Thread: 6.5 grendel for hunting

Unless you download the 7mm08. Ill be using 145gr@2400 which should Be a bit softer than full house load

Just got back from 6days hunting with the 6.5 Grendel. The Factory Hornady Blacks with the 123 ELD-M did the business.
1x Fallow Spiker at 30m, 4x Goats between 30-300m.
Wife had her 7mm08 as support, have fired them both 1 after the other, and they are chalk and cheese. 7mm08 doesnt have much recoil, 6.5g has next to zero recoil and is a tonne more fun to shoot!

Would be suprised if you get 2500fps out of 16in, im only getting 2350-2400 out of 20in...

Originally Posted by kiwi-adam

Just got back from 6days hunting with the 6.5 Grendel. The Factory Hornady Blacks with the 123 ELD-M did the business.
1x Fallow Spiker at 30m, 4x Goats between 30-300m.
Wife had her 7mm08 as support, have fired them both 1 after the other, and they are chalk and cheese. 7mm08 doesnt have much recoil, 6.5g has next to zero recoil and is a tonne more fun to shoot!

Would be suprised if you get 2500fps out of 16in, im only getting 2350-2400 out of 20in...

I'm getting 2505fps average with Hornady 123gr factory ammo out of a 17" barrel, so yeah maybe 30+ fps slower per inch, rule of thumb.

If I didn’t have a 300 blackout I would seriously consider the 6.5 grendel as a bush stalking rifle.

The 300 blackout was another option but that seems to be a better close range or sub round whereas the 6.5 seems to be the better option for the longer ranges so I have pretty much dropped that from the possibles list.

As a compact rifle its fine for hunting.
Mine was built to fit in my day pack when broken down.

But I had it confiscated last year as part of the bullshit and haven't seen anything suitable to replace it yet.

I think the 6.5G is ideal for the Howa Mini, if you already have a 7.62x39. It’s a slightly depowered Creedmoor in terms of ballistics and by far the most versatile cartridge for that length action in NZ hunting conditions.

If it was for bush hunting only, I would probably stick to the 7.62x39 as it has plenty of energy for clean kills with minimal meat damage. I am disappointed with my Creedmoor only from the perspective of excessive meat damage, but nothing walks away. With ELDX’s it destroys probably 5x the meat that the 7.62x39 Highland factory 123gr PSP’s does.

Also, if your wife is using brass cases ammo you can save it and resize it to 6.5G.


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She is but I am not a reloader but that may be next on the list to learn.

Originally Posted by Ftx325

She is but I am not a reloader but that may be next on the list to learn.

That's potentially an issue. Options for factory ammo are very limited. If you're happy shooting 123gr ELD/SST and can get a few boxes which will last you, great. Availability is sketcky though and there's no cheapo Federal, Winchester, Highland, PPU alternative.

Originally Posted by Pommy

That's potentially an issue. Options for factory ammo are very limited. If you're happy shooting 123gr ELD/SST and can get a few boxes which will last you, great. Availability is sketcky though and there's no cheapo Federal, Winchester, Highland, PPU alternative.

Factory ammo is bit limited down South... limited to mainly to Hornady Black and custom... my rifle was spraying them a bit (Black @ 2.3" at 100m). I've done some reloading and it seems that my rifle likes a seating depth of COBL 1.725"... so I reseated the factory ammo to that length and the grouping improved heaps (0.8", unfortunately the chrono didn't work for all the shots, but the two that it did work for were the exact same MV)... so just food for thought, if factory ammo is limited, they might just need a little tweaking to group better.

Got a good mate who uses one as his go to gun.

Mini action howa.

Tahr at 220 and anything else to 300 with ease.

Like shooting a 22 with more oomph. Just go and buy one. Their fantastic and I need one myself

I'm planning to make a similar setup at the moment.

Thinking of getting:

Howa 6.5 Grendel lightweight stainless 20 inch barreled action
Howa Alpine stock
Jefferson Outdoor's bottom metal
Gunworks 35mm diameter suppressor

Should be a pretty sweet setup suitable for 95% of shooting in NZ, but price would be getting up to $2200~$2300. Wonder if it's easier to just get a Sako A7 instead?

Originally Posted by Synthetic

I'm planning to make a similar setup at the moment.

Thinking of getting:

Howa 6.5 Grendel lightweight stainless 20 inch barreled action
Howa Alpine stock
Jefferson Outdoor's bottom metal
Gunworks 35mm diameter suppressor

Should be a pretty sweet setup suitable for 95% of shooting in NZ, but price would be getting up to $2200~$2300. Wonder if it's easier to just get a Sako A7 instead?

That's a great idea, but unfortunately the Alpine stock fits the short action 1500 (243, 6.5 Creedmoor, 7mm/08, 308 size). Your closest option for the Mini is the Henderson stock like @Dreamer recently got. I'm sure he won't mind posting up another pic!

I was thinking in a similar way recently, so got the short action 1500 in 223 as it comes with a hinged floor plate internal magazine that can easily be modified to take rounds up to 2.45" long. It also comes with 1:8 twist now as well. Dropped it in an Alpine stick which is a nice shape. It's shooting really well now and is light and trim with an 18.5" barrel and the same 35mm Gunworks suppressor you're considering.

The foreend on the Alpine is fairly short allowing quite a short barrel with the right suppressor if you decide to go down the road of a Creedmoor instead of the Grendel.

Originally Posted by Steelisreal

That's a great idea, but unfortunately the Alpine stock fits the short action 1500 (243, 6.5 Creedmoor, 7mm/08, 308 size). Your closest option for the Mini is the Henderson stock like @Dreamer recently got. I'm sure he won't mind posting up another pic!

I was thinking in a similar way recently, so got the short action 1500 in 223 as it comes with a hinged floor plate internal magazine that can easily be modified to take rounds up to 2.45" long. It also comes with 1:8 twist now as well. Dropped it in an Alpine stick which is a nice shape. It's shooting really well now and is light and trim with an 18.5" barrel and the same 35mm Gunworks suppressor you're considering.

The foreend on the Alpine is fairly short allowing quite a short barrel with the right suppressor if you decide to go down the road of a Creedmoor instead of the Grendel.

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Originally Posted by Pommy

That's potentially an issue. Options for factory ammo are very limited. If you're happy shooting 123gr ELD/SST and can get a few boxes which will last you, great. Availability is sketcky though and there's no cheapo Federal, Winchester, Highland, PPU alternative.

Seems to be a reasonable supply of factory around. Birthday black in a lot of stores. Have also seen grendel federal fusion and got a box of ppu 120gr for $40 the other day to try. I have one and am not a reloader and haven't had a problem finding ammo. Am keeping cases to possibly get someone to reload them for me.
Love the grendel. Haven't fired any of my other centre fire rifles since I brought it