Predictions for 2014

[XcountryRider]

2014 will be a big year for AR-15's in none 5.56 calibers. The market fro the 2013 scare saturated the 5.56 market dropping the value of just about everything AR-15. To keep the profits up barrel and bolt makers will shift to other AR-15 calibers. Soon Grendel barrels and bolts will be in stock everywhere and become common. The community will see its largest growth in a 12 month period since the round was introduced. In fact more Grendels will be sold in 2014 than all previous years combined.

We might even get some big names on the Grendel band wagon this year. Other calibers like the 30 Remington AR will be back in a big way with a large push by Remington as it sees its R-15 223 sales drop. With Remington making 30AR brass in large quantities again someone might decide that its a decent platform to make a 6.5mm out of making near 260 Remington performance out of a modified AR-15 platform.

300BLK will start to fizzle as folks start to wonder what they got so excited about a round that goes 2200fps and has a 150 yard effective hunting range.

Nosler will announce loaded Grendel ammo for a couple loads like the 100gr Nosler BT and 120gr Nosler BT.

We'll get a couple newly designed pills for the Grendel this year as ammo makers realize its no longer a niche market. We will see ammo in Walmart by October and other chains will start to carry it.

My Hunting AR Facebook group will grow to 2000+ members by years end. Hunting with AR's will just become normal without anymore generic articles trying to convince us its ok to hunt with an AR.

Those are mine what are yours?

[Schwag173]

2014 will be a big year for AR-15's in none 5.56 calibers. The market fro the 2013 scare saturated the 5.56 market dropping the value of just about everything AR-15. To keep the profits up barrel and bolt makers will shift to other AR-15 calibers. Soon Grendel barrels and bolts will be in stock everywhere and become common. The community will see its largest growth in a 12 month period since the round was introduced. In fact more Grendels will be sold in 2014 than all previous years combined.

The fact that so many 5.56 rifles were sold in the past couple of years is exactly what provides the platform, specifically the lower receiver group, for the Grendel growth you predict. I think the industry growth will be evenly split between 6.8 and 6.5, but only because the 6.8 is already so well established. In any case, I second your prediction that the Grendel will see significant growth in 2014.

MY prediction is that MagPul will commence R&D on Grendel magazines with production commencing in 2015. Yes, they will find a way.

[Klem]

On the Blackout...I agree, its reputation will suffer unless ammunition manufacturers get on board with dedicated projectiles. If this happens it will end-up a niche caliber like the Grendel. If not it will slowly die as aficionados grudgingly start accepting their own results do not match the carefully engineered marketing hype. Currently there are too many out there who use the caliber as an identity prosthetic; drunk on the wanabe, 'cool factor' of pulling it out of the bag at the range. Doggedly believing the hype about 38% more energy than a .223, even though most of that energy is poorly dumped on the target or disappears out the other side. Those that protect it jealously like a religion will abandon it sometime. Everyone questions their faith eventually.

I was sucked in by all the clever marketing at the start. Although it has been an interesting hand-loading experience I have come to the conclusion its disadvantages outweigh its one advantage; its subsonic capability (which is pretty average on game anyway due to over-penetration). It's not my 'go-to' gun...You live and learn.

[Keep The Change]

Schwag173, I hope you're right about Magpul. It would be very nice to have a top quality plastic mag for the grendel. Although they would probably get mixed up with my 556 mags.
I really hope half of what is predicted for the Grendel by you guys, comes to fruition. I've yet to get one together and shoot it but the AR-15 platform and amazing ballistics is exactly what drove me to it. And it took my bro-n-law to suggest looking into the round for me to give it a gander.

I think some better marketing and publicity needs to be done to get it out there to the larger public.

[Schwag173]

Magpul. It would be very nice to have a top quality plastic mag for the grendel. Although they would probably get mixed up with my 556 mags.

Perhaps they could get permission to mold the 'Grendel' logo onto each side for easy recognition? OK, OK, I better lay off the holiday cheer! :o

[KentuckyBuddha]

I would just do what I do now...color and texture coding. Bring on the Magpul grendel mags!! : )

[cory]

I hope to God I'm wrong.

I fear we'll lose the house in the midterm. The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist. Some how the President and other democrats have done just that.

That'll cause another panic buying. It'll disrupt any work companies were doing towards non 5.56 & .308 ARs.

Another shooting will happen that'll bring a new call to disarm us.

I do think we'll see loaded Grendel Nosler ammo and a Barnes Projectile designed for the Grendel.

[45r]

I think the Grendel and other 6.5 based rifles will grow.

I don't think 300BLK will go down.

It works very well suppressed and will stay for that alone.

The barnes black tip 110 at 2400fps+ kills deer and hogs very well also.

The Tavor bullpup seems to be getting more popular and they say they are working on a 300BLK.

Would like to see a 6.5G Tavor.

The 6.5G is the most accurate and better long range,that will keep it rising.

I'm glad to see so many choices.

[waveslayer]

I think the 300 Blk out is awesome for what it was invented for, 8-10.5 suppressed rifle... does its job perfectly compared to the MP7 and 5.56.

As for predictions: Nosler26 will not do so well, too late to the party.

Tavor will catch on even more once the Geissele triggers are out in 6 months.. and that in 6.5 Grendel would be stupid! It's a CQB rifle. Unless you buy their long range version. Try to shoot that long distance is tough, the balance and weighting is not for that! Come shoot mine and you will see.

Magpul will develop some type of mag for the Grendel and you will see more loads for the Grendel with all the hype with the 6.5's

[lilharcher]

Very optomistic view......i bet only 25% is true but that will still be a success.

