6.5 Grendel Variants, Good or Bad?

[BluntForceTrauma]

I also think that manufacturers who make changes in from the original AA blueprint should indicate up front what they are doing to avoid the problems that have taken place so far.

It's a crap shoot. "Good" improvements are . . . good. Bill Alexander tested many, many variations of a chamber for the 6.5 Grendel, given its unique position as a moderate velocity cartridge with a fixed OAL and a very wide variety of 6.5 bullets. It ultimately required a unique solution. Obviously, it's within the realm of theoretical possibility that a "better" chamber that fires all factory 6.5 Grendel ammunition can be found, and that would be a Good Thing, but practically speaking the odds are low. The SAAMIed chamber has been performing very well for more than ten years and over thousands and thousands of rifles.

Now, there are also "bad" improvements. Variant chamberings that are inaccurate or that increase pressures and break bolts make the whole program look bad, and neither impress new buyers nor the Winchesters of the world.

For example, early on we begged, we pleaded with people not to use standard 7.62x39 bolts with the 6.5 Grendel, such as what Model 1 Sales was offering. We warned they were not strong enough. People went ahead and used standard 7.62x39 bolts with the 6.5 Grendel. And broke bolts. Next thing it's all over the internet: "Oh, yeah, doncha know everybody knows dat dere Grendel breaks bolts, fer shur." Fans of competing cartridges were, of course, happy to spread this around, like manure on a bean field.

So variations have a small potential upside and a lot of demonstrable downside.

John