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New member to the forum, fairly new to the 6.5 Grendel world. I am on AR15.com under the same user name. Now, A little background, I have shot 5.56 AR platform for years and love them. A year And half ago I bought a 6.5 upper from someone on a whim. It was new and inexpensive and I had a lower sitting there with nothing on it. I eventually put a vortex Viper on it and picked up some mags and a few boxes of ammo. I put it all together and left it in my safe. Early this year I picked up more ammo when it was less than $5/box. Put them aside as well. A few weeks ago I got a hankering to start shooting it. But I first wanted to start looking more in depth to the round itself, the pros and cons, and anything else I should know. If I use it to hunt with, it will be whitetail or coyote. My current setup is an 18 stainless, fluted from BCA. Its sitting on a spikes lower with spikes mil-spec LPK, buffer tube assembly and a Magpul ACS collapsible stock. I did put about 10 rounds through it last summer just to let it lose its virginity. Sooo if anyone has recommendations,(even where to buy ammo) Im open to all input!
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Welcome to the horde from Wisconsin.
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Welcome to the forum mtncop11!
Finding any ammo right now is going to be challenging. Bear Creek Arsenal barrels are luck of the draw where some shoot ok but others have real QC issues. With an 18 barrel at higher elevation the 6.5 Grendel is capable of shooting at long range, 800+ yards. I use 20 MOA mounts so I have the elevation available on my scope if I decide to shoot way out there. I also like two stage triggers on my AR-15s but that really is a personal choice.
I shoot way more 6.5 Grendel than I do 5.56/223 even though I have several of each. I shoot more hand loads than factory ammo.
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I doubt I will be stretching to 800 yds, I would say 200 would be tops for almost anything Id be doing with it. I have about 50 rounds of hornady black 123gr ELD, 60 rounds of PPU 110gr and about 500 rounds of wolf 100 gr. I hate shooting lacquered/steel in any semi-auto but when its the most common, Ill take it. Ive read pros and cons of the Black for whitetail, unless I find something else before next season Ill be using it(150-200# would prob be largest) and 100-150 yards would be longest shot. I have buddies looking out for ammo when they hit the gun shops, but Im also gonna hit up some buddies that reload and see if they would work with me on some handloads. I actually just weighed it today. 10# unloaded..
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Welcome to the clan, MC2, from the great nation of Texas! You have a good starting place, good luck with ammo.
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mtncop11 Wrote:I doubt I will be stretching to 800 yds, I would say 200 would be tops for almost anything Id be doing with it. I have about 50 rounds of hornady black 123gr ELD, 60 rounds of PPU 110gr and about 500 rounds of wolf 100 gr. I hate shooting lacquered/steel in any semi-auto but when its the most common, Ill take it. Ive read pros and cons of the Black for whitetail, unless I find something else before next season Ill be using it(150-200# would prob be largest) and 100-150 yards would be longest shot. I have buddies looking out for ammo when they hit the gun shops, but Im also gonna hit up some buddies that reload and see if they would work with me on some handloads. I actually just weighed it today. 10# unloaded..
As long as you keep your brass it is not hard to find dies and bullets for the 6.5 Grendel. I bought several boxes of hunting bullets over the last few years that Ill probably never use hunting. Im sure there are other Forum members who could scrounge up bullets so a member could hunt. Keep a watch on the buy sell part of the forum. Dies and bullets go up for sale fairly regularly. If buying dies just resist the temptation to buy Lee 6.5 Grendel dies. The Lee dies work but shorten the life of the brass so Hornady or other brand of dies are more desirable.
Fortunately about any powder suitable for the 5.56/223 or 308 will work in the 6.5 Grendel. In a worst case you could always pull a few factory bullets from factory ammo and replace with a hunting bullet. There are forum members who have pulled Wolf steel cased 100 grain FMJ bimetal bullets and used Nosler 100 grain Ballistic tip or 100 grain Partition bullets.
