6.5 Grendel

[Caster]

Okay. I been reading on this one for quite some time. Now I'm seriously considering this caliber. Here's what I'm thinking. I'm wondering if this cartridge would replace my bolt action 308? Before you jump in to tell me how it's nowhere near as powerful, consider this; I've (purposefully) whittled 85% of my toolkit down to ARs. I'm happy for it too. My absolute max distance, unless forced to relocate due SHTF, would be under 400 yards. I'm not a hunter but I do go after the occasional whitetail. I reload. And lastly, if this carriage would fill in for the 308, I could get rid of another non AR rifle that despite being a WONDERFUL rifle, I don't care to shoot much.

Thoughts of any (relevant) kind are welcome.

[MacGyver]

Performance is good - at least from what I've seen. It does seem to be s somewhat unsettled caliber with Les Baer coming out with their own version and Sabre's license being affected by their poor choices.

So long as you're okay with potential hassles of using a non-standard round, I'd say go for it. Were it my rifle, and I was looking for something intermediate, I'd probably go with 6.8SPC. But frankly, I like both 5.56 and.308 for their own reasons, and haven't seen that intermediate need. I'm putting both my 338 Spectre and .458 SOCOM builds in a separate class. Primarily looking at how quietly I can deliver big rounds at relatively short ranges with devastating energy.

[quietguy]

I would look hard at the 6.8SPC, especially if you are reloading. It seems to have a little more momentum in the market (which I am admittedly horrible at predicting), and the bullet offerings in .270 are pretty hard to beat. I really like both concepts.

[1gewehr]

Nobody has ever complained that the 6.5G lacks accuracy! I have a 20" upper from J&T that gets about 1moa with the cheap Wolf soft points, and a hair better with the Wolf 120gr MPT. I haven't even tried shooting the expensive ammo yet.

The biggest complaint I have heard has been about expense and availability of ammo. Well, I have seen that AIM and others have plenty of the Wolf Gold reloadable cartridges in stock at about $13/box. And Wolf has announced that they will be bringing in a bunch of even less expensive steel-cased ammo by the end of the year. If you want really nice ammo, Hornaday has their excellent 123gr A-max load for about $22/box.

Barrels and bolts or complete uppers are available from several manufacturers at reasonable prices. The biggest problem was availability of magazines. C-Products made excellent 6.5G magazines, but are under new management and the 6.5G mags are backordered. AR-Stoner now makes mags that are getting good reviews, though.

As long as your hunting doesn't include animals much larger than deer, you will probably never need anything more powerful than the 6.5G. And while you say you won't be shooting past 400 yards, it's nice to know that the rifle and ammo are capable of much more!

[MacGyver]

Accuracy does seem to be excellent with that round. Didn't someone shoot an official 1.5 inch group at 600 yards a couple of years ago?

[Jonnin]

There is nothing wrong with it. There are some 10 or so calibers (some obsolete more or less) that are as good or better than the 308, this is one of them. 308 is sort of in style right now, and gets a lot of recommendations over and above its capability. A 30-06 is just as good, if not better, my 7.65 arg is just as good, and so on. If you like your 6.5, and it can do what you need (looks like it can to me, but I am not real familiar with this specific caliber), then use the 6.5 and enjoy it.

[Caster]

. If you like your 6.5, and it can do what you need (looks like it can to me, but I am not real familiar with this specific caliber), then use the 6.5 and enjoy it.

I don't have one yet, that's why I am fishing.

My biggest problem is my current investment in 308. It's fairly substantial [for me].

AND after the post I just read about Ruger making a Model 77 in .357.......dang it, why wasn't I born rich instead of so good looking?

[Alleycat72]

308 Covert. 6.5 Grendel necked up. You can also shoot 7.62x39 in the same chamber.

[Jonnin]

I don't have one yet, that's why I am fishing.

My biggest problem is my current investment in 308. It's fairly substantial [for me].

AND after the post I just read about Ruger making a Model 77 in .357.......dang it, why wasn't I born rich instead of so good looking?

Oh, in that case, I don't know that its much of a change as far as the raw caliber goes. Both do about the same things at about the same ranges for your stated uses. It would boil down to which firearm you like best, really, far more than the caliber.

[Jon_L]

Since you're exploring other options, have you considered 300 Whisper or BLK?

[bigwakes]

I had a 20" Sabre 6.5 Grendel upper that I sold earlier in the year. I like the round and bought a bunch of ammo when I could find it, but decided to move to a .308 bolt gun instead. I didn't really give it a fair shake, but thought it was a good time to sell the Sabre right after the last scandal broke. I would warn that the Wolfe ammo has large rifle primers instead of small magnum primers like all the other manufacturers. Most of the reload data available was based on small magnum rifle primers, so I stuck with A-Max ammo.

[Guest Keinengel]

I would love to get into a grendel build and I've been trying to for a couple years now actually.... But lets get serious, there are dozens of new and "more effective" AR calibers out there for just about every use you could possibly have and then some. In all honesty they all seem to provide the exact same thing down to a category. AR platform sepcific calibers are a bandwagon deal right now. Every major company is throwing one out there and claiming its the best. Ten years from now when the gun buyer community has moved on to the next big thing 95% of those calibers will have been forgotten. The point I'm trying to get too here is simple. In all practical every day uses, the .308 would be just as effective and a heck of a lot more convienient. But If your just out to try a new flavor then go for it.

[1gewehr]

You make a lot of valid points. But what he is wanting to do is make a decision now. And right now, 6.5Grendel is the most versatile cartridge you can put on a standard AR platform. Add in the factory ammo from both Wolf and Hornaday, and it looks like a cartridge that is finally getting good support from the manufacturers.

Sure, .308 is more powerful and certainly ammo is available in every store. But you cannot fire a .308 in a standard AR-15 platform. and the .308-size lowers are considerably larger, heavier, and more expensive.

[Caster]

Hey guys thank you so much for the input but in light of recent invents [personal] I will be sticking with what I have, know how to use and more importantly, already have paid for:)

Maybe when things get better I'll come back to this.

[Jon_L]

Hope things get better for you, buddy

[Caster]

Thank you Jon. Nothing life threatening, but it's a lot on me at the moment. Nothing I care to talk about, but for those of you who speak to God on occasion, I'd appreciate it if you remember me and the family.