6.5 creedmoor or grendel

[elwoodward]

Looking at building either a 6.5 grendel pistol or buying a 6.5 creedmoor long range rifle. I'm currently located in Bedford and I know of no ranges in the 500 -1200yrd range. To really streach the creedmoor's legs. I have a few places for up to about 500 yards max.

Any recommendations both would be used for hunting deer. One a woods gun one a field gun. Either way I'm just wanting to get into the 6.5 game and looking for others experiences.

Thanks

 

[King31]

Looking at building either a 6.5 grendel pistol or buying a 6.5 creedmoor long range rifle. I'm currently located in Bedford and I know of no ranges in the 500 -1200yrd range. To really streach the creedmoor's legs. I have a few places for up to about 500 yards max.

Any recommendations both would be used for hunting deer. One a woods gun one a field gun. Either way I'm just wanting to get into the 6.5 game and looking for others experiences.

Thanks

Two very different gun choices and calibers for that matter. I enjoy my grendels, but to each their own. At 500 yards I think you could hit a target consistently with a 6.5G pistol assuming it has good glass on it. It would be much easier for the Creedmoor, but is a much bulkier gun.

 

[dak109]

If you are planning on shooting deer at 500 yards go with the Creedmoor. I believe the Grendel may be losing too much energy at that range for an ethical kill. It's been awhile since looked at the Grendels ballistics, but 400 seems to be the max range keeping with the 100 ft lbs of energy claimed to be needed to kill deer. ( I know a 22lr will kill them)

 

[elwoodward]

I get they are totally different rounds. Grendel would be a truck gun/less than 200 yrds hunting. Creedmoor will be less than 500 yards for hunting. But I would love to find a 1 mile range eventually. And I'm sure I'll have both eventually but everyone has pros and cons of what they like. If anyone knows of any long distance ranges in southern Indiana. Info would be appreciated.

 

[DadSmith]

I love my 6.5 Grendel.
At 500 yards it still has over 700 ft lbs of energy using a 123gr bullet. That's enough to take a deer at 500 yards.

 

[LarryC]

Completely different platforms! The Grendel does have the advantage of cheap plinking ammo readily available - 6.5 Creedmoor not so much! Son and I assembled a couple of Grendel's and really like them, pretty darned accurate even with cheap ammo.

 

[two70]

I love my 6.5 Grendel.
At 500 yards it still has over 700 ft lbs of energy using a 123gr bullet. That's enough to take a deer at 500 yards.

That's enough to take a deer at 500 yards... if everything goes perfectly. At that distance the velocity will have dropped enough to be on the ragged edge of the performance envelope for most bullets. IMO, its not a good idea to tempt Murphy with such stunts.

 

[jrh84]

If anyone knows of any long distance ranges in southern Indiana. Info would be appreciated.

https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...00-1000-yard-rifle-camp-atterbury-cihprs.html

 

[DadSmith]

That's enough to take a deer at 500 yards... if everything goes perfectly. At that distance the velocity will have dropped enough to be on the ragged edge of the performance envelope for most bullets. IMO, its not a good idea to tempt Murphy with such stunts.

Headshot or even lung shot at 500 yards with an SST will do the job. Grendel should be able to shoot moa that's 5" at 500 yards. In my area 500 yards is hard to find before you run into woods in southeast Indiana.

 

[M67]

Completely different platforms! The Grendel does have the advantage of cheap plinking ammo readily available - 6.5 Creedmoor not so much! Son and I assembled a couple of Grendel's and really like them, pretty darned accurate even with cheap ammo.

S&B makes 6.5 Creedmoor FMJ loads that are cheaper than most 308 FMJ? If anything Creedmoor is cheaper than Grendel (PPU makes brass cased FMJ Grendel loads but still think the S&B Creedmoor is a $1 or 2 cheaper)

Regardless, both rounds are very usable and versatile. Hoping to actually get some real range time behind my Howa KRG (Creedmoor) and Mini Action (Grendel) this year

 

[two70]

Headshot or even lung shot at 500 yards with an SST will do the job. Grendel should be able to shoot moa that's 5" at 500 yards. In my area 500 yards is hard to find before you run into woods in southeast Indiana.

Again, it's possible but making the attempt is irresponsible at best and highly likely to lead to a wounded deer. A deer's brain is about 3" in diameter and the lungs are about 8" in diameter. Even with a 1 MOA rifle, no wind and a bench rest, hitting a a 3" target at 500 yards on demand is iffy at best and even the significantly bigger vital zone of the lungs offers little margin for error. Not to mention that the brain is a poor target choice even at more reasonable range. Also, the minimum velocity for reliable expansion of an SST is 1600 fps and the projected velocity of a 123 grain Grendel bullet at 500 yards is ~1650 fps.

