6.5 Grendel
 

Anyone shooting a Bolt Action rifle on here chambered in 6.5 Grendel ? :) What rifle do you have ?
If so what factory ammo shoots Well in your rifle and or What handloads are working Well for you ? :) RJ

Ask Stinky Coyote. He is too busy in the politics thread and needs a distraction, lol.

I have been interested in a bolt gun in 6.5 grendel for some time now. Would love to hear what others have to say about them

Have a Howa Mini 22”.

Only factory ammo I have shot is Hornady Black 123gr ELDM. Wasn’t particularly accurate at around 1.5”, hand loads are better.

So far I have tried 95gr Vmax, 100gr TTSX, 120gr Matchburner, 120gr Pro Hunter, 123gr SST. Powders have been Benchmark and IMR8208XBR. All bullets have been sub-MOA capable except the Matchburnersare not quite there. The TTSX and Pro Hunters are stellar.

Post of the year!

Stinky is a good guy, but needs to leave the rabbit hole and come back to guns and ammo.

Stinky come home.

I have a Howa mini action with the std 22” barrel. Shoots ok, but the factory plastic stock is the weak link as far as accuracy is concerned.

I’m currently using 120gr nosler ballistic tips with 8208xbr for a hunting load (just under 1moa) and 123gr nosler hunt with 8208xbr for target/plinking.

My father has the same rifle as well and he’s been shooting 100 and 120gr Barnes tsx’s with similar results.

There both set up for the close range bush deer we hunt (typically less than 100yard shots) however despite our best efforts weren’t able to harvest anything this year so I can’t comment on terminal performance.

Oh no. You don’t know what you’ve started RJ....

The factory stock is terrible. I bedded mine but its flimsy and the shape is horrible, especially the forend, it’s like a 2x4. I see Legacy now has a much slimmer looking carbon stock, and a walnut option, not sure of price for just the stock.

I haven't upgraded mine yet as I am waiting to see what becomes available. The bottom metal also leaves much to be desired. I replaced mine with a DIP aluminum unit which is much nicer, also improves the mag latch. There seems to be a burgeoning supply of Howa mini after market parts. Other than DIP factory copy DBM, Jefferson Outdoors and Oregon Gunsmithing make a hinged floor plate bottom metal. Oregon Gunsmithing also make a carbon stock.

Some Mini's are over $800, so by the time you add a stock and new bottom metal that’s an additional $500-$800 easily. If a Sauer 100 with a much stiffer and better shaped stock, and aluminum bottom metal can be had for under $1000, as can a basic Tikka, Howa could charge the same and improve the stock and bottom metal...

I disagree
He can stay over there

Mark, you made me blow coffee out my nose! 👍
IMHO there are many cartridges better suited to big game hunting.

I bought a CZ just a few days ago.
Haven’t shot it yet, but looks like a really well put together little rifle.
I haven’t been able to find dies for it yet, Seems to be sold out everywhere.
Bought some 123gr Hornady black that I’ll try this week.
Hope to find dies soon.

Exactly, at some point this recoil reducing chambering game will be renaming the 22LR for the newest marketing attempt.

This!

Couple guys here really compensating for something. If you can’t get’er done with a 6.5 Grendel then you are a wuss. Hunt better, shoot better lol.

Hornady black shoots half minute in a howa 20” lightweight, and about 3/4 moa in ruger American ranch and cz. They are great, get one. Ruger is most nang for buck imo. No smithing required, find some c-products 10 round 7.62x39 at pistol mags and away you go. Great little carbine that can do most.

I am sure most would say the 30-30 is, or never was a good hunting cartridge...But then again most "hunters" are not able to get with in 300 yards of a deer now a days.

Grendal still carries over 1100 ft. lbs. at 300 yards, plenty for a deer. 30-30 is only "good" to 250 yds. (with modern bullets. 1100 ft. lbs.) :fighting0030:

Oops, i should have worded my terminology a little more tongue in cheek. Don't take offense to my comments, they almost exclusively come from a place of humor. Forgot my winky face there.

