CZ finally offers the 527 in 6.5 Grendel

[1stmarine]

One of the main reasons for getting into a 6.8 (or a Grendel) is for people who have kids to get them a good AR white tail round with very mild recoil
they can be very accurate with.
The 6.8 in a 20" bolt action is a white tail and hog killing smasher yet very easy on the shoulder and compact rifle for the young kids or a petite wife.

 

[jmorris]

My current AR calibers are 762 39, 308 300bo, 5.56, 458 socom. Always seems to be lots of good points made about some of these calibers and then I look at the ballistic tables and the velocities attained and I am underwhelmed.

I have the above too and have a question. How could you be underwhelmed with the 6.5 and think the 300 blk is worth owning, especially when you have a 458 socom?

 

[Casefull]

I would be in for 7 mm. 120 to 130 grain round at 2800 from 18 inch or less AR barrel. It would have to use standard A.R. bolt and magazine. I realize this is unrealistic as I am basically asking for 308 type performance out of the lightweight AR 15 platform. Straighten me out first Marine.

 

[Casefull]

To answer your question J Morris I only have 300 blackout because Psa sucked me into a $69 barrel sale. A $30 Lee die set and I was in business. So it was more a wild hair than anything else. I always enjoy converting The brass and reloading for something new.

 

[jmorris]

To answer your question J Morris I only have 300 blackout because Psa sucked me into a $69 barrel sale.

LOL! That's why I have one too.

 

[LoonWulf]

Bah you guys need to do more research before you buy!!!

 

[jmorris]

I guess I also had a bunch of brass for it too. I had made a machine to cut .223 brass for an ammunition manufacturer and had a bunch from the test runs.

 

[LoonWulf]

Yeah I figgured it would be a good use of my .223/5.56 brass

 

[1stmarine]

I would be in for 7 mm. 120 to 130 grain round at 2800 from 18 inch or less AR barrel. It would have to use standard A.R. bolt and magazine. I realize this is unrealistic as I am basically asking for 308 type performance out of the lightweight AR 15 platform. Straighten me out first Marine.

Casefull,
What you want is not totally unrealistic because it is not 308 performance. More something between a 308 and a 5.56.
But we have to be flexible with something. In order to gain something we have to give up something else.
You always have the 6tcu or 6x45L that will give you a 25% gain avg. with only a new barrel and set if dies.
In any case the 6.8 spcII doesn't seem too far from what you described. Solid 100gr bullets shot over 2,800fps is pretty darn close
and everything is popular and available.
The 6.8 is also a perfect cartridge for very short barrels too and this makes even more sense than the 308 or any other options at this role.
Lots ammo can be carried and firepower with 28rd magazines with very little loss in velocity.
I mean, a 308 is a 308 but I just don't see much of a gap as you do. That is why the 6.8 was designed for to fill that gap.
I just don't see many practical scenarios where one would get a lot more done with a 7mm variant given we want
magazine capacity too. unless you want a gunner, WSSM or some other variant but those would be 6-7 rounds for hunting and
always some bolt/upper specialty anyway.

 

[Will Fennell]

While this thread started with discussion of the CZ 6.5 grendel....a rifle I'm very excited about.....thread drift has carried over to the AR world and 6.8. I have quite a bit of experience with AR's chambered in 6.8. I am a BIG fan of this combo for an deer/hog AR hunting carbine. I have killed a lot of game with .308's, and a quite a bit of medium game with .223/5.56. When I shoot a deer or hog with a 6.8, they react more like they have been shot with a .308 than a 5.56. Generally in 6.8, with decent hunting bullets, you get complete penetration on chest shots, with generous expansion. Serious internal damage and good blood trails if needed.

And all of that in a 'small frame AR' package.

I am currently shooting an AR in 6.5 G quite a bit, and am very impressed. I haven't taken any game with it yet, but I have plenty of confidence that it will do basically the same job as the 6.8.

Now I want a bolt gun in 6.5G.....

 

[Casefull]

I need to be real careful here. Before I know it I'll be looking for a 6.8 barrel and bolt. Lol

 

[LoonWulf]

I got a reply back from CZ, and it was not specific in terms of strength of the action, or the difference in strength from a standard action.

They DID affirm strongly that he 527 action is plenty strong enough for the Grendel. I would have been mildly surprised if i had gotten an answer with specific numbers, so this is as good an answer as expected.

 

[jmorris]

I would have been surprised if they emailed you back saying the action was unsuitable because it lacked the necessary strength for the round they just introduced it in.

