6.5 grendel

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thom

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Thinking about getting into a new caliber to me, where I can still use an AR-15 lower. What are pro and con on this caliber? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Thom
 
No Con's, Grendel is amazing. Lots of factory ammo available as well if you don't reload.
At 500 yards it's boringly easy, almost a waste of ammo if you're just target shooting.
 
I would say the only con is that to get the ballistic benefits of the 6.5Grendel, you need to have a full length barrel. If you go with a carbine barrel, performance then is barely better than 7.62x39 (in my opinion). But if you are going to have a 6.5 in a full size rifle,...then why not go just a tad heavier and go with a 6.5Creedmore in an AR10 envelope and have so much more?

Or at least that's my take on it.
 
Suck My Glock said:
I would say the only con is that to get the ballistic benefits of the 6.5Grendel, you need to have a full length barrel. If you go with a carbine barrel, performance then is barely better than 7.62x39 (in my opinion). But if you are going to have a 6.5 in a full size rifle,...then why not go just a tad heavier and go with a 6.5Creedmore in an AR10 envelope and have so much more?

Or at least that's my take on it.

Long barrels are a meme for grendel. 12 inch barrels routinely shoot at 2500fps.
 
mtptwo said:
Suck My Glock said:
I would say the only con is that to get the ballistic benefits of the 6.5Grendel, you need to have a full length barrel. If you go with a carbine barrel, performance then is barely better than 7.62x39 (in my opinion). But if you are going to have a 6.5 in a full size rifle,...then why not go just a tad heavier and go with a 6.5Creedmore in an AR10 envelope and have so much more?

Or at least that's my take on it.

Long barrels are a meme for grendel. 12 inch barrels routinely shoot at 2500fps.

With what bullet?
 
The nice thing about the 6.5 Grendel is it works in the AR15 platform. So you can build light and small rifles/pistols if you want. When you go to 6.5 Creedmore, you are on the AR10 platform. Unless on a Ruger SFAR (not offered in 6.5 Creedmore yet) or POF Rouge, you are in a heavier platform. Not a big deal on target or range guns, but more of a factor in hunting platforms.

The 6.5 Grendel adds legs to the AR15 platform over 5.56, which is where it shines. Yes, the 6.5 Grendel does better with longer barrels, but it still outperforms 5.56 with shorter barrels as well. So you can get a lot of punch with the pistols AR15s. There are some inexpensive 12.5" hunting rigs in 6.5 Grendel. When the steel case 6.5 Grendel was coming in, it was fairly inexpensive to shoot as well. Now that it has dried up, ammo is about on par with other factory hunting ammo.
 
mtptwo said:
Suck My Glock said:
Creeker said:
With what bullet?

What he said. :eusa-think: :confusion-confused: :confusion-shrug:

https://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthread.php?17607-Official-Grendel-SBR-Pistol-Velocity-Thread&highlight=pistol+velocity

So with 90-95s? Not really what’s “routinely” used in the 6.5’s and beyond a couple hundred yards you’re better off with a 123 running 2250 or so.
 
I am not a huge AR guy, I have a couple but I prefer a bolt rifle. I picked up a Howa Mini in 6.5 Grendel and have been pleasantly surprised with how accurate it is. I use it as my primary coyote rifle and I am running the 85gr Sierra HP under 29 grains of H4895 at 2743fps and nearly one hole accuracy. It is surprisingly fur friendly I only get exits about half the time and when they do they are generally not real bad holes.

Grendel Load.jpeg
 
I am a big fan of the Grendel. I like that it's a round that A) fits a small-AR platform, B) can stay supersonic past 1k yards with "shorter" barrels, and C) has enough energy to hunt deer at reasonable distances. I think it's one of the best all-around cartridges.

I have found it to be picky with brands of magazine though in the AR.
 
I've been contemplating this round for a while; I have a couple spare populated lowers. Thing is, I don't like having a million different magazines. I already have one AR (and ASC magazines) for 7.62x39. I can't find anything that confirms definitively whether 7.62x39 and 6.5 Grendel will feed out of the same mag. I can find references to an Omni-Mag several years ago, but I assume that flopped.

Anyone with experience?
 
I built a nice 6.5g in an AR platform. I should go shoot it one of these days....
 
It’s better as a 6mm than a 6.5mm. Barrels are readily available, but unless you want the slightly neutered version that Hornady came out with (6ARC) then you have to handload. It’s just one pass through a sizing die to go down to 6mm. There are 40* versions that require fireforming, but I never found the gains worth the time.
 
brandonsmash said:
I've been contemplating this round for a while; I have a couple spare populated lowers. Thing is, I don't like having a million different magazines. I already have one AR (and ASC magazines) for 7.62x39. I can't find anything that confirms definitively whether 7.62x39 and 6.5 Grendel will feed out of the same mag. I can find references to an Omni-Mag several years ago, but I assume that flopped.

Anyone with experience?

I found the ASC Grendel specific mags to be unreliable, but the C Products to be reliable. The difference seems to be the undercut at the front of the mag. The ASC isn't cut quite as deep, so the rim of the case gets hung up on it while feeding into the chamber.
 
Lion Armament LLC said:
brandonsmash said:
I've been contemplating this round for a while; I have a couple spare populated lowers. Thing is, I don't like having a million different magazines. I already have one AR (and ASC magazines) for 7.62x39. I can't find anything that confirms definitively whether 7.62x39 and 6.5 Grendel will feed out of the same mag. I can find references to an Omni-Mag several years ago, but I assume that flopped.

Anyone with experience?

I found the ASC Grendel specific mags to be unreliable, but the C Products to be reliable. The difference seems to be the undercut at the front of the mag. The ASC isn't cut quite as deep, so the rim of the case gets hung up on it while feeding into the chamber.

Given that they share the same parent case, are you aware of any mags that will reliably feed both 7.62x39 and 6.5 Grendel in an AR platform?
 
brandonsmash said:
Lion Armament LLC said:
brandonsmash said:
I've been contemplating this round for a while; I have a couple spare populated lowers. Thing is, I don't like having a million different magazines. I already have one AR (and ASC magazines) for 7.62x39. I can't find anything that confirms definitively whether 7.62x39 and 6.5 Grendel will feed out of the same mag. I can find references to an Omni-Mag several years ago, but I assume that flopped.

Anyone with experience?

I found the ASC Grendel specific mags to be unreliable, but the C Products to be reliable. The difference seems to be the undercut at the front of the mag. The ASC isn't cut quite as deep, so the rim of the case gets hung up on it while feeding into the chamber.

Given that they share the same parent case, are you aware of any mags that will reliably feed both 7.62x39 and 6.5 Grendel in an AR platform?

I'm not, though the C Products would be a good start imo
 
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