We all have the right to choose whatever and there are certainly far more more well rounded 'do most' cartridges.

I will continue to suggest the 6.5 Grendel is more a niche cartridge, much like one would think of a 30-30 or .243 by todays standards.

The 6.5 Grendel is simply a 21st century approach to burning 30 grains of powder (2004 shot show release), same approach used with the 6.5 Creedmoor (2008 shot show release) and the new 6.5 PRC (2020 shot show release). You increase the versatility up and down the spectrums of cartridges burning similar amounts of powder.

3 - 21st century cartridges based on current understandings of ballistics, terminal performance, platforms, and accuracy. Take your pick.

6.5 Grendel versatility will work well anywhere you may consider a .223, .22-250, 30-30, .243 by yester century performance standards and asks of shooters/hunters. It mimicks a 3/4 scale .308 very well by most measures while doing so with half the recoil. Versatility very high, very efficient use of 30 grains of powder. Full range of shooters can handle this one and shoot it well.

6.5 Creedmoor will work well to cover off the majority of capabilities of everything from .257 bob, .260, 7-08, 308, .270, .280 30-06. with a trajectory and performance measures far more mirroring a 300 win mag than most things. Much less powder burned and recoil absorbed to do so...increasing shootability over a very broad range of potential shooters.

6.5 PRC will cover off the capabilities of the majority of magnums, 7rm, 300 wm, short magnums etc. and is a scaled back copy of what a .338 lapua would be able to do afield outside of delivering potential payloads on target or dents in steel, on game penetration depths, trajectories, very similar. Again, with fractional powder burned and recoil absorbed. The range of shooters on this will will be less than the other two as recoil energies close in north of 15 ft/lbs but still more efficient than all the yester century comparatives and far more shootable to more people.

All 3 of these cartridges have exploded in popularity this century, the Creedmoor by far the most as it's versatility and efficiency can't be matched imo.

So ya...if i were a manufacturer of guns, i'd be paying strong attention to these 3 6.5's and get in the game. Their popularity will only grow because you can't beat the numbers, you can't beat the efficiency's, you can't beat what they offer today's shooters/hunters.

Yesteryear cartridges my favs are .270 win, i think you can blend a 162gr in a 7-08 readily to create a hybrid 20/21st century cartridge giving the 20th century cartridge 21st century performance and efficiency and the 25-06 still a bit of an enigma. I haven't really slotted it above as it's much more like a weatherby to me, the overbore ultra-fast potential where maximum efficiency goal is in mpbr (mas point blank range) and so you can get away from rangefinders and hold overs for most hunting applications but the expense in powder, recoil, barrel life etc. is paid to do this, along with the weatherby or other super magnums. So many performance windows one can chase down.

I like the Grendel now, i've gone through my phases of horsepower, long range etc. I could care less to try and shoot big game past 300 with 400 maybe the outer limit, i'm not much on trophies, far more on meat and the hunt experience. I'm more of a 'why burn more powder if i don't have to' sort of guy now. They all work, they all have pro's and con's.

Glad i got that off my chest finally. ;) Bring on the fire.:love0025:

Ya by many measures it's got the chops, even energy which is only one aspect to consider. Those who prefer 2 holes and shoot bullets and most of the time energy is into the hillside it's not that big of a number to consider. However, if you can actually dump that 1100 ft/lbs through 18" of critter...performance is very impressive. Beyond what you'd expect as you stand over said critter and hold an unfired cartridge in your hand and look down at both. ;)

I think the Grendel may be a decent cartridge For Deer sized Game inside 100- 125 yds, but that's where it stops. I fail to see your attraction for that minimalist cartridge for anything other than the light recoil factor. For any thing other than that, it wont consistently do the job, being a 21st century thing or not.
There's an old adage from the 18th century that comes to mind.." there's a difference between scratching your azz ,and tearing it apart" Words to live by.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...a0b0b34507.jpg
All in good fun Stinky.


