Hunting & Fishing 6.5 Grendel bullet for Deer

[floridabuck]

Last night I was able to take a decent deer for my area of Florida. This was my first time hunting with a 6.5 Grendel. Overall, I’m impressed. 211 yard broadside low shoulder shot . The deer only ran about 15 yards. I’m thankful for the deer expiring quickly because there was massive internal trauma, but almost no blood on the ground due to no exit wound. I was shooting Hornady 123 grn sst loads. Anyone have a recommendation on a bit tougher bullet that might make an exit wound? Thanks.

 

[SigSauerkraut]

I went through this same process getting ready for my hunt this year and finally settled on the 129 ABLR. I won't have any first-hand experience until the first week in December (hopefully), but based on other's experience, I'm expecting good performance.

 

[Mike Casselton]

The 123 ELDM did a great job on a couple of does and pigs back in January. They were killed using 6.5 Grendel Hornady Black. Shot from a CZ 527.

On another note, I wouldn't judge performance based on one kill.

 

[ssdrew]

I've used the ELD-m and sst to take a handful of deer. Each one had massive internal trauma and left a good blood trail. I haven't hit anything solid like a shoulder, just organs with a rib. This year I decided to try out a bonded bullet and loaded the 120gr Speer Gold dot. It's only moving 2300fps out of my 12.5" upper, but still delivers 1200ft/lbs of energy at 100yds. I took an average size AR doe this past Sunday at 100yds. She dropped like a brick and I thought to myself, looks like I found a winning bullet. When I got up to her, she didn't appear to have an exit wound. Once I gutted her, I was even more confused, bullet hit a rib on entry, took out both lungs and the top of the heart and took out a rib on the exit side....but did not exit the skin...the front shoulder had serious trauma and we think it might have been lodged in there, but didn't examine further...really wish I had and even taken pictures. I'm not sure how I feel about that outcome, but I'm going to use it on a few more this season and see how it does with a larger sample size.

 

[hoop12]

I’ve used the 123 SSTs out of my 18” AR with great success. Shot 5 deer with it, only 1 without an exit wound and it dropped right where it stood from about 120 yards. This is him.

 

[james24]

I shoot the 123 Hornady Blacks our my 18” Faxon barrel. Does a great job and no tracking involved.

 

[hlee]

It may not be optimal, but this one succumbed to a 123 gr ELD-M. It was a high neck shot and he dropped where he stood.

 

[Kmarsh1966]

I’m zero on experience but have done a fair amount of research and load testing. In my gun the SST would only shoot about 6” group. ELDM were 1/2” or better. I also have considered Nosler 100 BT, and Barnes 100 TTSX. I’m thinking around 2600-2700 FPS and should hit pretty hard inside the range I will shoot one with my grendel. 300 max. I can ring an 8” plate 1 for one at 400+ yds with the Nosler 100 BT rounds. I think the Barnes has the best chance for a thru and thru and blood trail.

 

[Sniperwannabee]

It may not be optimal, but this one succumbed to a 123 gr ELD-M. It was a high neck shot and he dropped where he stood.

how long is your barrel?

 

[hlee]

how long is your barrel?

22" JP barrel.

 

[Sniperwannabee]

I’m trying to decide between 22 and 20

 

[lou400a]

I've tried 123 Amax in my 18" and 11.5" Grendel and 120 Nosler BT in 11.5".
123 Amax from 18" behind the shoulder @ 80 yards and he ran 50 before going down. 123 Amax and 120 BT out of 11.5" were high neck shots between 120 and 70 yards and they just dropped

 

[hlee]

Yeah, a sub "max-book" charge of 8308 gives me 2530 fps with a 123 eldm out of the 22" JP barrel.

 

[gopherslayer]

I’m zero on experience but have done a fair amount of research and load testing. In my gun the SST would only shoot about 6” group. ELDM were 1/2” or better. I also have considered Nosler 100 BT, and Barnes 100 TTSX. I’m thinking around 2600-2700 FPS and should hit pretty hard inside the range I will shoot one with my grendel. 300 max. I can ring an 8” plate 1 for one at 400+ yds with the Nosler 100 BT rounds. I think the Barnes has the best chance for a thru and thru and blood trail.

Don’t worry about the 100gr NBT. It will work and more than likely pass through. I’ve taken several deer with my 260 Rems and they stress the bullet more than a Grendel could ever dream of. I’ve used them from 30 yards to 540 yards and they’ve done the job. I put together a load for my Grendel that wasn’t max and I got 2725fps from a 18” barrel.

 

[Jlknights61]

Nosler 129gr ABLR

min. Expansion velocity = 1300fps

depending on barrel length - 2200-2500fps

Carries 1000 Ft lbs - 200-400 Yards

Will reliably expand - 700-900 yards

 

[Rumlover]

Barnes TTSX or LRX would be my suggestion. I shoot a lot of Hornady and nosler offerings still, but when I go on a hunt I've been planning on for a year or more (ie bullet failure is not an option), I use Barnes in my handloads because an exit wound is very important to me for long shots or in featureless terrain where it's difficult to find where the animal was standing.

An applicable example: my GAP 308 really likes 150 TTSX over h 4895. Before I found that load, I preferred heavier bullets in all my 30 Cal's. I took the Barnes 150 load on my first mule deer hunt. I ended up shooting a 315 lb buck at 560 yards and the bullet exited nicely... In fact it was due to that exit wound I was able to find him. Comparatively, the guy with me was shooting a 308 using Hornady SST's, 165 grains or so if I remember correctly. He shot a buck at around 230 yards that was about 280lbs and the bullet didn't exit. Both were broadside shots in the lung cavity.

Any bullet will kill and I've shot several with the new ELD-x and ablr's in recent years. However, when I want to eliminate the bullet failure variable from the equitation, I carry my Barnes loads.