Thread: Modifing the Howa Mini plastic stock on my 6.5G

Originally Posted by Ftx325

Thanks guys... really appreciate the input. You probably saw and commented on my grendel thread too but I just want to be sure I am doing the right thing before I commit to spending way to much money on a custom grendel build that it's going to do the job as a close to medium range bush gun. I am considering going way over the top and replicating the howa mini chassis pic's from 55six and going whole hog with carbon Hardy barrel etc. Wanna be sure it's a keeper first as I usually go big bore but want to try small and light for a change.

Don’t do it.

Some might want to bash me over the head with a skillet but I think you would be making a big mistake with a big-money build mate. My reasoning is that the 6.5 Grendel is a neat little cartridge that has some good bullets available to it from the bonded through to the soft match type. But you cannot get away from the fact that it lacks ooommppfff.

These short Grendel barrels generate about the same muzzle velocity as what a 6mm Creedmoor generates as an impact velocity at 300m. You should run the numbers and have a really close look at the comparison with several different cartridge options before you commit to spending the big bucks on a rifle for which you would never, ever see a resale value close to what you spend on it.

My view is that the Grendel is a useful cartridge in cheap rifles for shortish range goats and small deer, but for a close range bush rifle where big animals are skittish and you may well have scrub etc in the way, then I would want something a lot more grunty. Likewise for the longer shots in the 300 meter range, you only need to be a couple of inches off with a slow cartridge like the Grendel and you are going to lose animals, and that is going to risk you falling out of love with it real quick.

At the end of the day the Grendel is just a modern cartridge with similar power to a 30-30 shooting a 150gr. Perfectly adequate close up in good conditions but not really a great all-rounder especially when the longer shots are tempting you to stretch it out a bit.