Advanced Armament Company (AAC) to make 6.5 Grendel Ammo (PalmettoStateArmory brand)

[MrDraco]

Well the Grendel ammo has been pushed back, again.

[SDW]

Kind of an old thread i know. Random quesion. In the AR15 dot com thread linked at the top, the final post added by someone said:

Yeah I was about to rebarrel my two 6.5G’s because I don’t reload and the great Rona kinda killed the round. Now I’ve actually built a third 6.5G just because of PSA’s plans with the round. I’ve been VERY happy with their 6.5CM and .223, especially for the price.

I am just curious about this mention of "Rona" killing the round. Anyone know what that is a reference to?

[jasper2408]

Corona virus killing all ammo production maybe.

[MrDraco]

Kind of an old thread i know. Random quesion. In the AR15 dot com thread linked at the top, the final post added by someone said:
I am just curious about this mention of "Rona" killing the round. Anyone know what that is a reference to?

Factory Grendel ammo got very scarce during covid for a few different reasons and no one is willing to buy a rifle in a caliber that you can't find.

[lazyengineer]

It was actually the Ukrainian conflict, that has done more long term damage. When one could get Wolf Steel for $0.27/round - which was the same price as brass ball 5.56, the 6.5 Grendel became a very credible rifle choice, that one could realize all the many benefits of practical application with quality performance brass ammo; plus also cost-effectively use it with steel as a high-round count high-rate of fire gun, for things like practice sessions, three gun, range-fun, etc. It's the reason 6.5 Grendel won over all other rounds, IMHO. It was the reason I bought one. As soon as Russian imports stopped, that ended. I bought a decent amount of Steel to inventory recognizing that risk years before the dust-up; but as always, wish now I had bought even more!

Now that 6.5 Grendel is and likely will continue to be a $1.25/round gun - that changed things considerably. And for the last 3 years, (started by BLM, amplified by COVID, taken to 11 by Biden, and then just destroyed by Ukrainian war); Grendel ammo has been unobtainium for those who didn't inventory and don't reload. For many of us here, the impact was less so. For someone more casual or looking to enter - it was a round-killer.

My hope is that AAC is able to make cost-effective steel. But my fear is that their steel, will still be on the order of $0.80/shot, which isn't going to be good enough. Make it the same price as bulk brass 5.56, and we're back in the game. The reason Steel was acceptable in Grendel, is because the round was made to be steel from the get-go as well, and the 5.56 Steel cased problem issues, seem to not show up with Grendel so much. I've shot plenty of steel in Grendel, and am happy to do so; but I don't touch it in 5.56.

[MrDraco]

My hope is that AAC is able to make cost-effective steel. But my fear is that their steel, will still be on the order of $0.80/shot, which isn't going to be good enough. Make it the same price as bulk brass 5.56, and we're back in the game. The reason Steel was acceptable in Grendel, is because the round was made to be steel from the get-go as well, and the 5.56 Steel cased problem issues, seem to not show up with Grendel so much. I've shot plenty of steel in Grendel, and am happy to do so; but I don't touch it in 5.56.

Has PSA announced yet which calibers they are going to make steel for? Last announcement I seen, they are still hoping to release their initial calibers for their steel line later this year but I haven't seen a list of what calibers they will be offering.

[jonny rotton]

i have purchased some of their 556 ammo. it shoots good.

[lazyengineer]

Has PSA announced yet which calibers they are going to make steel for? Last announcement I seen, they are still hoping to release their initial calibers for their steel line later this year but I haven't seen a list of what calibers they will be offering.

As far as I know, they had announced intent for steel 5.56, 7.62x39, and 6.5 Grendel. Unfortunately PSA is long on promises and can be light on delivery. And time schedules are always vastly longer than stated.

[SDW]

Corona virus killing all ammo production maybe.

Oh. Duh. I don't know why I didn't think of that. Of course. That's right. And many companies back-burnered their 6.5G ammo production as I remember.

[LRRPF52]

The market is so over-diversified and manufacturers have to schedule all of the high-demand cartridges through their production lines.

We see spurts of every cartridge being made, showing up to distributors and retailers when they run, while the staple cartridges get made on constant production lines.

I’m surprised when I see odd balls getting made, like 7.5 French, 7.62 Nagant, 7.65 Para, 7.63 Mauser, 7.65 Argentine, .22 Hornet, 7.7 Jap Arisaka, 8x51R Lebel, and 8x56R Mannlicher.

I can understand the surplus market for 6.5 Carcano, .303 Enfield, 8mm Mauser, and some of the oddball early 20th Century hunting cartridges too.

We’ll see a lot of these older cartridges fall-off here in the next few years as the 1945-1963 cohort generation ages even more.

I still see weird stuff pop-up on big sporting goods store shelves, from new production lots that makes me wonder how they’re factoring their demand for those.

[MrDraco]

Well Grendel is pushed back to at least February.

Persistent we are in the final stages of 7.62x39 steel case. We have about 3 more weeks till that is finished.

We will be working solely on 6.5 grendel next. Realistically we have a few months of work left on that line. Probably be February or so.

We also are in the middle of contracting for 10 new calibers. It will take us two and a half years to add the next ten. I believe everyone here will be happy.

[xoon]

I seem to remember them saying they were going to produce steel case 6.5 grendel but it seems like brass only for now

[BluntForceTrauma]

I’m surprised when I see odd balls getting made, like 7.5 French, 7.62 Nagant, 7.65 Para, 7.63 Mauser, 7.65 Argentine, .22 Hornet, 7.7 Jap Arisaka, 8x51R Lebel, and 8x56R Mannlicher.

Right?!? It's a mystery to me why these obscure cartridges keep hanging on. Must be more popular than I imagine.

[RAM2940]

I have shot a couple boxes of the AAC 77gr sierra 5.56 rounds through my 26 inch bolt rifle. Averaged 3/4 inch groups and averaged around 2950 in velocity.

[biodsl]

I have shot a couple boxes of the AAC 77gr sierra 5.56 rounds through my 26 inch bolt rifle. Averaged 3/4 inch groups and averaged around 2950 in velocity.

Thanks for this. Nice to know there's another quality 77gr option available.