible about bullet choice which is the advantage of 6.5 there are far more bullets to choose from also don't know if id be keen on trying a headshot to save meat with a cheap 7.62x39 rifle not the most accurate gun in the world
And the 6.5's are far more aerodynamic which means they remain effective to a much father range than the 30cal

I had a bolt action 7.62 and don't get me wrong its a great bush gun and I would be the 1st to recommend to someone waiting a cheap bush gun shooting no farther than 150m with easy access to cheap factory ammunition

But if you have the money to buy the howa mini and you reload
There is absolutely no argument for the 7.62x39 6.5grendel wins hans down
The only time I would suggest x39 is if person was not a hand loader and couldn't afford $50 a box for grendel factory ammunition

I'll shut up now ive had my say

Originally Posted by Tahr

Hell, trendy maybe. But damned efficient. With 120 grn bullets my 6.5x55 takes an extra 25 grns of powder than the Grendel for a (measly) 300 fps gain. The Grendel uses just 25grns to get from zero to 2600 or so.

Fair comment @Tahr but i don't know if 300fps is "measly". Roughly the difference between a 7mm08 and 7WSM? or a 308 and a 300WSM? If it is economy you want then it would defiantly be a better option but then, like motorbikes for me, economy has never been a huge priority when choosing a cartridge. As I said, not knocking it, it just wouldn't be my choice for a dedicated deer rifle intended to shoot to 600m.

Originally Posted by Shearer

Ok. Sorry. Didn't mean to offend. I obviously couldn't recognise which bits were the piss take.
Nothing against the Grendel, but if it were me (which it isn't) and I was wanting a 'deer' cartridge (to compliment my small game cartridges) to shoot out to 600m, I would look at something with a bit more retaining energy than a 100gn bullet has that starts life at 2800fps.
Just my opinion of course, and as we all know, everyone has one.
Totally serious about the left hand bolt thing though

All good mate and i do value your opinion, thanks for the input , there's always the Creedmore which is another topic again but the Grendel is an excellent round. Anything with less noise and recoil than a 223 and more energy than a 308 out to 1000 yrds with better penetration is got to be worth considering at least.
I did shoot a mates left handed Ansutlz once and I was so ingrained into a right handed bolt action I felt totally uncoordinated, how sad is that.

Originally Posted by viper

All good mate and i do value your opinion, thanks for the input , there's always the Creedmore which is another topic again but the Grendel is an excellent round. Anything with less noise and recoil than a 223 and more energy than a 308 out to 1000 yrds with better penetration is got to be worth considering at least.
I did shoot a mates left handed Ansutlz once and I was so ingrained into a right handed bolt action I felt totally uncoordinated, how sad is that.

Sounds too good to be true

From my experience, it doesn't take long too get used to it (assuming you are left eye dominant) and then you will wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

Originally Posted by Shearer

Fair comment @Tahr but i don't know if 300fps is "measly". Roughly the difference between a 7mm08 and 7WSM? or a 308 and a 300WSM? If it is economy you want then it would defiantly be a better option but then, like motorbikes for me, economy has never been a huge priority when choosing a cartridge. As I said, not knocking it, it just wouldn't be my choice for a dedicated deer rifle intended to shoot to 600m.

Agreed, I was musing about the efficiency, not the effectiveness. I won't be selling my 300saum for one.

still too early on to comment on mine but I think the reality is that the Grendel is very efficient and effective for a mini bolt action or AR15. Grendel will not replace all 6.5, 7 mm and heavy 30 cal high efficiency balablah cartridges or the cheap knock down 7.62x39. But it's pretty darn cool.

Basically I like it because it turns a normal size AR15, into a viable deer hunting rifle out to 300m or so, covering basically 100% of the deer hunting I do. The ballistic effeciency of the 123gr projectiles blitz basically anything else you can load into an AR15. If you run a longer barrel than I do, you can run it equal to, or a little better than a .308 running heavy match projectiles, for long range target shooting. The biggest downer is the cost of brass. I am really tempted to buy one of the Howa's to have a play with the cartridge in a bolt gun. The AR limits it's performance in that you don't want to run a load much hotter than 50kpsi or your rifle will start shitting out bolt lugs.

Originally Posted by viper

I plan to buy a dual purpose motorbike , strap the rifle over my back, drop a Fallow , bone it out and ride out ( picture riding into a perfect sunset, world class scenery, cold beer and large breasted naked women ). I'll let you know when the BBQs on the hotties are serving the cold beer.Attachment 74342

Now you are just being plain mean!

Originally Posted by Beavis

Basically I like it because it turns a normal size AR15, into a viable deer hunting rifle out to 300m or so, covering basically 100% of the deer hunting I do. The ballistic effeciency of the 123gr projectiles blitz basically anything else you can load into an AR15. If you run a longer barrel than I do, you can run it equal to, or a little better than a .308 running heavy match projectiles, for long range target shooting. The biggest downer is the cost of brass. I am really tempted to buy one of the Howa's to have a play with the cartridge in a bolt gun. The AR limits it's performance in that you don't want to run a load much hotter than 50kpsi or your rifle will start shitting out bolt lugs.

You probably should have said standard or factory cartridge, even then the 450 Bushmaster with 250 grains at 2200 fps has way more grunt but like the 50 Beowulf drops like a stone compared to the 6.5

My 6.5 BRX upper gets along quite nicely

This is one of those cartridges that barrel length has a reasonable effect on fps and is needed to be taken into account, if you really want to reach out there and touch. The 22in barrelled Howa is probably best for that and 2700fps is an achievable speed with 120-123gr. I've opted for 17" to keep it short & handy and I'm hoping to get 2500fps with the 120gr, plus I've set myself a limit of 200m on larger game when I decided to go with the Grendel. Bullet expansion should not be overlooked either when operating at lower speed with the 6.5. Plenty of info on the net about which best suits deer but I think personal real time trials work best. The 123gr Amax was developed for the Grendel, primarily as a target bullet.