6.5 grendel advice wanted..

jmccracken1214

jmccracken1214

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So im throwing around ideas in my head on what rifle I want. I gave up on creedmoore, just not what I need right now. So I went back to 308 but am looking at 6.5 grendel as an option.

I was set on a howa, but cant get the rifle i want from them without paying for extra stuff I dont want/need... and all their actions are sold out... Not aware of any other bolt guns made in that caliber... so I looked at building an AR.. I want something for semi-precision.. so nothing super crazy.. but I cant even find a grendel barrel for under $300... coupled with a handguard, upper, lower, decent trigger, it'll be a $1000 gun I bet...

Anyone know of a decent place to look for what Im wanting? I was wanting to stay around the $600 mark for a rifle, as the glass Im looking at is around $600-$700..

Thanks guys.
 
That sure does seem to be the case. I may go 308, probably will.

But im drawn to 6.5, maybe because its different, new, something I havent had before?

Is the support for the round losing steam? I notice there arent a lot of ammo manufactures for it?
 
jmccracken1214 said:
That sure does seem to be the case. I may go 308, probably will.

But im drawn to 6.5, maybe because its different, new, something I havent had before?

Is the support for the round losing steam? I notice there arent a lot of ammo manufactures for it?
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If you want 6.5 and factory loads then the creedmoor is the way to go.
 
Or be a real odd ball and go 260 like the 3 other of us that went that route. Lol

Then again I also went with a 243 and 6mm creedmoor just to be totally oddball.
 
Do you reload? Are you looking for something really different? If so, I'd recommend the 458 SOCOM....or for more range and precision work, the newer 375 SOCOM...check out the Tromix sight and see what is out there! The key here i reloading, because with out that both of these calibers will be expensive to feed your need!
 
mazer said:
Do you reload? Are you looking for something really different? If so, I'd recommend the 458 SOCOM....or for more range and precision work, the newer 375 SOCOM...check out the Tromix sight and see what is out there! The key here i reloading, because with out that both of these calibers will be expensive to feed your need!
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I didnt think the 458 socom wasnt that great for long range? Ill be reloading this year!
 
How long range is long for you? I shoot mine accurately out to about 225yds. Which is why I mentioned the 375 SOCOM for beyond that point. Options are a good thing! If you need to stretch it out beyond say 500yds, then the 458...defintely not, but the 375....maybe.
 
Grendel ammo isn't that hard to come by. Academy here in Hickory stocks Hornady Black. Another shop in Newton stocks Alexander Arms ammo. Reloading isn't bad since you can use 7.62x39 brass. I'm afraid you're right, though. You'll be hard-pressed to get out for under $1k. If you already have an AR, why not just build a Grendel upper?
 
Burt Gummer said:
I've heard of folks converting this brass to Grendel brass also. Kinda like .223/.300BLK
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There's plenty of sources for grendel brass so you don't have to convert it. AA, hornady, hell, even lapua makes it. By the time you get x39 brass converted and fire formed you could have bought the lapua.
 
BurnedOutGeek said:
There's plenty of sources for grendel brass so you don't have to convert it. AA, hornady, hell, even lapua makes it. By the time you get x39 brass converted and fire formed you could have bought the lapua.
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Oh yeah. I get it. Your post above seemed like you'd never heard of it. Just spreading the little knowledge of anything I have about anything
 
Burt Gummer said:
Oh yeah. I get it. Your post above seemed like you'd never heard of it. Just spreading the little knowledge of anything I have about anything
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Based on the "use 7.62x39 brass", not "convert 7.62x39 brass" statement. I'm not a total moron (most times) lol
 
BurnedOutGeek said:
There's plenty of sources for grendel brass so you don't have to convert it. AA, hornady, hell, even lapua makes it. By the time you get x39 brass converted and fire formed you could have bought the lapua.
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I've not kept up with brass availability. When I built my Grendel ~4 years ago, availability was still pretty limited.
 
The idea of building an upper crossed my mind, but being a barrel is going to run me at least $300, the handguard, and upper, im looking at $500+

Maybe it's just me being lazy, but I'd rather have a complete grendel AR, if I went that route, so I wouldnt have to switch uppers.

So the $500 price mark for a grendel upper, has me thinking I might as well get a Howa 1500 in 6.5 CM or Grendel and have an entirely whole and new gun, a more accurate one over the upper as well.
 
I have a lower built that was gonna get a Grendel upper. Now I'm wondering if I shouldn't go bolt action again. I like the idea of keeping it on the AR platform though
 
Deciding to go 6.5 grendel. No real reason why, over the other options... Getting a good deal on a PSA AR, that I will use for the donor. Having my buddy at Corder Custom Firearms make me a .875 22" barrel for it.

I do however, hate how expensive the ammo is! Looked at reloading and even that doesnt save a lot. $1 a bullet for hornady 123gr.... Brass is 50 cent a piece and 140gr hornady bullets are 30 cent... throw in primers and powder and you might as well buy shelf ammo.

