6.5 Grendel here for the long haul or destined to fade

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Back to the question posed by the OP: Unless the 6.5 G is adopted as a service round, I think that it will achieve niche market status at best. If the popularity/novelty of the black rifles begins to fade, it will likely fade.

Before acquiring my 6.5 CM I looked closely at the 6.5 G. My application is as a hunting round for whitetailed deer at ranges up to about 300 yds. I concluded that while the accuracy potential was there, it might take some work to realize it fully in a bolt gun (my preferred platform for hunting). I found the out of the box accuracy of the CZ527 in a recent review to be OK, but not up to the standards I expect.

In a black rifle, I can see it as very superior to the 223/5.56 round for hunting and long range paper punching. But, long range paper punching is still a niche activity. For shorter ranges, the 223/5/56 will work as well with less wear and tear on the shoulder (though neither the 22's or the 6.5 G will likely recoil very much), and will be far less expensive to shoot.

I am glad that it is available as a 6.5 PPC substitute, and if I put together a dedicated paper puncher I will look at it. But, the overall versatility is not there for a big mass market.
 
1stmarine said:
So there is always a strong argument for the 308 and 223/5.56.
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I'm not an AR fan so a bolt gun is what I shoot. All I shoot is bench rest and I don't hunt.

To me it seems that the 6.5G is an AR cartridge. If a person wanted a very versatile AR cartridge 6.5G would be hard to beat. 223/5.56 is about the cheapest rifle cartridge around if you want cheap thrills. I reload it for about 0.18/rd using range brass There literally is nothing cheaper to shoot if you reload. I have a 5 gallon bucket of range brass in my garage.

If you're looking for a bolt gun there are better choices than 6.5G for just about any category you care to look at. 308 is relatively cheap to reload and brass is everywhere. I have 300 pieces of once fired brass that I picked up at the range. You will never have any worries about that one staying around. One can reload 308 for about .35/rd. if you can score some free brass. The thing about 308 is 5 very good cartridges have been based on that case.

Of course if you just want to play around with the latest celebrity 6.5 Creedmoor is probably the next successful long run civilian cartridge.

I only shoot 223 now but my next rifle is going to be a 308. I have to move first though because I don't have 500 yd range anywhere close.
 
Jason_W said:
As I continue to agonize over a rifle purchase, one interesting possibility that stands out is this:

https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog...s_id/719018242/LEG+MINI+HB+PKG+65GR+20+GRN+10

The Grendel is an interesting intermediate round, having amazing ballistics for its class. I understand that factory ammo will never be as cheap and available as for the .223 or x39, but I'm in California and that's going to be a moot point for me come Jan 1 when new Draconian ammo laws kick in, turning me into a roll my only type.

With the growing popularity of the 6.5 Creedmoor, there's a growing selection of 6.5mm bullets available, and some of them are pretty cheap. It's the brass supply that concerns me.The Grendel is still a bit of a boutique round that doesn't have a big mainstream following. The concern is that I buy a rifle chambered for it, and a few years down the line I have to resort to scouring gun shows and online auction sites for rare brass at inflated prices.
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All I can say is I own more than a couple firearms, and I will not likely own a Grendel. I dont think a lot of people, mainstream, are excited about an "intermediate " cartridge just because it fits in the AR. AR afficionados however are. That is a fair number of people.
 
I'm jumping in the 6.5 Grendel train this week. I already own a 6.8 SPC, a 458 SOCOM and a 300 BLK, so why not. I honestly don't believe the Grendel is going anywhere. Will it ever become as mainstream as 300 BLK? Probably not because everybody and their brother is concerned about being able to use a 5.56 bolt. That argument doesn't hold water, but I don't want to chase that rabbit tonight. The bottom line is that I buy guns for my enjoyment. At this point in life, I'm "creating needs" to justify new purchases. I've got enough 5.56, 6.8 and 308 to last for as long as I'll probably be physically able to shoot. Why not build another rifle in another cartridge to enjoy? Life's short. Get what you want. If the Grendel becomes obsolete before you shoot your barrel out, just buy a new barrel and bolt and change cartridges. Simple as that.
 
Looks like CZ and Howa are betting it will be around for awhile.

I’d rather have two AR’s, one in 5.56 and one in 6.5 Creedmoor or .260 Remington. I don’t target shoot and for what I want a 6.5 caliber cartridge for the Grendel is underpowered.
 
I think a lot of folks dismiss any "niche cartridge" out of hand just because it sounds good... If I walk into Walmart, there might be a dozen rifle cartridges on the shelf. If I walk into Cabela's, there might be a hundred. If you want pure mainstream, you worry what Walmart regularly has in stock. If you want something accessible, you worry what Cabela's and Midway/Brownell's/Natchez/Midsouth/etc have in stock.

6.5 Grendel has been on Cabela's shelves for as long as the local cabela's has been open (10yrs?).

I'm currently loading for over 20 cartridges for myself, many of them occupy a far smaller "niche" than 6.5 Grendel.

