You would never be able to fire a single round with a .125" bolt face depth and a chamber reamed for .136" face depth.
BHW jumped into 6.5 Grendel by assuming that the bolts were the same as what the after market was using for 7.62x39. They started offering barrels, many of which have provided more than satisfactory results to the customers.
They either weren't aware of, or thought it wasn't necessary to use actual 6.5 Grendel bolts.
When they acknowledged the difference, they called the after market 7.62x39 bolt a "Type I", and a bolt with a face depth of .136" "Type II", even though 6.5 Grendel and Beowulf bolts had been around since the early 2000s. The whole problem that Colt, and later AA learned about .125" face depth with a cartridge based on the PPC, is that the thicker rim requires a thick extractor lip, otherwise the lip fails under gas-operated primary extraction, which can be quite violent.
The terms "Type I" and "Type II" are best left to ID bolts within BHW's internal company approach to separating the way they look at face depth, not to actual 6.5 Grendel bolts, which have additional dimensional and metallurgical differences to them and the extractors.
The original, real 6.5 Grendel bolts are longer in OAL, 2.810"+. You don't see this with 5.56 or any other bolts that I am aware of. When I first started learning about 6.5 Grendel, I thought AA was just hogging out bolt faces on 5.56 bolts to fit the cartridge, because I had seen this repeated on the internet several times, even here on this forum.
Bill A. explained to me years ago that the bolts are designed and engineered from scratch, then made to AA's specific requirements, with a lengthy QC process as well, involving destructive testing. The alloy is not run-of-the-mill bolt steel either, and they go out of the way to make sure a strong and long-lasting bolt and extractor make it into their rifles and online store.
One big problem that happened several years after 6.5 Grendel started to take off was that Model 1 Sales started making what they called a "6.5 Sporter". They used .125" bolt face depth imitation 7.62x39 bolts that were weak and prone to failure even after a few rounds in 7.62x39 ARs. These bolts would break left and right, with no real good control of processes or dimensions on them. They were popular in the gun show circuit, where vendors can buy super cheap parts, then sell them at their tables to unknowing customers who see what appear to be AR15 parts, when they were nothing even close other than the color and basic shapes.
As with 5.56, parts aren't parts.
BHW jumped into 6.5 Grendel by assuming that the bolts were the same as what the after market was using for 7.62x39. They started offering barrels, many of which have provided more than satisfactory results to the customers.
They either weren't aware of, or thought it wasn't necessary to use actual 6.5 Grendel bolts.
When they acknowledged the difference, they called the after market 7.62x39 bolt a "Type I", and a bolt with a face depth of .136" "Type II", even though 6.5 Grendel and Beowulf bolts had been around since the early 2000s. The whole problem that Colt, and later AA learned about .125" face depth with a cartridge based on the PPC, is that the thicker rim requires a thick extractor lip, otherwise the lip fails under gas-operated primary extraction, which can be quite violent.
The terms "Type I" and "Type II" are best left to ID bolts within BHW's internal company approach to separating the way they look at face depth, not to actual 6.5 Grendel bolts, which have additional dimensional and metallurgical differences to them and the extractors.
The original, real 6.5 Grendel bolts are longer in OAL, 2.810"+. You don't see this with 5.56 or any other bolts that I am aware of. When I first started learning about 6.5 Grendel, I thought AA was just hogging out bolt faces on 5.56 bolts to fit the cartridge, because I had seen this repeated on the internet several times, even here on this forum.
Bill A. explained to me years ago that the bolts are designed and engineered from scratch, then made to AA's specific requirements, with a lengthy QC process as well, involving destructive testing. The alloy is not run-of-the-mill bolt steel either, and they go out of the way to make sure a strong and long-lasting bolt and extractor make it into their rifles and online store.
One big problem that happened several years after 6.5 Grendel started to take off was that Model 1 Sales started making what they called a "6.5 Sporter". They used .125" bolt face depth imitation 7.62x39 bolts that were weak and prone to failure even after a few rounds in 7.62x39 ARs. These bolts would break left and right, with no real good control of processes or dimensions on them. They were popular in the gun show circuit, where vendors can buy super cheap parts, then sell them at their tables to unknowing customers who see what appear to be AR15 parts, when they were nothing even close other than the color and basic shapes.
As with 5.56, parts aren't parts.
NRA Basic, Pistol, Rifle, Shotgun, RSO
CCW, CQM, DM, Long Range Rifle Instructor
6.5 Grendel Reloading Handbooks & chamber brushes can be found here:
www.AR15buildbox.com
CCW, CQM, DM, Long Range Rifle Instructor
6.5 Grendel Reloading Handbooks & chamber brushes can be found here:
www.AR15buildbox.com