What if the AR15 had not been created?

[ofreen]

That's sorta nitpicking. The .224 Springfield cartridge is a hair longer than .223 Remington, but it has the same case diameter. So, an alternate history "6.5 Grendel" undoubtedly wouldn't be exactly like the present one, but for all practical purposes it'd be the same cartridge.

Excellent point. That also applies to small gun companies like AA. Chances are, Bill Alexander would not have started a business to market .50 Beowulf M14 or T25 clones, which are more complex and difficult to manufacture. If there had been no .50 Beowulf, there would likely have also been no 6.5 Grendel.

It does appear that 6.5 Grendel's existence is directly and inextricably (Always wanted to use that word! ) dependent on creation of the AR15.

I wasn't trying to nitpick as I knew what you were saying. What I was getting at was the limitations put on the cartridge were because of trying to make it work in the AR15. Another rifle design might lead to a 6.5 cartridge with some different characteristics.

Another thing that make the the AR and the Grendel a good fit with each other is the inherent accuracy the AR design is capable of without a lot expense and dinking around. I predict if Ruger brings out a "Mini-Grendel", the AR Grendels with still outsell it by a large margin because people drawn to the Grendel are also interested in accuracy.