How bad will the wolf bimetal bullets be on my barrel?
 
I used the wolf in matches and was good to about 600 past that they went all over the place. I look at barrels as consumables so I didn't consider that.
 
BurnedOutGeek said:
I used the wolf in matches and was good to about 600 past that they went all over the place. I look at barrels as consumables so I didn't consider that.
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Ive seen mixed shooting with the wolf, some did pretty decent, some didnt have much luck.. but theres a lot of factors that come into play with shooting, ammo, shooter, optics, rifle...

Have any idea what the life of the barrel would be if shooting 75% steel and 25% brass?

If it lasts me YEARS, thats good to go. as the barrel is only going to run me about $310
 
jmccracken1214 said:
Deciding to go 6.5 grendel. No real reason why, over the other options... Getting a good deal on a PSA AR, that I will use for the donor. Having my buddy at Corder Custom Firearms make me a .875 22" barrel for it.

I do however, hate how expensive the ammo is! Looked at reloading and even that doesnt save a lot. $1 a bullet for hornady 123gr.... Brass is 50 cent a piece and 140gr hornady bullets are 30 cent... throw in primers and powder and you might as well buy shelf ammo.

How bad will the wolf bimetal bullets be on my barrel?
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Not sure what you are looking at but 123 grain Hornady ELD match bullets are 32 cents at Midway: https://www.midwayusa.com/product/6...m-264-diameter-123-grain-boat-tail-box-of-100
 
You realize, that once you shoot the brass you can remove the .50 from the cost of the round right? That's the advantage of reusing your spent brass! I don't know how hard the 6.5 Grendal is on brass, but most semi-auto's I get 5+ reloads. Although it depends on WHICH semi-auto! My M1A I'm lucky to get 4 reloads out of because it dents the brass pretty hard when it ejects! My 458SOCOM out of my AR...not a mark! The Galil dents brass but not near what the M1A does!
 
JimP42 said:
Not sure what you are looking at but 123 grain Hornady ELD match bullets are 32 cents at Midway: https://www.midwayusa.com/product/6...m-264-diameter-123-grain-boat-tail-box-of-100
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Looking at the 140gr bullets.... that are 30 cent a piece.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/8...m-264-diameter-140-grain-boat-tail-box-of-100

Im factoring in buying brass which is 50 cent a piece, which puts it at $0.80 for brass/bullet. Then powder/primer.. pushes that right at $1.00/bullet. same as the hornady store ammo.
 
mazer said:
You realize, that once you shoot the brass you can remove the .50 from the cost of the round right? That's the advantage of reusing your spent brass! I don't know how hard the 6.5 Grendal is on brass, but most semiauto's I get 5+ reloads. Although it depends on WHICH semi-auto! My M1A I'm lucky to get 4 reloads out of because it dents the brass pretty hard when it ejects! My 458SOCOM out of my AR...not a mark! The Galil dents brass but not near what the M1A does!
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Yes sir.. but initially, until I build up a little stock in the ammo, ill have to bite that extra 50 cent/round for a while.
 
That is always the case! However, you can go to Midway USA, they have their Hornady 250ct for $123.99 which would get you a nice start.
 
Right, so, lets say you go through 100 rounds your first time out! So that's $100.00, reload the brass for the next round and you are down to $50.00 for 100rounds. You realize that beyond comparing "costs" your accuracy should be a LOT better with custom reloads than any factory round. Plus, some rounds are just not "plinker" rounds! If you are going "on the cheap", slow your bullets WAY down and use cast bullets (under 1600fps depending on hardness) for around $12.00/100, or gas checked cast $16.00/100 up to say....1800-2000fps...if you can powder coat (it isn't difficult at all)the bullets(the cast bullets with plain base, you might be able to order them "non-lubed" for a little less...they should run at about the same as jacketed bullets, but you'd need to experiment a bit with the speed!
There are always options if you plan to shoot this rifle a lot!
 
Precision and cheap don't really belong in the same sentence. If you want to shoot cheaply get an SKS, but if you want some tight groups then you're going to have to scrimp and save. Brown bag your lunch and take the woman to the park for dates.
What are you planning on using this rifle for?
 
NJSC said:
Precision and cheap don't really belong in the same sentence. If you want to shoot cheaply get an SKS, but if you want some tight groups then you're going to have to scrimp and save. Brown bag your lunch and take the woman to the park for dates.
What are you planning on using this rifle for?
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We just eat spaghettiO's in the back yard on a moving blanket for date night. :D

I really want it to be a all around rifle. I ordered a 20" heavy barrel this morning for it. So, Im planning on using it for a plinker (at times), target shooting and hunting. I guess until I get started at my new job and get reloading, Ill just shoot WOLF and save for hornady factory loads.... Or maybe Ill shoot my AR 15 more and pretend its the 6.5 haha
 
Do what I did when I got my 6.8SPC AR. Reloading with new components was only about a nickel/round cheaper than buying loaded ammo, so I bought ~1200rds of various Hornady & SSA ammo, along with enough components, to reload every one of those 1200 pieces of brass 2 or 3 times over.
 
