6.5 Grendel or No?

[Tjkride]

So I want a new upper for a standard ar that is legal for deer. I was thinking of one in 6.5 grendel. I dont know much about the cartridge or other standard ar cartridges other than 5.56. Any info on uppers and cartridges and opinions would be appreciated.

[carpsniperg2]

My Grendel is one of my favorite AR15 rifles followed by 6x45. If you handload 6x45 is great as well. However the 6.5 is perfect for midsized game lots of factory ammo if you don’t reload. Usually supper accurate little round. We have killed a handful of critters with the 123 sst.

Radical firearms makes some reasonably priced uppers if you find yourself shopping around. If you have a few more bucks Alexander arms makes good uppers or roll your own build.

[Tjkride]

I appreciate it. I like the classic 6.5's. So I figured a new one would be fun.

[carpsniperg2]

I do as well and plenty of the wildcats, like my favorite rifle my 6.5 stw.

Ammo isn’t to spendy if you are buying it. Even local stores usually have some on the shelves.

Low recoil and pretty much anything I feed it, shoots great!

[Yondering]

I say Yes!

There is a lot to like about the Grendel, in long barrels or short. (Ignore the conventional "wisdom" that the Grendel needs a long barrel to be good - it doesn't.) It's very mild to shoot, but due to sleek high b.c. bullets it reaches out there well, and has very good factory ammo available for those who don't load their own. Even the Wolf "Military Classic" 100gr FMJ shoots way better in my Grendel than I'd ever expect from cheap Russian ammo.

For those who don't know - the 6.5 Grendel delivers roughly the same close range ballistics from a short barrel (12"-16") as a 7.62x39 but reaches farther down range and uses better bullets. From a longer barrel of course it is a bit faster.

The Grendel is a slightly longer version of the classic PPC benchrest case, which in turn was derived from an improved (blown out) version of the 7.62x39 case.

[hunter399]

I'm I running a 25/45 , But will say grendal,6x45 ,are pretty high on my list .Kinda depends if you reload or not.
Good luck in your choice.

[Jonathan_S]

6x45 is an excellent option for extremely affordable components in reloading.

Just shot my first 30 rounds through my new one today

[JohnVH]

Heck yes. The Grendel is awesome. Love mine.

[davef]

All I hear is good but I'd also look at the 6.8spc. Takes a .270 bullet.

[CAMPMEAT]

I got one from that Biggerhammer guy on here. Pretty nice......

[pianoman9701]

I love mine. It's comparable in ammo cost to other medium to big game rounds - about $1.25 for Hornady and about $0.70 for Wolf. I don't have the eyes or the glass to shoot it out to its full potential but for me within 300 yards, it's deadly. Biggerhammer also helped me put mine together. I would agree after getting some education from the gun gurus on here that a shorter barrel will only affect velocity. My BHW barrel is 24" and the gun has a lot of heavy furniture to lug around. It's a blast to shoot...from a fixed position. Were I to build another, I'd go shorter and lighter.

[CAMPMEAT]

I love mine. It's comparable in ammo cost to other medium to big game rounds - about $1.25 for Hornady and about $0.70 for Wolf. I don't have the eyes or the glass to shoot it out to its full potential but for me within 300 yards, it's deadly. Biggerhammer also helped me put mine together. I would agree after getting some education from the gun gurus on here that a shorter barrel will only affect velocity. My BHW barrel is 24" and the gun has a lot of heavy furniture to lug around. It's a blast to shoot...from a fixed position. Were I to build another, I'd go shorter and lighter.

I think mine is a 26 inch barrel, John. It's friggin' heavy.

[j_h_nimrod]

Had my buddies 6.5 Grendel Howa Miniaction out shooting rocks at 675yds last week.  Pretty impressive first shot kill having a range card only verified to ~300yds, 3 successive shots minute-of-deer from a less than ideal rest. A great little cartridge, I say go for it.

[Wazukie]

I like mine, I built it and load for it.  18" BHW, 123 SST at just under 2500 fps.  I've stretched to about 700yrds on targets adnd it had no problem dropping  bear last year.

[bullfisher]

Grendel is my favorite AR round.
Was shooting it today with SST factory ammo at 2530fps from a 20" bhw barrel. Ringing steel all day from 300-500yds. I get the hornady bulk bthp ammo from sportsmans warehouse for around 0.75 a round.