Latest results on short barrels please.

[bmash]

8.5”, 10.5” and 12” barrel. I have read a BUNCH of discussions on short 6.5 Grendel barrels with LRRPF52 saying 12” is too long now and upcoming tests on 8.5”. Anything new? I love my 18” for deer and have a 8.5” 300BO which I use for pigs. (All suppressed.) I don’t “need” another upper, but a SBR 6.5 upper sure would be an upgrade to my 300. I would use for pigs and coyotes. Maybe deer as well. I may take both to a stand and call after dark…

[A5Blaster Number 2]

8.5”, 10.5” and 12” barrel. I have read a BUNCH of discussions on short 6.5 Grendel barrels with LRRPF52 saying 12” is too long now and upcoming tests on 8.5”. Anything new? I love my 18” for deer and have a 8.5” 300BO which I use for pigs. (All suppressed.) I don’t “need” another upper, but a SBR 6.5 upper sure would be an upgrade to my 300. I would use for pigs and coyotes. Maybe deer as well. I may take both to a stand and call after dark…

Unless you live at high altitude. I wouldn't go shorter then 12 inch.

I have played with grendel as short as 10 inch and find for hunting with a 100 to 120 grain bullet. 12 inch barrels and keeping the shots inside 200 yards is the money area.

[bmash]

Thanks. I am at less than 150! LA and MS.

[A5Blaster Number 2]

Thanks. I am at less than 150! LA and MS.

I'm in nwla. Sabine parish to be exact.

[bmash]

Zachary and Hinds county, ms

[biodsl]

I purchased a 10.5" Satern barrel on clearance a few months back. My general purpose load is a 123gr bullet under 31.2grs of CFE223 @2.245". Here's how it stacks up in my barrels at around 40 degrees:

22" Blackhole Weaponry: 2540-ish fps
16" Lilja: 2420fps
10.5 Satern: 2160fps

I haven't shot it much, but right now I'd say it's a 2MOA-ish barrel.

[lazyengineer]

no way would I go under 12". 6.5Grendel isn't a Presidential Protection SS round that you need to fit under your sport coat. 12" is notably shorter and more handy than a 16". But going from 12" to 8" is significantly diminishing power level with only marginal size savings, since the receiver and stock aren't getting any shorter.

[LRRPF52]

no way would I go under 12". 6.5Grendel isn't a Presidential Protection SS round that you need to fit under your sport coat. 12" is notably shorter and more handy than a 16". But going from 12" to 8" is significantly diminishing power level with only marginal size savings, since the receiver and stock aren't getting any shorter.

It gives you room to fit the overall suppressed weapon length into something still smaller than an M4, and when combined with PDW back-end furniture, fits into MP5 from factor, but lighter.

Shooting lighter projectiles allows you to match or exceed 14.5” M4 muzzle velocity as well.

So for the compact format, the 8.5” Grendel brings things to the table that aren’t possible with other cartridges.

One thing I noticed yesterday shooting 12” suppressed was that it’s much quieter with 100gr ELD-VT and 110gr PPU than it is with 123gr. Muzzle exit pressure must be less in that case.

If we can compress the pressure curve with lighter bullets to manage the muzzle exit pressure, it should have sound reduction benefits as well.

[A5Blaster Number 2]

It gives you room to fit the overall suppressed weapon length into something still smaller than an M4, and when combined with PDW back-end furniture, fits into MP5 from factor, but lighter.

Shooting lighter projectiles allows you to match or exceed 14.5” M4 muzzle velocity as well.

So for the compact format, the 8.5” Grendel brings things to the table that aren’t possible with other cartridges.

One thing I noticed yesterday shooting 12” suppressed was that it’s much quieter with 100gr ELD-VT and 110gr PPU than it is with 123gr. Muzzle exit pressure must be less in that case.

If we can compress the pressure curve with lighter bullets to manage the muzzle exit pressure, it should have sound reduction benefits as well.

Maybe at altitude's where you live and shoot. Down here in the soup air of the south along the Gulf of america. Anything under 12 inches isn't worth the hassle and the reduced length and weight gains aren't worth it either.

[bmash]

Thanks guys!
I’m considering 10.5” and leaning towards a 12.5”. Shorter is better to a point but the length can help when you consider rail space with night time accessories. I love my 8.5” 300BO, but the rail space available isn’t very much. Really no room left if I were to use bipod or a rest. I will be mostly using 90 gr tnt. I’ll do more research on velocity and make a decision.