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I have owned and shot several 6mmBr rifles in both single shot and bolt action, and although they are super accurate, easy to load for with almost no recoil I would never even consider hunting deer with any of them, even though some people expound on how fine a deer cartridge the 6mmBR is.
I have lots of better suited cartridges, but the Grendel in any caliber is not on the list for obvious reasons for many of the same reasons the 6BR is not.
Cat

Not sure I follow. If a 100gr. bullet leaves the muzzle at the same velocity, be it a 6mm BR or a .243 what does the head stamp do to change the equation?
Same with a 6.5 Grendal for example and the older 6.5x55 loads in older actions, both using the same bullet, same velocity, then everything is equal. No one can tell me the old 6.5x55 loads at 2400-2600fps. did not kill.
Just seems to me there is a hate on for the Creedmore and the Grendal, I don't think anyone is saying they are the best choice for all situations, no more so the a 30-30 or a 45-70 are 1000 meter long range specialists. Each caliber has its purpose, some calibers just do it better. :love0025:

between a 6mmBr or any of the short fat 6.5 or 6's(mostly 6's)...are any available with factory ammo and rifles? yes, two now, the 6.5 Grendel came out in 2004 but Hornady just commercialized the 6mm ARC so now there's finally a 6mm version of the short fats available to the mere minions and hoards ;)

i think many here on this forum who think nothing of barreling/chambering/reloading forget the majority of shooters don't do this stuff...

we don't live in reloading rooms or on the bench etc. but we can still educate and appreciate options available, of any capability...nice to see some 21st century commercialized options with these accurate little short fats which were long reserved for the elite few among us who go those extra miles with custom/reloading etc.

Hilarious, don't worry i laughed out loud.

I don't use any 6mm cartridges fir hunting and actually never have . I have however hunted and killed game with a pile of 6.5's from the 6.5MS to the 6.5WSM and like it .
I like to shoot bullets heavier than 130 grains and see absolutely no need to start retooling for a new cartridge however after wildcatting for 45 odd years and like the cartridges I hunt with now . The big thing I get my back up about is when I am told by someone that what I am shooting is overkill , and that I am compensating for something because I don't jump on their band wagon.
Cat

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there's a lot of that on AO but usually its the guys complaining about not enough power or wrong type of bullet construction :thinking-006:

we have some similarities, i too like 6.5's and my minimum prefered weight has become 120 grains...although i trust far less with constuction/sd appropriate for game intended...so see, we both like 6.5's and you like 130gr and up and i like 120gr and up

before the Grendel i've had some .243's, wome/kids got some firsts, deer/coyotes, was alright and no issues with 95gr pills at reasonable ranges...

much happier with the 6.5 123gr pills at 24-2600 fps...for my needs don't include buffalo or grizzly

I hunt with only rifle mainly out of a gun vault of over 50, and it's apparently in an outdated and obsolete chambering according to many, and when I doo my elk hunt next year it will be with a 280 Remington ( NOT and AI) in a Ruger No.1
Even with shooting matches and range work with mainly 223 and a 6mmBR rifles, it's a struggle for me these days to keep up.
I don't need to start buying more hand loading tools and factory stuff is completely out of the question and not needed at all!:budo:
Cat
https://i.imgur.com/N7hdhrQ.jpg

How did you make you?

Anybody running a shorter 16-20” barrel?

Our caliber weights and cartridge choices are worlds apart not to mention the fact I also do not use factory ammo for hunting.
Cat

Yes I get 2386 fps with Hornady black 123gr eld-m from Ruger American ranch 16.1” barrel and my cz 527 American did 2552 fps stock with its 23.5” barrel, and then with a 24” proof carbon barrel (they are hand lapped) I got 2605 fps out of that, my 20” Howa mini was around 2500 fps