 

[LoonWulf]

agreed, but the wording was such as to suggest that its VERY capable of handling the round.
I was hoping they would give me a rough idea to the difference in strength between the mini and a standard short, but i was also not really expecting them to say exactly what the actions were rated too.

 

[Tantilla]

I'm confused as to how anyone can say there is no need for this round and it's not effective at killing deer sized game. I've killed 6 southern whitetail this past season with my ar15 with a 24" tube. I'm shooting hornady's 123g sst at 2640 out of it. Closest shot was 12yds and farthest was 198yds. All dead within 50yds. To say there are other calibers that do better is obvious but this round has its place. My 8 yr old daughter can shoot it all day and after only 6 months of shooting she can hold 2" groups at 100 yds. My creedmoor has too much recoil and she begins to flinch. So this round is helping a very young shooter to develop positive habits that will pay off in the long run. The pic included is the deer I shot at 198 yds. This is the exit on a 137lb live weight doe. I'd say it did one hell of a job.

 

[I6turbo]

IME, the 527 American is a fabulous little rifle, as are the other 527 models. Just enough heft to feel like a quality gun, not so heavy that it's a problem to carry in the field. Weighing 1/10 or 2/10ths of a pound more than a Ruger American or Tikka T3 Lite, it's far from being "overweight" as some of the CZ haters might claim. Pick any of the 7 available calibers that you like, and enjoy.

 

[bikemutt]

I have a CZ 527 in 7.62x39 that is very accurate, all things considered. It was accurate enough to temp me to try one in .223, that one was a dud in several ways. After a couple trips back to CZ, it moved on. I'd probably give a 527 in 6.5 Grendel a try now that I'm reloading for that cartridge.

 

[Phaedrus/69]

Good lookin' rifle! I have been mulling over the Howa in 6.5 G and/or 7.62x39 due to the wealth of cheap ammo. This might be another good option.

 

[CoalTrain49]

I see this thread is still alive.

Looks like CZ has a huge following and many Grendel's will be sold. Personally I think it's a nice little cartridge that will fill the bill for a lot of folks looking for a bolt gun. I don't need or want one because all I ever do is punch paper at <300m. 223 works very well for that and really cheap thrills. If I was looking for a game rifle I would buy a Grendel, probably a Howa because I'm a fan of the 2 stage Howa trigger. The Grendel profile looks a bit weird for an old-timer like me used to 308 and 223 but I guess that's progress.

 

[I6turbo]

Steel-case plinking ammo for under $250/thousand delivered to your arsenal door: http://www.sgammo.com/product/65-gr...-grain-fmj-lacquered-steel-case-wpa-wolf-ammo

 

[Blade First]

Factory, custom, auto, bolt - doesn't matter. The 6.5 Grendel manages to lose wherever it goes

From a performance standpoint, is it that inferior to the 6.5x55 Swede?

 

[rayatphonix]

Totally different animals. The Grendel has a case capacity of 33 grains of water vs the Swedes 53.4 grains. Grendels were designed for an AR15 platform and I believe the Swede is too long for an AR10.

 

[horsey300]

From a performance standpoint, is it that inferior to the 6.5x55 Swede?

Absolutely, it wasn't designed as the new hunting cartridge of yonder wow. It was designed for a "better" ar cartridge. The Grendel launches 120 btips @2300-2500 fps, the Swede does it at 2600-2900(ish maybe better even) the 260 rem runs em about even or a touch faster than the Swede depending on who's loading em up with a 47.8 gr water case. You can get an ar10 in .260. If you're wanting an up close hard hitting round the Grendel works, but if you wanna stretch out there, yes there are better options. It's not a do-all cartridge by any means, but it has a place for those who don't need the reach/blast/recoil.

 

[Blade First]

Grendels were designed for an AR15 platform and I believe the Swede is too long for an AR10.

Well aware of the genesis/reason-for-being of the 6.5G and what your case capacities imply, but that wasn't really my question. I want to know how inferior its performance would be on, say, medium-sized game. The 6.5x55 may have taken more moose than any other cartridge in history.

I understand the raw numbers of bullet weights and speed for same...but have no idea of the effect of a similar bullet design in sectional density in terms of accuracy and performance. Does it close an otherwise larger gap?

 

[horsey300]

Deer and hogs 300 yds or less, wouldn't take it for elk unless pushing a 129 ablr and VERY close range. Don't think it has enough horsepower to push a good heavy game bullet. Think of it as the baby baby brother to the Swede. Kinda like training wheels before the harleys (Swede class) and performance bikes (Norma and magnum) the real bridge gap would be something between the creedmoor and Grendel. The Grendel is like the 6mm ppc to the .243, the high end of performance on game is the middle of the road performance for the latter.