[biodsl]

Here's a google custom search link for this forum. There are a ton of threads on 12 and 12.5 inch barrels.

https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=016368...d_0xcu1o&hl=en

[LRRPF52]

Maybe at altitude's where you live and shoot. Down here in the soup air of the south along the Gulf of america. Anything under 12 inches isn't worth the hassle and the reduced length and weight gains aren't worth it either.

A good way to think about 8.5” Grendel is to compare to a 16.3” AK or AR in 7.62x39:

7.62x39 123gr .275 G1 BC, 2350fps mv, 29.53 hg (common sea level barometric pressure)



100 2056 fps 1155 ft-lbs
125 1986 fps 1077 ft-lbs 0.1 mils drop 0.6 mils drop
200 1786 fps 871 ft-lbs 0.8 / 0.9
300 1542 fps 650 ft-lbs 2.1 / 1.5
400 1333fps 485 ft-lbs 3.8 / 2.1
500 1167 fps 372 ft-lbs 5.8 / 2.8
525 1134 fps 351 ft-lbs 6.4 / 3.0 Supersonic threshold reached



6.5 Grendel 123gr .571 G1/.287 G7 BC, 2160fps mv, 29.53 hg



100 2023 fps 1117 ft-lbs
125 1989 fps 1081 ft-lbs 0.1 / 0.3 (already beating the 7.62x39 here)
200 1891 fps 976 ft-lbs 0.8 / 0.5
300 1763 fps 849 ft-lbs 2.0 / 0.7
400 1640 fps 735 ft-lbs 3.3 / 1.0
500 1522 fps 633 ft-lbs 4.9 / 1.3
525 1493 fps 609 ft-lbs 5.3 / 1.4
600 1408 fps 541 ft-lbs 6.6 / 1.6
700 1298 fps 460 ft-lbs 8.5 / 2.0
800 1191 fps 388 ft-lbs 10.7 / 2.4
875 1124 fps 345 ft-lbs 12.5 / 2.7

Supersonic to 875yds like 77gr SMK Mk.262

You can turn around and shoot an 80gr 6.5mm at 2625fps from the 8.5” Grendel as well. These PDW-length Grendels get a lot more work done than people might think.

It’s a no-brainer to grab the 8.5” Grendel over an AK. You have nothing but negatives shooting 16.3” 7.62x39 compared to 8.5” Grendel. 8.5” Grendel has 350yds more supersonic reach than the AK.

This is just the beginning of what’s in-store for the short Grendels.

I’ve shot 11.5” to 14.5” 5.56 for decades all over the world at sea level. Short Grendel hits way harder and you can match 14.5” mv with lighter projectiles, but using a wider bullet that will have better terminal effects. It’s a pretty easy choice when you shoot them side-by-side.

[grayfox]

Some suppressors have a stated minimum barrel length for Grendel. For mine (tbac-ultra) it is 11" minimum for the 6.5G... so me personally, I wouldn't recommend anything shorter than 11", the tbac ultra is one of the better ones (IMO) but others could well be similar. 'Course they will have their own specs, so check those out before you decide.

[bmash]

Some suppressors have a stated minimum barrel length for Grendel. For mine (tbac-ultra) it is 11" minimum for the 6.5G... so me personally, I wouldn't recommend anything shorter than 11", the tbac ultra is one of the better ones (IMO) but others could well be similar. 'Course they will have their own specs, so check those out before you decide.

Good point! I have an old SDN6 and a TBAC ultra 7.
They show 11.5” as min for TBAC ultra 7, so I’ll go with 12.5”.
thanks! (I bought my suppressors so long ago I forgot about that restriction! The SDN6 may take it but I don’t care to limit myself to that old heavyweight!

[lazyengineer]

It gives you room to fit the overall suppressed weapon length into something still smaller than an M4, and when combined with PDW back-end furniture, fits into MP5 from factor, but lighter.

Shooting lighter projectiles allows you to match or exceed 14.5” M4 muzzle velocity as well.

So for the compact format, the 8.5” Grendel brings things to the table that aren’t possible with other cartridges.

One thing I noticed yesterday shooting 12” suppressed was that it’s much quieter with 100gr ELD-VT and 110gr PPU than it is with 123gr. Muzzle exit pressure must be less in that case.

If we can compress the pressure curve with lighter bullets to manage the muzzle exit pressure, it should have sound reduction benefits as well.

That's a fair point in terms of package size suppressed. I'm just not into suppressors and don't consider the ballistics performance trade worth the benefit of being quieter - for me. I'm rapidly becoming the minority on that, but that's OK.