Is there one bullet that does it all in the grendel?

[Stinky Coyote]

I'm not a fan in Grendel because it's so heavy I can't get my velocity up. My distance to 1000 ft-lb, and my distance to transonic is longer with 123's, than it is with 129's. I will say, I like 129's in the MDRx 6.5 Creedmoor rifle,

Related to that, 6.5 Grendel flight ARC at short range from shorter barrels isn't as flat as 5.56 and 6.5 CM like I'm used to. I got burned by that trying to do neck shots at 100 yards with a 200 yard zeroed Grendel once, where they arced just enough over just enough at 100 yards. The heavier and slower the bullet, the worse that gets in the 200 yard range distance level. (I zero my 5.56 and 6.5 CM rifles at 200, which gives a dead hold impact within 1.5 inches at anything from about 35 yards to 225 yards. Not so much with Grendel, which in that case arcade 3" high at 100 yards, which was just high enough to miss a spine hold on small dear due to a landowners "1000 ft-lb and neck shots only" requirement.

yes most big game hunters can easily live within a 6" max point blank range zero, because the largest kill zone is the most reliable (behind the front shoulder boiler room - lungs/heart, big balloons), a 16.1" grendel 123 is still only about 5.3" mpbr with a 200 yard zero but you have very niche requirements due to your particular landowner ask, you're looking for a 3" mpbr zero which is doable with the grendel and 123's but it would be about a 160 yard zero with a 185 yard mpbr and the 123 is entirely too much bullet for this and will almost certainly waste most of it's energy in the hill side beyond the deer. Very few broadside deer can keep my 123's inside them, almost always pass through as I'm shooting a solid 20" penetration combination even from my 16.1" barrel...so you are correct, a .223 with a frangible lighter bullet that would grenade inside of 10-12" penetration and give you a much further 3" mpbr would be the better niche choice for your niche application...the grendel 123 is way too much formula for deer neck shots, or in your case since he's asking for 1000 ft/lbs then you may need to look at 22-250 or 6 arc with light frangible bullets, you don't want to use the 103/108's in the 6-arc, still way too much formula, get down into the 75 gr v-max type range for the 6mm, be 55 v-max type for a .22-250, that formula will give you the laser beam and lighting drt's for those neck shots on deer to likely 250-300 yards no problem, even a .243 with the varmint loads would be a good choice for that also