6.5 Grendel

General question, general answer: 20” 6.5 Grendel is good to go. If you ever needed anything more than a 6.5 Grendel for deer hunting, you’re either doing something weird, or you’re doing something wrong. Don’t ask it to be a dedicated 1,000-1,200 yard rifle, meter your expectations a bit, but for 600-1,200 steel, it’ll do what’s asked.

There’s some logic in recommending >2.3” cartridges in bolt guns. AR-15’s are stuck with 2.3” cartridges, but bolt guns are not. The Mini-length Howa actions are a relatively new occurrence, and they do fit the 2.3” mini-length cartridges properly, HOWEVER, the Howa action doesn’t really come in lighter than a round tube short length action. Within a couple ounces of a Rem 700 short action. It’s not much less expensive either.

So there IS some logic to say it’s less sensical to build an uncommon mini-length rifle which costs as much and weighs as much as a standard short action, but lacks ballistic performance.

But...

A 6.5 Grendel bolt gun is a dandy pleasure, which rubs off a lot of the excessive damage done on small game which comes with a 6.5 Creed or Swede, and considering ammunition cost and recoil, there’s plenty of logic to a mini-action bolt action rifle in 6.5 Grendel.

Been shooting the Grendel for 7 years now and have zero regrets. My bolt action is a CZ which is a mini-action like your Howa. I think you’ll like the compact package. It’s good at the range as well as being a great deer round. I reload and am amazed I can get such good performance with only 28 grains of powder.

Varminterror said:

General question, general answer: 20” 6.5 Grendel is good to go. If you ever needed anything more than a 6.5 Grendel for deer hunting, you’re either doing something weird, or you’re doing something wrong. Don’t ask it to be a dedicated 1,000-1,200 yard rifle, meter your expectations a bit, but for 600-1,200 steel, it’ll do what’s asked.

Click to expand...

Pretty well said. I don't think I could cut a coffee cup size hole at 1000 yards with mine, but it's not a big stretch to hit 18" steel at that range, or even out to 1100, with a good scope and wind calls. That in itself is pretty good, 18" at 1000 yards is 1.8 MOA, or thereabouts. I've been shooting mine for about 4 years now, built my AR. I've been using 123 AMAX, but looking forward to working up some 130ELD loads. Only giving up 150 fps MV, so I figure the improved BC and a tad more weight should offset that, and then some. I'd like an opportunity to shoot a nice bolt Grendel, where there's more latitude with seating depth and playing with leade, etc.

I just love my grendel in an AR. I've shot 3 pigs and 2 antelope with it, and they have fallen right over. It hits hard and shoots soft.

I’ve shared this one quite a bit here. It’s a 20” Grendel AR which I and a student built a few years ago - and a target which was shot with it below; a 66% IPSC, 12”x20” with a group about 9” wide by 14” tall at 875 yards. That particular lot of factory Hornady Black 123 ELD’s was running 78fps ES, meaning there’s around 4” extra elevation in the group than it really should have, and about an inch to inch and a half extra wind drift, compared to a lower ES load (say a 20-25fps ES). I’m not complaining about ~1 x 1.5 MOA at 875 from a relatively deviant factory load lot. I ended up using that rifle for a special precision rifle match locally shooting 8x12” head-shaped targets out to 955 yards in 100yrd intervals, hit to advance. I managed to make it out to 900 before I missed all of my shots and didn’t advance to the final distance. I also used it for deer season that year, the buck pictured, and the carnage done to his heart.

I had been without a Grendel for a few years when a student wanted to build one, this rifle, which rekindled my interest, and sparked the 243LBC (6mm Grendel) build I finally completed yeast year.

highlander 5 said:

Waiting for Howa miniaction in 6.5 Grendel to arrive at my ffl thought I'd ask general opinion on rifle and cartridge. 20" barrel version.

Click to expand...

Had one. Nice shooting little round. Shot 4 deer and 8 pigs with mine and then traded my buddy back for my Howa Mini in 7.62x39 because it drops critters 3x as fast as the Grendel.

But for a dedicated range gun, it was fun.

If you hand load, try the 130 Gamechanger over LeverEvolution powder. Dirty but very accurate and great velocity.

Newtosavage said:

Had one. Nice shooting little round. Shot 4 deer and 8 pigs with mine and then traded my buddy back for my Howa Mini in 7.62x39 because it drops critters 3x as fast as the Grendel.

But for a dedicated range gun, it was fun.

If you hand load, try the 130 Gamechanger over LeverEvolution powder. Dirty but very accurate and great velocity.

Click to expand...

I shot one deer with my Grendel and had great shot placement at 35 yards and deer ran the farthest of all deer I've ever shot. Had the best blood trail I've ever had...go figure lol.

My 7.62x39 has accounted for 3 deer and all 3 put together has went 20 yards. With little blood trail...go figure on that one too lol.

Both are effective but for my shot distance for hunting I'll take the 7.62x39 everytime. If I was shooting 200 yards or more then of the two I'd pick Grendel.

CarJunkieLS1 said:

I shot one deer with my Grendel and had great shot placement at 35 yards and deer ran the farthest of all deer I've ever shot. Had the best blood trail I've ever had...go figure lol.

