07-03-2011, 02:02 PM
There truly aren't a lot of differences, but I would give the edge to Grendel, even for short-range hunting. The Grendel can readily handle longer heavier bullets than the SPC, giving it long range punch for large game. Try looking at the series of notes at http://shootersnotes.com/grendelmania/ for a comparison.
That article is becoming dated because of the rapid improvements in availability of lighter all-copper bullets in both calibers, but it still gives a good discussion about the heavier bullets in Grendel vs 6.8 SPC.
In the lighter bullets, the differences may blur a tad. Let's look at the Barnes Banded Solids an example even those these are not considered suitable big-game bullets:
These bullets have nearly identical sectional densities. The ballistic coefficients are essentially the same -- a difference of 0.015 should be ignored.
I don't have reloading data handy for these bullets, but am reasonably sure that the 120 gr 6.8 will get almost as much velocity as the 110 gr 6.5, given equal chamber volumes. The potential velocity difference comes from the expansion ratios for the two cartridges.
These differences, with Grendel probably having the slight edge will propagate into the lighter bullets.
The comparison is valid only when bullets of approximately equal sectional density are considered.
That article is becoming dated because of the rapid improvements in availability of lighter all-copper bullets in both calibers, but it still gives a good discussion about the heavier bullets in Grendel vs 6.8 SPC.
In the lighter bullets, the differences may blur a tad. Let's look at the Barnes Banded Solids an example even those these are not considered suitable big-game bullets:
- 6.5 110 gr SD .225 BC .452
- 6.8 120 gr SD .223 BC .438
These bullets have nearly identical sectional densities. The ballistic coefficients are essentially the same -- a difference of 0.015 should be ignored.
I don't have reloading data handy for these bullets, but am reasonably sure that the 120 gr 6.8 will get almost as much velocity as the 110 gr 6.5, given equal chamber volumes. The potential velocity difference comes from the expansion ratios for the two cartridges.
These differences, with Grendel probably having the slight edge will propagate into the lighter bullets.
The comparison is valid only when bullets of approximately equal sectional density are considered.