6.5 Grendel for Varmints

[Sniper338]

Without tinkering myself the only valid into I can add is an 8.75 twist barrel is great for 123 gr bullets. Going with lighter bullets Id want a 10 twist or so. Just me though...

 

[Lone Hunter]

Without tinkering myself the only valid into I can add is an 8.75 twist barrel is great for 123 gr bullets. Going with lighter bullets Id want a 10 twist or so. Just me though...

I'm running an 8 twist and the 85 gr Sierra HP shoots VERY good with it. It also shoots the 123 ELD's pretty good too. I'm very impressed with the Grendel. Have a bolt gun and an AR and think quite a bit of both.

 

[msalm]

There's a guy on youtube using the Grendel and the 90gr Speer TNT and having very good performance with it on hogs from small to 300+ lbs. Reliable expansion and penetration from head to shoulder shots. It might be just right for your use. Look in the 'hunting' threads on the 6.5 Grendel forum.

http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthread.php?17580-330-lb-Boar-6-Hogs-More-all-with-Speer-TNT-90-gr

 

[MrFrankZ]

I'm running the 108MKZ out of my 18" Grendel for white tail. 4 years, 16 deer, all head or neck shot out to around 200 yards. I think I'm running them 2850 with 30.2 8208XBR. The bullets are extremely consistent and as close to match performance as you can get out of a hunting bullet.

As others have said, going down to a 6 mm would be a heck of an idea. I'm also running a 6 Grendel with the 92 grain MKZ and it is very devastating as well. Plus less recoil.

 

[CoyoteTan]

I think I'm running them 2850 with 30.2 8208XBR.

How do you pack that much powder into that little case? That's a super compressed load.

 

[MrFrankZ]

How do you pack that much powder into that little case? That's a super compressed load.

You're absolutely right, that is my 6 Grendel load with 92TMT. It is 29.1 under the MKZ @ 2.28 COAL. That bullet is cavity backed so there's a scoche more room for boom.

 

[allen529]

There's a guy on youtube using the Grendel and the 90gr Speer TNT and having very good performance with it on hogs from small to 300+ lbs. Reliable expansion and penetration from head to shoulder shots. It might be just right for your use. Look in the 'hunting' threads on the 6.5 Grendel forum.

http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthread.php?17580-330-lb-Boar-6-Hogs-More-all-with-Speer-TNT-90-gr

Of late I have been watching a lot of the thermal pig hunting on youtube with everything from 223 to 300 win mag being used. The one constant I see is that unless a spine or headshot is cleanly hit hogs rarely go down with just one shot.

Some of the shooters like to use lighter bullets for no other reason than faster secondary shots or third or fourth. Theres a few guys that all they do is spray into a large sounder of hogs to cripple and slow them down so they can be killed on follow up shots. I think the grendel with 107 and above bullets work well to the body but the 90 grn bullets should be reserved for head shots.

Just my opinion dont have to agree with it. I like the grendel and have an 1 AR chambered for it. I also have an Obermeyer 6.5 barrel that I am contemplating making into a bolt gun grendel.

 

[msalm]

The hunter ‘Double Naught Spy’ I’m referring to really does take the performance on hogs seriously. He does quite a few necropsy’s on the wound channel and even carries a small metal detector to recover the bullet or fragments. One of the most thorough jobs I’ve seen and certainly not the spray and pray/wound them all type. I understand what your saying, but at the reduced velocities of the Grendel, some of those varmint bullets do a respectable job on larger game.

I’ve been lathe turning the base off the Hornady 120GMX to 95 grains in order to get the vel up to where they’ll expand reliably. Another I’m curious about is the 100gr Sierra hp that’s listed as a varmint bullet but designed for the 264 Win Mag. Sierra’s website even mentions it is a good medium game bullet at lower velocities.

 

[2506]

I have shot ground hogs with the 100 Sierra HP out of my 6.5x55 at 3000 fps muzzle velocity and between 100 and 200 yards it will make a mess of them. I tried shooting just a few of them in my AR Grendel's and I had feed issues. That big HP almost makes a flat point and I had some catch on the feed ramp and drive the bullet back into the case and cause a jam. It could be if I changed seating depth and fooled a little with them they would shoot but I moved on to other bullets in the 120 gr that I know will work on deer size game.

 

[Lone Hunter]

I have shot ground hogs with the 100 Sierra HP out of my 6.5x55 at 3000 fps muzzle velocity and between 100 and 200 yards it will make a mess of them. I tried shooting just a few of them in my AR Grendel's and I had feed issues. That big HP almost makes a flat point and I had some catch on the feed ramp and drive the bullet back into the case and cause a jam. It could be if I changed seating depth and fooled a little with them they would shoot but I moved on to other bullets in the 120 gr that I know will work on deer size game.

I run the Sierra 85 gr HP out of my AR with no problems. It will feed fine. Probably because it is seated deeper because it is a shorter bullet. I use H335 and CCI 450 in bothe the AR and bolt gun. I only run about a mid range load. The accuracy is very good with the 85's. The 123 ELD M performed great but I have yet to shoot anything with the 85's. As said above go on u tube and watch Double Naught Spy's videos. He doesn't spray and pray. He also does an autopsy and recovers the bullets from the hogs.

 

[Huckleberry75]

I'm running an 8 twist and the 85 gr Sierra HP shoots VERY good with it. It also shoots the 123 ELD's pretty good too. I'm very impressed with the Grendel. Have a bolt gun and an AR and think quite a bit of both.

What speed & length of barrel are ypu running with the 85 and H335? Thx