Grendel vs. SPC

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Grendel. Most anything 6.5 these days is getting good press. Additionally, Howa and CZ mini-Mausers help attract those that have no interest in the AR platform. That attracts additional customers and is a sign manufacturers think it’ll be around a while.

Thanks largely to the Creedmoor there’s an abundance of high quality bullets from multiple suppliers that also benefit the Grendel.

Ballistically they’re very similar, but marketing is favoring the Grendel by a wide margin.
 
What’s the contest? State football championship? Prom Queen? Most Instagram likes? International Thumb Wrestling?

Neither is going to be the #1 selling cartridge in the US, and both will, likely for the next 50 if not 100 years, remain far more popular than many, many cartridges which have survived in the market for the last 50-100 years. I doubt it’s incorrect to say both have outsold (firearms bought/built and ammunition sold) the 6.5x55 Swede, or 257 Roberts, or 32 Special every year for the last 15, and these have been around a long, long time - and ammo and brass are still available for all of these. There are reportedly over 4,000 religions practiced around the world, but only 4 make up 75% of the population - with Atheism making up around 12% and the other ~4,000 (less 4) making up 12%. Those ~4,000 religions aren’t “dead,” they just aren’t as popular as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism. The SPC and the Grendel aren’t the 6.5 Creed or the 223 Rem, but they’re both sufficiently popular to survive.

Undeniably, the Grendel is currently more popular than the SPC, because everything 6.5 is hot right now. This is contrary to the first decade of their existence when the 6.8 was more popular. Some believed the military solicitation for a 6.8 caliber would drive a revitalization for the SPC as well, but I think the .277 Fury hasn’t been so well received yet, and the military adoption of the 6.5 creedmoor has seemed to counteract that momentum for the SPC. Something may happen in the future which flips the popularity for the two again, but we don’t see it coming in the short term line of sight.

So for now, speculating on whether the two will jockey for position to be 113th and 154th in the World’s Top 500 Popular Cartridges Contest of the year 2120 doesn’t make a whole lot of difference.
 
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Seems to me that the 6.8 is already fading away. As a caliber, the .277" has always been largely dependent on the .270Winchester and that's about it. The 6.5 has had a much broader range of application with a longer history and as such, there are a lot more bullet choices. The Grendel and Creedmoor also have several bolt action offerings and I think that definitely bolsters popularity. Not to mention that the 6.5 thrives on heavier, higher sectional density bullets. I like the idea of the 6.8 but for practical reasons, doubt I'll ever want to fool with one.
 
Varminterror said:
What’s the contest? State football championship? Prom Queen? Most Instagram likes? International Thumb Wrestling?

Neither is going to be the #1 selling cartridge in the US, and both will, likely for the next 50 if not 100 years, remain far more popular than many, many cartridges which have survived in the market for the last 50-100 years. I doubt it’s incorrect to say both have outsold (firearms bought/built and ammunition sold) the 6.5x55 Swede, or 257 Roberts, or 32 Special every year for the last 15, and these have been around a long, long time - and ammo and brass are still available for all of these. There are reportedly over 4,000 religions practiced around the world, but only 4 make up 75% of the population - with Atheism making up around 12% and the other ~4,000 (less 4) making up 12%. Those ~4,000 religions aren’t “dead,” they just aren’t as popular as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism. The SPC and the Grendel aren’t the 6.5 Creed or the 223 Rem, but they’re both sufficiently popular to survive.

Undeniably, the Grendel is currently more popular than the SPC, because everything 6.5 is hot right now. This is contrary to the first decade of their existence when the 6.8 was more popular. Some believed the military solicitation for a 6.8 caliber would drive a revitalization for the SPC as well, but I think the .277 Fury hasn’t been so well received yet, and the military adoption of the 6.5 creedmoor has seemed to counteract that momentum for the SPC. Something may happen in the future which flips the popularity for the two again, but we don’t see it coming in the short term line of sight.

So for now, speculating on whether the two will jockey for position to be 113th and 154th in the World’s Top 500 Popular Cartridges Contest of the year 2120 doesn’t make a whole lot of difference.
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Who cares? Then why bother responding? I think you understood the original question just fine, and buried in your response, is your answer.
 
