02-04-2012, 05:26 PM
I have been a fan of the larger caliber AR's for a while now. For me it started with the Beowulf. I bought mine, started reloading, did a lot of testing with it and found it to be "as advertised" for its intended purpose. I was also interested in the 6.5 Grendel and wanted to get an upper chambered for this cartridge in the worst way but none were available back then and overpriced if you did happen to actually find one. I did purchase a 6.5 Grendel barrel for my encore and do believe in this cartridge's ability, although it has limitations as well. It has been about three years now and since then AA has opened up the Grendel platform for others to manufacture and still others have made the same cartridge only under a different name with minimal changes to the case, the price on these uppers is still stupidly expensive, IMO.
Now, I take nothing from the Grendel and actually prefer it over the 6.8 SPC but honestly there is not enough difference ballistically between these two cartridges to make any difference out to 300 yds which is really over the max range of either of these cartridges to make it a preferred hunting round. Even at the competition level, much over 300 yds there are much better options of cartridges to use over either of these rounds. I opted at the time to go with a WSSM upper because of the limitations of both the Grendel and the SPC but I still keep coming back to wanting a lightweight mid-range caliber AR-15 rifle. Of the other options out there the Grendel and SPC are the only real options because the other .30 cal options are just not really realistic for hunting applications unless you go back to the WSSM case. The "Blackout"; A remake of the 7.62x39, Really? I get better velocities out of my 10" Encore with the Grendel. The "Whisper"; a ballistic joke. Neither are really "useful" for "legal" hunting purposes much past 100 yards, especially the whisper.
I would like to have a 6.5 upper but I just can understand why these uppers are $300+ more than the 6.8 SPC offerings. There is nothing special in the manufacturing of the Grendel over the SPC, so why is it more expensive? Am I missing something? I will probably buy an upper this spring and unless somebody can change my mind I will most likely opt for the SPC simply because of the price of the upper because I see no real difference in the cartridges. In fact, if my Encore barrel wasn't so darn accurate, I would have sold it off a long time ago, 1" groups are easy. If I do make this decision, I will replace it with a 6.8 barrel to match the upper I get. Please, somebody help me to see the err of my ways and tell me why the 6.5 Grendel is worth the extra $$$.
Now, I take nothing from the Grendel and actually prefer it over the 6.8 SPC but honestly there is not enough difference ballistically between these two cartridges to make any difference out to 300 yds which is really over the max range of either of these cartridges to make it a preferred hunting round. Even at the competition level, much over 300 yds there are much better options of cartridges to use over either of these rounds. I opted at the time to go with a WSSM upper because of the limitations of both the Grendel and the SPC but I still keep coming back to wanting a lightweight mid-range caliber AR-15 rifle. Of the other options out there the Grendel and SPC are the only real options because the other .30 cal options are just not really realistic for hunting applications unless you go back to the WSSM case. The "Blackout"; A remake of the 7.62x39, Really? I get better velocities out of my 10" Encore with the Grendel. The "Whisper"; a ballistic joke. Neither are really "useful" for "legal" hunting purposes much past 100 yards, especially the whisper.
I would like to have a 6.5 upper but I just can understand why these uppers are $300+ more than the 6.8 SPC offerings. There is nothing special in the manufacturing of the Grendel over the SPC, so why is it more expensive? Am I missing something? I will probably buy an upper this spring and unless somebody can change my mind I will most likely opt for the SPC simply because of the price of the upper because I see no real difference in the cartridges. In fact, if my Encore barrel wasn't so darn accurate, I would have sold it off a long time ago, 1" groups are easy. If I do make this decision, I will replace it with a 6.8 barrel to match the upper I get. Please, somebody help me to see the err of my ways and tell me why the 6.5 Grendel is worth the extra $$$.