My 7.62x39 has accounted for 3 deer and all 3 put together has went 20 yards. With little blood trail...go figure on that one too lol.

Both are effective but for my shot distance for hunting I'll take the 7.62x39 everytime. If I was shooting 200 yards or more then of the two I'd pick Grendel.

Click to expand...

I'm not even sure I'd pick the Grendel then honestly. Saw too many critters keep on running with the little G that would have gone down with the x39. After the 4th deer running off, enough was enough.

For a range gun, I'd take the Grendel but for a hunting gun, it's the x39 every day and twice on Sundays.

Newtosavage said:

I'm not even sure I'd pick the Grendel then honestly. Saw too many critters keep on running with the little G that would have gone down with the x39. After the 4th deer running off, enough was enough.

Click to expand...

Truth be told I haven't shot my Grendel in easily over 2 years but it's a great accurate rifle but if I was gonna shoot further than what my 7.62x39 can handle I'll use my 25GPC or 7mm Valkyrie all 4 rifles being AR-15s.

highlander 5 said:

Waiting for Howa miniaction in 6.5 Grendel to arrive at my ffl thought I'd ask general opinion on rifle and cartridge. 20" barrel version.

Click to expand...

I bought the same rifle about a year ago. Mine has the black plastic stock which is aluminum pillar bedded. Its accuracy is getting down to .5 - .75 MOA with good reloads. Its function has been flawless. Like it so much I just got a 20" mini barreled action in 7.62x39.

robert4301 said:

I bought the same rifle about a year ago. Mine has the black plastic stock which is aluminum pillar bedded. Its accuracy is getting down to .5 - .75 MOA with good reloads. Its function has been flawless. Like it so much I just got a 20" mini barreled action in 7.62x39.

Click to expand...

I owned both at the same time too. Great for a range/hunting combo.

The Grendel in the Howa platform is very easy to hand load and an effective 300-600 yard range gun. That's what my buddy wanted, more than another hunting rifle, so he ended up with my Grendel and I still have the 7.62x39. I worked the factory plastic Howa stock down on the Grendel to slim the forend and remove about 1/2 lb. It was a treat to carry after that but if I was going to keep it a range gun, I would have left that material on there.

I bought my 7.62x39 mini as just a barreled action, so I dropped it in a Boyd's laminate stock, bedded it, and then spent about a week removing material from the Boyd's stock, removing nearly a pound of weight. The gun is slim and light now and balances great at 6.75 lbs. scoped. It's a real treat to shoot.

99% of new 6.5 shooters make the very same mistake, loading the 6.5 cartridge like they are working with a 30 caliber. The 6.5s are very different. Consider that for a projectile you are shooting an arrow VS a hammer. The 6.5s like a longer heavier bullet at lower velocity on game. The faster light bullets are fine on paper, metal targets, or varmints.

Note on the Grendel there are two dies, a I and a II version. Lee makes a II and Redding makes a I version. If you can shoot and can not get under .5 inches change dies to see if your chamber cut and dies do not match. You should be able to shoot .25 with the Grendel even in an AR. I have a couple and both will shoot .25 with the 120 SMK with no problem. You can drop by the Grendel forum and find a good bit of reloading data including the subsonic data for cans.
Ed

I have a Ruger American Predator. It has pleased me greatly. I expect your Howa will be much fun.

There are not two types of dies for 6.5 Grendel. There are only different barrels and bolts, based on the relative depth of the bolt head. Type I and Type II Grendel barrels and bolts both use the exact same ammunition, but the Type I bolt face is only recessed 0.125”, while Type II is 0.136”. The chambers in each respective barrel is exactly the same, less the 11thousandths POSITION in the barrel. There are NOT Type I and Type II dies, nor Type I and II ammunition. The chamber void is exactly the same for Type I and Type II bolts and barrels, such the ammunition for both is exactly the same, and the dies used to make ammo for both, also, exactly the same. Some companies do “class” their dies into different series, ALL of their dies, like Hornady, but this has absolutely nothing to do with the Grendel bolt face depths, and respective Types.

Above post is correct on all counts

1/4” groups no problem with an AR... that’s rich.

Armorer 101 said:

The 6.5s like a longer heavier bullet at lower velocity on game. The faster light bullets are fine on paper, metal targets, or varmints.

Click to expand...

This is precisely the opposite of what I found on live game. Longer, heavier bullets were penciling through without expanding, even inside 100 yards. Zero blood trails and long tracking jobs.

On the other hand, the 7.62x39 drops game quickly, expands very well and leaves great blood trails.

This, again, is based on my experience shooting live game (deer and pigs) with both.

robert4301 said:

I bought the same rifle about a year ago. Mine has the black plastic stock which is aluminum pillar bedded. Its accuracy is getting down to .5 - .75 MOA with good reloads. Its function has been flawless. Like it so much I just got a 20" mini barreled action in 7.62x39.

Click to expand...

Is that designed for the .308 bore or .311 asking for a friend

Agreed that 6.5 G is a great range toy. I just ordered 8 more boxes of Hornady Black 110 V Max for my home built Bison 6.8 SPC II. Amazing rifle, and a really great load in my barrel. Noticeably better than Fusion MSR in my barrel, and hits harder.