[45r]

I think the 300 Blk out is awesome for what it was invented for, 8-10.5 suppressed rifle... does its job perfectly compared to the MP7 and 5.56.

As for predictions: Nosler26 will not do so well, too late to the party.

Tavor will catch on even more once the Geissele triggers are out in 6 months.. and that in 6.5 Grendel would be stupid! It's a CQB rifle. Unless you buy their long range version. Try to shoot that long distance is tough, the balance and weighting is not for that! Come shoot mine and you will see.

Magpul will develop some type of mag for the Grendel and you will see more loads for the Grendel with all the hype with the 6.5's

It does very well in CQB and that is it's best application but they're are times when you want to be able to reach out as far as possible.
The 6.5G does that much better than 556 or 300BLK and if a 2 way thing was going on at 400 yards and farther out I'd rather have a 6.5G.
You can get very steady with the rifle using their 6 point method and you don't have to stick much of yourself out there to do it.
The rifle is getting improved a lot everyday and many see it as the future in design.

[BluntForceTrauma]

The one prediction I WANT to make, is the one I do not DARE make: steel-case 6.5 Grendel.

The 6.5 Grendel, instead of 7.62x39, really should be the world-wide standard assault rifle cartridge. Can you imagine where the firearms world would be if Kalashnikov had had the 6.5 Grendel in 1947? If 7.62x39 is "good enough" for the militarized masses of the world, how much more the 6.5 Grendel, which is twice the cartridge its "grandfather" ever was.

Then we could run around trying to get a better assault rifle cartridge than the 6.5 Grendel, but it would be a much harder slog than simply trying to outdo 7.62x39.

John

[hm2 clark]

Someone will do a 6.5RAR. It will push a 123gr bullet 250 fps faster then the Grendel. A lot of us will look @ getting one. Then the Grendel steel case ammo will come in.

[biodsl]

I fear we'll lose the house in the midterm. The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist. Some how the President and other democrats have done just that.

For 2014 I predict I'll have 5,000 rounds of Grendel steel case stockpiled.

[hydrotech]

Someone will do a 6.5RAR. It will push a 123gr bullet 250 fps faster then the Grendel. A lot of us will look @ getting one. Then the Grendel steel case ammo will come in.

What is the status of the Remington 30AR? I saw some ammo at academy but no rifles. Is there brass available? Why hasn't anyone necked that sucker down to 6.5? Its got 44 grains of case capacity!

[stanc]

MY prediction is that MagPul will commence R&D on Grendel magazines with production commencing in 2015. Yes, they will find a way.

Ah, I just love the human capacity for self-delusion. The only way to ever get a Grendel P-Mag is to get somebody to make an enlarged mag well receiver a la the LWRC Six8. And the only way that will happen is for a military to adopt the cartridge and require P-Mags as necessary to the contract.

[stanc]

The one prediction I WANT to make, is the one I do not DARE make: steel-case 6.5 Grendel.

Ironic, isn't it. That's the one prediction that actually came to be!

The 6.5 Grendel, instead of 7.62x39, really should be the world-wide standard assault rifle cartridge.

Yeah, well (IMNSHO) to make that happen it really needed a much different marketing approach than was actually done.

Shoot, one of the very first 6.8 SPC loads available was FMJ. In contrast, it took a full decade to get military-type Grendel FMJ ammo on the market. And now it may be too late to matter, since in the interim the US Army has gone beyond FMJ.

And the name is all wrong to attract serious military interest. I mean, a cartridge named after a mythological monster? Something more martial would've been better, not only for appeal to the military, but to the civilian market. Perhaps something along the line of 6.5mm General Purpose Cartridge, for example, or 6.5mm Standard Combat Cartridge, or any of a number of other possible military-sounding nomenclatures.

[blofeld42]

Ah, I just love the human capacity for self-delusion. The only way to ever get a Grendel P-Mag is to get somebody to make an enlarged mag well receiver a la the LWRC Six8. And the only way that will happen is for a military to adopt the cartridge and require P-Mags as necessary to the contract.

Has anyone tried the Six8 with a Grendel barrel and bolt and Magpul 6.8 magazine? It would be interesting to see if it fed correctly. 6.8 and 6.5 mags are sometimes compatible.

[stanc]

Has anyone tried the Six8 with a Grendel barrel and bolt and Magpul 6.8 magazine?

A few people have discussed the possibility of that idea, but I haven't heard of anybody actually trying it, yet.

[LRRPF52]

The Six8 is one of the first indications from the industry that someone is taking ownership over the cartridge, but they also pulled it far away from any kind of standard that was shaky already with the SAAMI submission and the chamber variants that push more to a hand loader's niche, rather than an industry standard for factory ammo.

LWRC also spec'd a magazine that allows 2.320" raw internal length, which is again very appealing to hand loaders, but now there is a new receiver set and magazine that are incompatible with existing magazines.

LWRC took the approach of how this should be done to work as a system, to include dictating the specific 90gr load from Federal, which runs optimally in their gun. The problem for everyone else goes back to commonality of parts with the AR15. The market is already well established and entrenched on the modularity, flexibility, and ease of access to AR15 parts. For tens of thousands of people, the 6.8 has already been working just fine, so why should they change for something slightly different? That's the response I have seen. I still applaud them for doing what they felt necessary to make the cartridge compatible with a polymer magazine, and somewhat engineering the gun around the cartridge, although there are more critical areas that I would have addressed as well.