Re: 6.5 or 6.8?
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: LRRPF52</div><div class="ubbcode-body">When you run the ballistics of the Grendel vs. the 6.8, both from 16" barrels, the Grendel catches up at around 125yds for velocity and energy, having started 100fps slower.
Instead of comparing the 140gr Berger to the 123gr SST, you can compare the 120gr SST to the 123gr SST to keep it in the same weight class. We could just as easily compare the 140 Berger to the 140 Berger, and the 6.5 will win, even starting 200fps slower, just like it does with my .270 versus my .260 Rem.
One common thing I see is the idea that the Grendel is mainly a target caliber, but most people seem to be interested in it it for hunting. There are way more hunting pills for the Grendel, and more factory hunting loads than you will probably need:
90gr TNT
95gr VMAX
100gr AMAX
115gr Berger
120gr Barnes TTSX
120gr Nosler BT
123gr Wolf SP
123gr Hornady SST
129gr Hornady SST
130gr Nosler Accubond
130gr Swift Scirocco
Many of those are duplicated by both AA and Precision Firearms.
As to the Hornady data for the 16" barrel velocities, those are 14.5" velocities from a pinned muzzle device barrel that equals 16", so add about 100fps to them. Even so, a 14.5" Grendel will deliver the same energy as an 18" 6.8 at 400yds with factory loads comparing the 120gr SST and 123gr SST.
For the hand-loader, you have way more hunting pills to choose from than the 6.8 does, and higher Sectional Density equates to better penetration:
Now that brass availability is sucked up, you can still fire-form 7.62x39 for the Grendel, and the 120gr MPT load from Prvi Partisan under the Wolf Gold label can be had for $12.95 a box from AimSurplus.
Average mv loss with the Grendel from 24" to 16" is 18fps, not 30, but that is not a linear function either.
Both are great cartridges for hunting from the AR15 and micro-action bolt guns. I think the Grendel will do everything the 6.8 will +, which is why I chose it after weighing both options for a few years.
I think the 16" barrel is all you really need in the Grendel for both hunting and target work, which is the same opinion David Fortier came to as an owner of 12.5", 16", 20", and 24" Grendels.
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Too bad most of those hunting bullets were made to open at 260 Rem and 6.5 swed velocities. Bill Waites himself posted the photo of a 120gr TSX recovered from a deer. The petals had barely opened enough to make them wider than the original bullet diameter so no wonder they penetrate well, they work like a FMJ on game which is not what an ethical hunter wants.
Now just this year Hornady is making the 123SST which was designed to open at Grendel velocities. The 100TTSX and 100 Nosler are 2 more that will open up at Grendel velocities.
If you keep that in mind there are a lot more 6.8 bullets that work properly for hunting than there are 6.5 bullets that can be USED in the Grendel/264LBC. It's a different story for target bullets, there are more 6.5 target bullets than 6.8 target bullets since they don't have to expand to kill paper.