Ballistics of 300 BLK, 6.8 spc, 6.5 grendel compared?

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Getting into the canonical 10" vital zone is about the same hold out to past 250 yards with all of the cartridges mentioned when using a 200 yard zero. The great separator is wind drift.

The Grendel does very well by besting the .243 in wind drift and ability to anchor game when the bullet arrives. The newly published 6.5 Grendel Reloading Handbook, Vol I discusses this and several other topics.
 
Good lord Kachok, your zealotry for anything with 6.5 in the name can be a bit grating. I'll try to keep my Psychobabble to a minimum if you'll agree to wipe the spittle off of your monitor and bring this discussion back down to reasonable-conversation land.

Now, in spite of the fact that 68wj has already been down this road, I'll ask, is this the Hornady info you're looking at?

6.5 grendel
http://www.hornady.com/store/6.5-Grendel-123-gr-A-MAX/

6.8 SPC
http://www.hornady.com/store/6.8mm-SPC-120-GR-SST/

I'm sorry, but I fail to see anything in the direct ballistic comparison of those two rounds out of a 16 inch barrel that supports the claim that one completely dominates the other.... even ignoring that one load uses a proven hunting bullet while the other uses a dedicated target bullet.

As for anyone with a 16" - 20" rifle being a mall ninja... :confused:

I guess I thought we were talking about AR-15 rifles... the VAST majority of which sport a barrel in that length range, even the hunting versions. It seems to me that if we are discussing cartridges for use in AR's, we should discuss them in the context of the barrel lengths in which they are most likely to be used.

I would suggest the OP or anyone reading this thread do their own ballistics research on these cartridges... skip the rhetoric and check out some real numbers, that's where the real story is.
 
I looked at at ballistics as one factor.

I looked at price and availability etc as well.

6.8SPC is the winner. Eventually when I'm retired and reloading I will get a 6.5G barrel. For now, I can buy 6.8SPC ammo. I never see 6.5G Ammo. In fact pre-banic I stocked up a LOT and even bought all the 6.8SPC ammo from a small factory in Idaho that was getting out of business early last year. (At 5.56 prices). This would not have happened with 6.5G.
 
Wow, Kachok, could you be a little more dismissive and insulting? 16" is a standard length for ARs- one could even suggest that only "mall ninjas" have 18" barrels on ARs. :rolleyes:

(for the record, I do have an 18" AR, but just making a point)
 
Hornady offers both SST and AMAX 123 grain bullets for the Grendel.

When both rifles use 16" barrels, there is a tiny edge at the muzzle for the SPC in velocity but the bullets are shorter, so they slow down faster. At 100 yards, the HITS scores used by Hornady to gauge game harvesting potential are 602 for the SPC and 674 for the Grendel. The difference just gets larger with increasing range.

The Grendel will show less wind drift at all ranges.
 
Little defensive there Scotty, no I was not calling anyone that owned a 16" barrel a mall ninja, I just figured they would be the first to jump my case for not opting for the more "tacktekool" 6.8, sorry for the confusion, but I don't think 16" tubes rule the world, I have shot a truckload of ARs and M16 for 15 years and never fired a 16", handled a couple of them at the gun store, did not feel right so I put them back.
Dedicated target bullet? No sir I was talking about the SST which is a very proven performer and has taken a whole bunch more deer then the Accubond has that is for sure. Might want to read what I was saying, then you would also know that the 6.8 and 6.5 load data I used was straight from Hornady #9 it is a reloading manual that we use as a guidline for developing loads, also a really good place for ballistic comparison because they don't go by cookie cutter factory spec and loiwest bidder powders, they go by max pressures with different standard powders and 31.2gr of CFE223 pushes a 123gr SST to over 2500fps in their test rifle a carbine Alexander Arms, if you have a hard time believing them give them a call I am sure they can explain it to you better then I can. Unless someone else has some wildly different PUBLISHED load data for the 6.8 that I don't know about this one is not even close enough to debate, that is about as one sided as any comparison can be, might as well be comparing the 30-30 to the 308.
 
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I feel the 30 carbine would make a dandy home defense fire arm but I would not use a USGI carbine and post war models have questionable reliability.

The supersonic 300 BLK would make a dandy substitute for the 30 Carbine and actually be a bit better due to the availability different bullets. 125 and 155 grain bullets work great in my 300 BLK.

I would like to try a 6.5 Grendel. I am glad that Alexander Arms proceeded with SAAMI approval which will make components more available.
 
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