About 2 years ago, I bought a complete 24" Radical Arms upper and assembled a 5.6 Grendel AR on an Anderson lower. I was leary of the Radical upper, but at the time, they were so cheap I could not resist. When it came, the bore had a lot of chatter, so I contacted them and they told me to go ahead and shoot the hell out of it and that they guaranteed sub-MOA performance after break-in. So I shot it and it smoothed out a good bit, and it shot sub-MOA, just like they said. However, about 300 rounds into the project, the extractor on the bolt head failed and when I deburred and reinstalled it, the locking lugs cracked and the whole bolt failed. I think they were using generic 7.62X39 bolts on their kits, but I am not sure. In any event, I bought an actual dedicated 6.5 bolt head from Alexander Arms as a replacement and have had no further problems whatsoever.

For giggles, I will buy the Wolf 100 grain ammo and blast away when it is on clearance for 25 cents a round. I was banging the 1000 yard plates at FLD last week with that stuff, in fact. I've developed some pretty reliable dope out to 1000 yards with that cheap WOLF stuff, though the 123 Hornady A-Max works a lot better. I've even had decent results with the PPU.

The only thing to remember is that if you are going to reload, the Hornady brass has a small rifle primer pocket and the PPU has a large rifle primer pocket - so if you decide to start with various store bought ammo, make sure you separate your brass and keep both size primers on hand. If I am going to load for a more serious result, I like to load 123 gn AMAX bullets into Hornady brass with approximately 27.8-28.1 grains of IMR 8608 XBR over a CCI 450 small rifle magnum primer. But I must give the disclaimer that this is what MY rifle likes, and anytime you are reloading, you should consult the loading tables, start at the bottom and pay attention to what YOUR rifle likes.
 
East of Here said:
About 2 years ago, I bought a complete 24" Radical Arms upper and assembled a 5.6 Grendel AR on an Anderson lower. I was leary of the Radical upper, but at the time, they were so cheap I could not resist. When it came, the bore had a lot of chatter, so I contacted them and they told me to go ahead and shoot the hell out of it and that they guaranteed sub-MOA performance after break-in. So I shot it and it smoothed out a good bit, and it shot sub-MOA, just like they said. However, about 300 rounds into the project, the extractor on the bolt head failed and when I deburred and reinstalled it, the locking lugs cracked and the whole bolt failed. I think they were using generic 7.62X39 bolts on their kits, but I am not sure. In any event, I bought an actual dedicated 6.5 bolt head from Alexander Arms as a replacement and have had no further problems whatsoever.

For giggles, I will buy the Wolf 100 grain ammo and blast away when it is on clearance for 25 cents a round. I was banging the 1000 yard plates at FLD last week with that stuff, in fact. I've developed some pretty reliable dope out to 1000 yards with that cheap WOLF stuff, though the 123 Hornady A-Max works a lot better. I've even had decent results with the PPU.

The only thing to remember is that if you are going to reload, the Hornady brass has a small rifle primer pocket and the PPU has a large rifle primer pocket - so if you decide to start with various store bought ammo, make sure you separate your brass and keep both size primers on hand. If I am going to load for a more serious result, I like to load 123 gn AMAX bullets into Hornady brass with approximately 27.8-28.1 grains of IMR 8608 XBR over a CCI 450 small rifle magnum primer. But I must give the disclaimer that this is what MY rifle likes, and anytime you are reloading, you should consult the loading tables, start at the bottom and pay attention to what YOUR rifle likes.
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In addition to that, Hornady and Lapua/AA brass have different size flashholes. My Hornady dies came with both decapping pins.
 
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dubnali said:
In addition to that, Hornady and Lapua/AA have different size flashholes. My Hornady dies came with voth decapping pins.
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I bought a flash hole deburring/uniforming tool. I use it on all my brass. I have no idea if it really makes much of a difference to debur/uniform the flash hole, but I sure THINK it does, and that is all that matters to me.
 
dubnali said:
Grendel ammo isn't that hard to come by. Academy here in Hickory stocks Hornady Black. Another shop in Newton stocks Alexander Arms ammo. Reloading isn't bad since you can use 7.62x39 brass. I'm afraid you're right, though. You'll be hard-pressed to get out for under $1k. If you already have an AR, why not just build a Grendel upper?
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I've done a lot of reforming for wildcats in the past so I looked into this.

The juice isn't worth the squeeze. Besides that reformed cases come with their own built in headaches.
The more drastic the reform, the bigger the headaches. 7.62x39 to 6.5 Grendel is pretty drastic. Easier to reform PPC brass....but that stuff is harder to get than Grendel so....
 
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