It's a fantastic training round for a long range shooter. Runs better barrel life by 2-3x and only about 3/4 the powder as a typical long range short action cartridge, but it doesn't have the extreme vulnerability to wind the "normal choice" 223rem training rifle suffers. Shooting a 6.5 grendel at 800 makes shooting 6 Creedmoor at 1,000 feel easy.
 
I see no reason why the 6.5 Grendel wouldn't make a pretty outstanding deer caliber. 7.62x39 level recoil with longer range. What's not to like about that? Plus, the SD on those bullets will almost guarantee complete penetration.

Can you hear me talking myself into one? LOL
 
I too am starting to talk myself into one. My normal range goes out to 220 yds, which my Rem 700 SPS in .223 works with just fine. But there are some longer ranges within an hour or two of me that go out 300 - 1000 yds and would love to try my hand at those. As a .223 (even with the 75gr Hornady's) will get blown around pretty good, the 6.5 Grendel seems like a great step up as far as ballistics, low recoil (if I want recoil, I'll break out the Marlin 1895 with heavy loads!), great bullet selection and cheap to reload. The Howa Mini and Ruger Amer. Predator are interesting looking options. Actually, wish someone made a "higher end" option than the Ruger, although the Howa seems pretty solid. Just wish it had a bit more barrel length. TBD...
 
ilmonster said:
I too am starting to talk myself into one. My normal range goes out to 220 yds, which my Rem 700 SPS in .223 works with just fine. But there are some longer ranges within an hour or two of me that go out 300 - 1000 yds and would love to try my hand at those. As a .223 (even with the 75gr Hornady's) will get blown around pretty good, the 6.5 Grendel seems like a great step up as far as ballistics, low recoil (if I want recoil, I'll break out the Marlin 1895 with heavy loads!), great bullet selection and cheap to reload. The Howa Mini and Ruger Amer. Predator are interesting looking options. Actually, wish someone made a "higher end" option than the Ruger, although the Howa seems pretty solid. Just wish it had a bit more barrel length. TBD...
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It is the next step up in power in the ar15, as is the 6.8 , and cz makes aVERY nice rifle in the 527 series for the grendel. That said, if I am using a conventional short action, I am probably going up to the creedmoor or a 7mm-08. I am seriously considering a Grendel in an ar15 dmr style rifle though
 
adcoch1 said:
It is the next step up in power in the ar15, as is the 6.8 , and cz makes aVERY nice rifle in the 527 series for the grendel. That said, if I am using a conventional short action, I am probably going up to the creedmoor or a 7mm-08. I am seriously considering a Grendel in an ar15 dmr style rifle though
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I agree, the only bolt guns im interested in any of the sub 2.5" cartridges in are the minis.
I wonder if savages model 25s reciever and bolt are large enough to handle the bigger ar rounds.

I think there maybe a boost to the Grendel/x39 etc from the Rar tho.
 
Newtosavage said:
I see no reason why the 6.5 Grendel wouldn't make a pretty outstanding deer caliber. 7.62x39 level recoil with longer range. What's not to like about that? Plus, the SD on those bullets will almost guarantee complete penetration.

Can you hear me talking myself into one? LOL
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Makes a nice long range deer cartridge. If I were a hunter I would have a Howa Mini or CZ in 6.5G. I think that's the market those two rifles are focusing on. Smart move.
 
I think it's going to stick around, but I doubt it will be super duper popular like 6.5 creedmoor and 223.

After deciding that I should just save my money and get a bolt gun like a Ruger Precision or Savage Stealth, I stumbled across this thread again, and now, now I think I may have to get one. It looks like there are some more affardorable uppers out there, like the bear creek arsenal, and I think we are going to see more people wanting to use the AR15 for long range shooting, because 224 Valkyrie will remind people that you don't need an AR10 to reach 1k yards.

I'm thinking Grendel could also be a perfect all purpose rifle. I mean, Mark Larue took an elk in Colorado with it at just over 400 yards, so it sounds like a winner to me.
 
I've got a Howa 6.5 Grendel mini-action and an AR15-class upper in 6.5G as well. I'm in the camp where my younger days are far behind me, I enjoy hand loading and shooting these rifles very much. The only hand loading component that matters in this case is brass; bullets, powder and primers are universal. I have enough 6.5G brass to last me until I'm too blind to shoot. If the cartridge goes into hiding it won't matter much to me.
 
I just put my money where my mouth is and ordered a complete 6.5 G upper from Sanders Armory. I went with the 20" heavy, fluted Faxon barrel. For $610 it was kinda hard to pass up with BCG and charging handle. That barrel alone is normally north of $300. Also ordered some 17 round E-Lander mags from Larue Tactical. Looking forward to breaking it in soon.
 
My crystal ball is a little cloudy today. I'm not sure if the 6.5 G has a long healthy future ahead of it but in the here and now I think it's a great cartridge.
 
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