6.5 Grendel

[iceman4226]

Researching different coyote hunting stuff the past few weeks. I have notice a lot of people using the 6.5 Grendel for a predator hunting round. What's your thoughts on this as a hunting rig? As much as I don't want to add another caliber. I was just wonder what is a good Host? Is ammo readily available ( besides the scare right now)? How about magazines? can a upper be added to a standard AR lower or AR10 Lower? I did a search here not much info just some stuff for sale or buying

 

[edwea]

6.5 grendel is a great round. Slap an upper on a standard ar15 lower and your good to go. Mags can be had pretty easily. Standard mags will work also I've found. Now might not be the best time to take the plunge on a new cartridge but I doubt you'd regret adding a grendel to your stable.

 

[Chalky]

Like my Grendel. Seems popular for deer and hogs too. Ammo isn't as easy to find as say .308, but have bought it at several LGS, Gun Shows, Cabelas (had it last time I was there about 2 months ago) and obviously online. Prices fluctuate some, have paid $19-25 for boxes of 123g. Wolf steel case 100g was $5-7 a box but haven't seen any lately. Started reloading it so not sure what current prices or availability are.

 

[1nderbeard]

Ammo is easier to find for grendel than 5.56. I've never had the opportunity to shoot deer/coyote with it, but per ft pounds of energy it should be up to the job out to at least 400 yards. That's longer than any shot you'll take in Indiana.

 

[Rookie]

I hunted last year with a 6.5 grendel. It was devastating to coyotes. Most were DRT and very few ran very far. I used Federal 90 grain tnt. Hornady 123sst is more accurate, but Federal is cheaper. The only downside to Federal is they make batches once a year. When they're for sale, get a couple hundred extra to last until the next run.

 

[roscott]

Love my Grendel. I’ve become a big fan of the round. Hunting energy plus good ballistics from an AR? Yes please! It’s worked great with SST’s on hogs, deer, and coyotes. The round really tends to fragment, which brings animals down quickly. Very little blood trail, as there is often no exit wounds, but animals rarely seem to make it more than 10 yards anyway.

 

[84VETTE]

I hunt with an AR in Grendel with an 18" barrel. I killed a buck with it last year, ran maybe 20 yards before it piled up.
I usually describe Grendel as a 30-30 for the AR that can shoot twice as far.

 

[profjeremy]

Asking this question not to detract from the discussion, to discourage you, or claim to have a better solution, but rather as someone who also sometimes struggles with the "should I add another caliber?" question and I'm interested in your thought process. Why are you looking for another caliber? You mentioned an AR-10 lower, so assuming that you are already invested in .308 and seeing that your goal is predator hunting... what does the .308 round not give you that you're looking for?

I'm invested in 5 calibers at this point (.22LR, 9mm, 10mm, 7.62x39mm and .308) and yet during my learning I also often come across other calibers that sound interesting, like 6.5 Grendel, 6.5 Creedmoor, etc. I've managed to talk myself out of adding another one so far, but am interested in what specific improvements in coyote hunting you're potentially seeking with the 6.5 Grendel.

Again, not trying to detract from the discussion, but maybe hoping this can help focus the feedback that you get? In any case, I'll follow the discussion with interest.

 

[1nderbeard]

To answer your technical questions:
Grendel fits on a standard ar15 lower. Should work with traditional 556 mags, but there are 6.5 grendel specific mags that are recommended. Like other AR stuff, uppers are hard to find in Grendel but they can be had.

 

[bstewrat3]

The Grendel is one of my favorite cartridges. As a handloader efficiency is important to me, and the Grendel makes good use of powder. The Creedmoor uses 10-15 grains more powder to achieve comparable velocities. I personally am not shooting long distance, so the extra 300fps the Creedmoor may offer is wasted on me. I so far have only used the Grendel in AR's, but think it would be great in a little single shot G2 Contender. The other nice thing is if you want to burn off a bunch of rounds, Wolf makes steel case ammo for the Grendel.

 

[bdybdall]

Happened to notice last time I was in Walmart (Greenfield) that they had Grende ammo. I wouldna' thunk it if I hadn't seed it with mu own eyes.