 

[elwoodward]

https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...00-1000-yard-rifle-camp-atterbury-cihprs.html

Never shot competitively short of just between a few friends.

Some real competition be a good reason for a creedmoor.

Anyone shoot there?

 

[jrh84]

Anyone shoot there?

I do, and am on the Board of Directors. Happy to help if you have questions.

 

[roscott]

I have both and love both. Do both!

However, my 6.5 Grendel pistol gets the nod 95% of the time for anything practical. With 123SST my MPBR is 230 yards, and that round drops below 1000ft/lbs (my minimum for ethical deer hunting) at 250. It is incredibly handy, and has been perfect medicine for coyotes, deer, and lots of hogs.

Creedmoor is a better long range cartridge for sure, but it doesn’t come in a handy AR15-sized package.

And since we’re off topic a bit, deer move their head a lot. Even if you are an expert sub-MOA shooter, the time delay on a 500 yard shot from firing to impact is more than enough for a deer to raise its head a few inches and turn that perfect headshot into a jaw shot that will result in a long and drawn out death for the animal. IMO, that’s well into unethical territory.

 

[DadSmith]

I have both and love both. Do both!

However, my 6.5 Grendel pistol gets the nod 95% of the time for anything practical. With 123SST my MPBR is 230 yards, and that round drops below 1000ft/lbs (my minimum for ethical deer hunting) at 250. It is incredibly handy, and has been perfect medicine for coyotes, deer, and lots of hogs.

Creedmoor is a better long range cartridge for sure, but it doesn’t come in a handy AR15-sized package.

And since we’re off topic a bit, deer move their head a lot. Even if you are an expert sub-MOA shooter, the time delay on a 500 yard shot from firing to impact is more than enough for a deer to raise its head a few inches and turn that perfect headshot into a jaw shot that will result in a long and drawn out death for the animal. IMO, that’s well into unethical territory.

Obviously if you can't get a headshot go for the heart or lungs. The firearm is capable the shooter my not be. Everyone is different.

 

[1nderbeard]

Personally I'd go with a grendel for IN hunting. That stays supersonic I think to 700 yards. Farther than anyone would need to shoot here.
For a woods gun, I wouldn't chose either. You'd want a much heavier projectile traveling at a much slower velocity. I'd think 45-70 ish. Either of these two options would easily be off target hitting even small branches.

 

[rb288]

I have both.
As some have already said here, they are 2 different rounds.
I have an 11" 6.5 grendel sbr that is "nuts on" out to 300 yds.
Yes, I lose some velocity, but at shorter ranges, below 300 yds, it's not that important.
With a thermal scope it was a hog harvesting machine when I lived, and hunted hogs, in Florida.
My 22" 6.5 creedmoor bolt action is for longer range and is "nuts on" out to 800 yds.
That's as far as I have shot it, but, I can extrapolate that it will be accurate out to 1000 or more.
So, in my case, 2 different rounds, for 2 different uses.

 

[Mgderf]

Personally I'd go with a grendel for IN hunting. That stays supersonic I think to 700 yards. Farther than anyone would need to shoot here.
For a woods gun, I wouldn't chose either. You'd want a much heavier projectile traveling at a much slower velocity. I'd think 45-70 ish. Either of these two options would easily be off target hitting even small branches.

It was good enough for buffalo!
I love my .45-70

 

[EGParatrooper]

Here is my 6.5 C Seems to put holes where I want them.

 

[drm-hp]

Between CIHPRS and ISRPA you can shoot at Camp Atterbury quite a bit. I would like to suggest that you bring what you have to a match and try it. Most will be very sympathetic towards your want of information to hit small at longer ranges.
You must also decide if you want to be a tech shooter or an analytical shooter. (Although there is some overlap)
A technical shooter will have high power optics on the rifle and spotting optics to go along with their program to dope condition changes that you MUST account for. You may also use a forend support along with some version of a rear rifle support in some cases. Your cartridge and ammo choices are yours and yours alone. This is a lot more challenging than you might think, even the best do not clean targets all the time.
The analytic shooter has no electronic aides at his disposal and also uses only a sling as an aid to steady the rifle. Open sights or 4.5x maximum optics for an official competitor. This shooter must make all condition changes on there own.
Please note that the terms I used to describe the shooters are not official, just trying to differentiate between them, one group uses a lot of aides, the other is minimal aides.
The shooters in both of these groups are very analytical, as they try to shoot into a small group in a fixed location on the target, at normal distances from 200 to 1000 yard.
Good luck with this, it is addictive!