Hopping on the 6.5 Grendel bandwagon

[Damon555]

I've been pondering a way to pump up my AR15 for my coyote hunts with my father-in-law. I have no doubt that my AR loaded with 60 grain V-max's can handle a coyote without issues but being the gun guy that I am I couldn't get it out of my head that there are better options out there. I considered a 22-250 bolt gun because I'm set up for it but really wanted to stick to the AR15 platform because of its portability and quick follow-up shot potential.

After much research I decided that the 6.5 Grendel was exactly what I was looking for. There are quite a few options out there and it got pretty confusing....(Type 1 this and Type 2 that blah, blah, blah) After spinning my wheels for a while it became obvious that the best course of action was to go straight to the source....Alexander Arms. The majority of what I read about them was positive and as far as I could tell their products are quite nice......A little spendy compared to some of the other options but I'm a firm believer in the "you get what you pay for" mantra.

Ordering a complete upper from them was pretty straightforward....basically just had to pick my barrel length and hand-guard. I have no idea what the timeline will be to get the upper, regardless I can't wait to lay my hands on that thing!.....I suppose all my reloading stuff will get here long before the hardware so there'll be plenty of time to plan out a few loads.....also ordered some factory ammo for it.....a 90 grain TNT's should do a number on a coyote if we can actually call one in!

What's your experience with the Grendel?.....pet loads would be nice!

 

[Varminterror]

123 SMK over 28.5 8208
123 ELD-M over 28.0 8208

Do your load work up, but the SMK load has ran well in each of my Grendel’s, and the ELD-M load has ran great in my most recent.

 

[LoonWulf]

100 nbt over 32grn cfe223
123amax over 31.2-.5 of cfe223
Never got to load the 90grn tnts i had.

 

[marksman13]

I ordered a complete upper from Sanders Armory with a 20" Faxon heavy fluted barrel. I paid $610 for the complete upper including BCG and charging handle. Their customer service was phenomenal and I am very pleased with the way the upper shoots thus far. It really seems to like the Hornady 123 SSTs as a factory load. I've only put 33 rounds through it so far, but every three shot group has been under 1 MOA with the SSTs being significantly smaller than 1 MOA.

 

[horsemen61]

Ttrl

 

[Damon555]

Ttrl

Say what?

Thanks for the info guys......Looking at the ballistics of the Grendel it's hard to believe that it took so long for me to gain interest in it. This will be my first foray into the 6.5mm world. I considered some of the larger 6.5 calibers but didn't want to get back into the AR10 sized rifles. My LR308 was a fine weapon but just too much for anything other than shooting from a bench or fixed position. I'm heavily invested in a serious target/varmint Ar15 lower so just getting another upper seemed like the way to go.

One of these days I'll start building my own Ar's.....Being somewhat mechanically inclined the process seems rather simple if you start out with a barrel that's already set up......that might lead to a 6mm Grendel which is what I was originally interested in since one of my favorite cartridges is the 6XC.....lots of 6mm bullets on hand.

 

[horsemen61]

Damon it means tag to read later

 

[Damon555]

Damon it means tag to read later

Got it! I need to bone up on my acronyms

 

[farmerboy78]

If you hunt, it' a great whitetail round... have taken whitetail a little over 300yds with mine

 

[redneck2]

If anybody wants something in an AR other than typical rounds, check into Dedicated Technologies in Minnesota. I had one in .358 WSSM for deer hunting. Mike uses Shilen barrels. Mine shot .4’s consistently.

He has all kinds of callers available.