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I think I've read on this subforum or a couple of the other subforums, statements that say that w/o the AR platform, the 6.5 Grendel would cease to exist as one would go to the 6.5 CM, 260Rem, 6.5x55, 6.5 PRC, or other higher performance 6.5s.
While it's true that the 6.5 Grendel is of lower performance than many/most of the other 6.5s out there, there are a couple of things about the 6.5 Grendel that tend to get overlooked in comparison to larger 6.5 cartridges.
a. recoil. lets face it, lower mv and smaller powder charges for the same bullet and rifle weight means less recoil. one may or may not care about this, but there are situations that makes the lower recoil very attractive. training new shooters comes to mind. also no matter how macho we are, it's been documented over and over again that people shoot better with less recoil. So hitting where you're aiming with the Grendel is better than missing the target with the 6.5-300 Wby every day.
b. and the lower performance also comes due to about 1/2 or less of the powder charges used in comparison to the higher performance 6.5s. If you reload and currently struggle to find powder, using less per round right now may seem like a good thing.
c. for the same barrel length, with the lower chamber pressure and smaller powder charges, you get a lower muzzle blast/report. muzzle blast noise can be an issue. Some landowners may let you hunt on their land if you're round is not so loud it's obnoxious. of course for you folks with cans on the end that might be a moot point as well.
d. the lower chamber pressure and petite powder appetite results in very long barrel life. Go look at the barrel life of the 6.5-300 Wby. Ultimate performance. replace barrel by 500 rounds or so. the 6.5 Grendel barrel life is probably close to 10K or more. Throat erosion should be pretty low with the lower chamber pressure and petite powder capacity. Many competitive shooters using 6.5CM are replacing barrels 1 or 2x a year. Having a barrel last a long time at top accuracy always is a good thing in my book. Yours too probably.
e. lower chamber pressure typically results in higher number of reloads per case before the case gives out. loose primer pockets, etc. If you don't reload, a moot point, but when you see a note on the reloading subforum that xxxx has 6.5 G brass for sale and by the time you hit the link it's already all gone, getting 10+ reloads out of the brass you do have is much better than 2 or 3 for sure.
f. lower weight/smaller volume for the ammo. probably a small issue, but, on a backpack hunt when you're counting oz, 5 to 10 rounds of Grendel will be lighter and take up less room in the pack than the bigger 6.5s.
So yes, the bigger cased 6.5s do have more performance of course, but even aside from the AR platform, there are a lot of features of the 6.5 Grendel that hold good merit all on their own.
at least that's my opinion.
-tdbru
While it's true that the 6.5 Grendel is of lower performance than many/most of the other 6.5s out there, there are a couple of things about the 6.5 Grendel that tend to get overlooked in comparison to larger 6.5 cartridges.
a. recoil. lets face it, lower mv and smaller powder charges for the same bullet and rifle weight means less recoil. one may or may not care about this, but there are situations that makes the lower recoil very attractive. training new shooters comes to mind. also no matter how macho we are, it's been documented over and over again that people shoot better with less recoil. So hitting where you're aiming with the Grendel is better than missing the target with the 6.5-300 Wby every day.
b. and the lower performance also comes due to about 1/2 or less of the powder charges used in comparison to the higher performance 6.5s. If you reload and currently struggle to find powder, using less per round right now may seem like a good thing.
c. for the same barrel length, with the lower chamber pressure and smaller powder charges, you get a lower muzzle blast/report. muzzle blast noise can be an issue. Some landowners may let you hunt on their land if you're round is not so loud it's obnoxious. of course for you folks with cans on the end that might be a moot point as well.
d. the lower chamber pressure and petite powder appetite results in very long barrel life. Go look at the barrel life of the 6.5-300 Wby. Ultimate performance. replace barrel by 500 rounds or so. the 6.5 Grendel barrel life is probably close to 10K or more. Throat erosion should be pretty low with the lower chamber pressure and petite powder capacity. Many competitive shooters using 6.5CM are replacing barrels 1 or 2x a year. Having a barrel last a long time at top accuracy always is a good thing in my book. Yours too probably.
e. lower chamber pressure typically results in higher number of reloads per case before the case gives out. loose primer pockets, etc. If you don't reload, a moot point, but when you see a note on the reloading subforum that xxxx has 6.5 G brass for sale and by the time you hit the link it's already all gone, getting 10+ reloads out of the brass you do have is much better than 2 or 3 for sure.
f. lower weight/smaller volume for the ammo. probably a small issue, but, on a backpack hunt when you're counting oz, 5 to 10 rounds of Grendel will be lighter and take up less room in the pack than the bigger 6.5s.
So yes, the bigger cased 6.5s do have more performance of course, but even aside from the AR platform, there are a lot of features of the 6.5 Grendel that hold good merit all on their own.
at least that's my opinion.
-tdbru
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