I hope the SPC survives - I like mine best of my smaller rifles. Enough power and just shy of being too much for AR’s.
 
I and some friends built Grendels, we were looking for hunting and steel rifles, so far we can ring 8" at 600yrds, we will try longer on our next trip, I don't know anyone with the SPC to let them shoot with us. My biggest gripe with the Grendel is ammo prices, $1ea, it is cheaper to shoot my 30-06, I reload and it is cheaper than the 30-06 but not much.
 
Lennyjoe said:
Respecting ones input is well received around here, derogatory responses to others are not.
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You're right. And "who cares?" responses to a legitimate question is not very respectful IMO. Typically his contributions are very well thought out. I think he was just having a bad day.

My question is pretty simple. Of the two, which one do you think will become or remain more popular. Lennyjoe, did you have any input to offer?
 
I agree with VTs response. Both are plenty available, and well enough supported that neither is likely to fade away, and should probably be ones last concern with picking between the two.
I do have some thoughts tho.
MSRs get banned, in which case (and this is just my opinion) the Grendel has more popularity in other plate forms (as has already been noted), it may give it a better chance of surviving. At the same time there ARE a bunch of 6.8 rifles already out there, so i dont know if it would make any difference.
Another thought is that the Grendels easy enough to make from x39 brass (Ive done it, then gone BACK to x39, just to see if it was doable), where as the spc is basically the most common version of that case.
 
For hunting and general purposes under 300yds, the 6.8 SPC holds an edge.
Beyond 300yds, the Grendel is superior. No cheap steel blasting ammo available for SPC.

For “blasting“ up to 200yds and hunting deer and pigs at traditional ranges (under 200yds) the 7.62x39 is superior. Due to cheap steel case ammo. Hollow point and soft pt steel case available cheap.
Cheapest blaster is the .223...

I bought a Bear Creek Arsenal 20” fluted 15” Mlok complete upper 6.5Grendel for less than $200. Shoots MOA with premium bullet reloads. Long range performance rivals the .308.
I like it.
If a similar arrangement with a 6.8SPC were available I’d have gotten a SPC.
Push comes to shove, I can form 6.5 G from 7.63x39 brass...
 
I’ve got AR’s in both calibers. Both serve the purpose I built them for. The 6.5 Grendel has the edge in longer distance shooting, which I like. I built the Grendel when I lived in Arizona and longer range shooting was easily accessible. Now that I live in Ohio the Grendel hardly gets used correctly as ranges over 100 yards are few and far in between.

If I had to take a guess I’d say the Grendel will outlast the SPC in popularity.
 
CraigC said:
I don't care for the SST but I see the 115gr Gold Dot is intended for the 6.8. Might have some words to eat at some point. ;)
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You may not care for them, but neither have numerous deer and pigs. The 120 SST is a little ball of murder and hostility and I would reckon I’ve killed north of 200 pigs and a dozen deer with that particular bullet with zero complaints. Gold Dots are next on my list to try.
 
Gordon said:
I much prefer the 6.8 over the Grendel as there is more locking lug area left on the 6.8. This was very carefully engineering studied for big $ when it was invented.

View attachment 915439
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That's very interesting. I'm not an MSR guy, but I can definitely see the logic there in favor of the 6.8.

I've owned two bolt action 6.5 Grendels (Savage with custom barrel and Howa Mini) and it's obscenely accurate. Put's my other bolt guns to shame to be honest.
 
marksman13 said:
You may not care for them, but neither have numerous deer and pigs. The 120 SST is a little ball of murder and hostility and I would reckon I’ve killed north of 200 pigs and a dozen deer with that particular bullet with zero complaints. Gold Dots are next on my list to try.
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You are right about that. SST's are critter murderin' bullets. Just as they were designed to be. I've never been disappointed by the performance of an SST on game.
 
mshootnit said:
90 gr. Gold dot, 110 Accubond, Sierra 115 gr.
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Thank you for the correction/addition. It's been a long time since I looked into things concerning the 6.8 and have forgotten a lot of things. I decided on the 90 TNT (for the SBR), the 120 SST (for the 16", supersonic) and the 200 Woodleigh (for the 16", subsonic).
 
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