Re: 6.5 grendel upper
There are actually way more bullets for hunting for the 6.5 Grendel than the 6.8 SPC II, that will fit in the mag and run at decent velocities. I used to believe 6.8 had more because of the picture called "6.8 SPC Bullets", until I started researching what 6.5mm projectiles are available for the Grendel.
There are also 22, going on 24+ factory loads for the Grendel, and it is on store shelves in my area. Economy ammo for $12.95/box can be had from Aimsurplus, with the Wolf GOld 120gr MPT. AA just got the 1st batch of steel case in for sale, after testing tens of thousands of rounds, mostly on full auto. That offers a training advantage that no other High Performance Intermediate Cartridge offers so far.
AA, Precision Firearms, Hornady, and Wolf offer everything from varmint to long-range target loads, with more medium game hunting loads than you'll ever need.
Alexander Arms licensed the Grendel to anyone who agreed to follow the exact chamber specs, including JP, Les Baer, Templar, J&T, & Precision Firearms. Many shops didn't agree to that, so they made their own chamber variations. The Grendel is SAAMI-approved since last year, so it's open now to any manufacturer. AA just wanted to prevent the chamber from being deviated from so it could go from a wildcat to a standardized cartridge, which it has.
The Grendel has the 6.8 easily beat for projectile selection in both hunting and target pills. You can load 85gr Sierra's, 90gr TNT's, 95gr VMAX's, 100gr NBT's, and get crazy velocities with the Grendel, but most Grendel owners aren't interested in the varmint bullets, and lean towards bullets suitable for medium game.
Those include:
100gr Nosler Partition Flat-Base .326 BC
100gr Hornady SP .358 BC
100gr Barnes TTSX .359 BC
120gr Barnes TSX .381 BC
120gr Remington Core-Lokt .323 BC
120gr Swift A-Frame .344 BC
120gr North Folk Soft Point Bonded Core
120gr Nosler Ballistic Tip .458 BC
120gr Speer Hot Cor .433 BC 1.09"
120gr Sierra Pro-Hunter .368 BC
120gr Barnes TTSX .443 BC
120gr Hornady GMX .450 BC
123gr Hornady SST .510 BC *New*
125gr Nosler Partition .449 BC (1.17")
129gr Hornady SST .485 BC (1.30")
129gr Hornady Interbond .485 BC (1.25")
129gr Hornady Interlock Spire Point .445 BC (1.187")
129gr Nosler Accubond Long Range .561 BC *New* (1300fps min. expansion theshold)
130gr Nosler Accubond .488 BC (1.32")
130gr Berger Hunting VLD .552 G1/.282 G7 (1.389")
130gr Barnes TSX .365 BC (1.325")
130gr Swift Scirocco .571 BC (1.353")
A lot of hunters have been using the factory 123gr AMAX successfully, and Hornady has just announced the <span style="font-weight: bold">123gr SST </span>as another factory loading.
16" is plenty of barrel length for the Grendel for hunting, as I get 2450fps with 123gr factory loads, and I'm holding around 1 MOA at 200yds.