Why I Chose to Hunt with the 6.5 Grendel

[bj139]

30-06 ballistics gel test by the same company.
The difference is startling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8E138NgyFs

[bj139]

Here is another elk hunt with the 6.5 Grendel.
Both this video and the previous elk hunt video show the hunters using an AA Overwatch 24" upper.
I have the same upper.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO51KPbbmFk

[LRRPF52]

Here is another elk hunt with the 6.5 Grendel.
Both this video and the previous elk hunt video show the hunters using an AA Overwatch 24" upper.
I have the same upper.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO51KPbbmFk

I think I would have just let that first shot be, let him bleed out where he was comfortable. If I was going to take a 2nd shot, since they had a register on a nice light-colored hide, they know exact POI at that range for sure, so make a head shot and call it a day, but I think the first was fine. Most times, people startle the animal more and just encourage it to run away from the danger, but notice how this bull didn't have it in him to run.

I know a guy that made the same type of shot, bedded down elk, with a 6.5 CM gasser, and he just let him bleed out after seeing a good hit.

[Frontier Gear]

30-06 ballistics gel test by the same company.
The difference is startling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8E138NgyFs

This shows what I was referring to with "excessive bloodshot" and "overkill". The 30-06 liquefies that gel block. If the 6.5 Grendel, 6.8 SPC and .50 Beowulf can all legally, reliably and humanly kill big game, why would I want to destroy all that meat with a 30-06 or something even more powerful like a 7mm Mag?

30-06
30-06 Gel1.jpg
30-06 Gel2.jpg

Others
Gel Test.jpg

[bj139]

I am thinking....you men just might be right. Yes.

[ErikS]

I have never seen an elk hunt on camera where the elk bolted when shot, they seem to shrug it off and die. Deer, unless you hit a CNS or nerve bundle seem to bolt and run even with a mushed heart.

[Timmy2Knives]

I would feel much more comfortable with a 6.5CM (vs Grendel) in elk country.

Deer with 6.5G all day. No question.

[BoltConvert]

Only have my own experiences to offer.
I have read a lot, but real-time data has the greatest impact.
Put a .50 cal slug into the shoulder of a spike blacktail buck, he ran, like he had four good legs, for 75yds, hooked into cover and collapsed for good. With only 3 legs and heavily damaged lungs.
Adrenaline I think.
Kid put (4) .375 cal partition slugs into a cow moose, it wouldn't drop. Until his last shot severed the spine above the shoulders.
Wife dropped a cow moose with one well placed double lung shot from an '06 180gr winchester soft tips. That critter went about 50yds to cover and lay down and expired in under a minute.
I put a 6.5cal. 120gr, Ballistic Tip Nosler into the lungs and spine of a small bull caribou. Dropped in its tracks and expired in seconds.
The same rifle will be getting a trigger upgrade soon, (on back order @ Brownell's) and put lead into some coyotes, and maybe a lynx, fox, or wolf.
The Grendel kills no better than any other , but it is an excellent, versatile hunting and target shooting cartridge.
A pleasure to shoot all day long for practice and load development; superior bullet choices for hunting and long range work, what more could you want?
I have a long well established love for all things 7mm, but the 6.5 is challenging that. A versatile cartridge like this, in the adaptable AR rifle platform offers the hunter a very, very good, one size fits all weapon.
We have big carnivorous bears in AK, so there will always be a "big gun" or two in our camp. There will always be a 6.5G in camp as well, for EVERYTHING else!

[Frontier Gear]

Why animals sometimes DRT (Drop Right There) and other times run can be mysterious and is full of opinions. It doesn't necessarily mean that the particular round is a good hunting round or not. I have seen numerous 1,000+ pound cattle instantly drop when shot with a 22LR in the head. That doesn't mean that the 22LR is recommended for hunting 300 pound bear or even an 80 pound deer. At the same time I've seen deer run 100 yards after getting their heart blown up with a 30-06.

Ever cut a head off of a chicken or a duck? You would think that would make them stop, but they take off running around like....well like a chicken with it's head cut off. Sometimes they even take off flying. It's like the body goes into freak-out mode with no one at the controls. They don't stop until the blood pumps/drains out of the body. We raise ducks and every fall the two year old's get butchered. The best thing I've found is to put the head in a noose, slit the throat and let them bleed out. They still go bonkers until the blood is drained, but at least they are easier to control and you don't get as bloody.

Moses knew what he was talking about when he wrote in Leviticus 17:11

For the life of the flesh is in the blood

and Leviticus 17:14

for it (blood) is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life

So here is my opinion. No science or charts...

What makes them DRT or fall over isn't necessarily what kills them.

Two things are good at making deer fall down (DRT) when shot.

1. Knocking out their legs from underneath them. Deer can easily run with just three legs, but if you happen to break a shoulder that they are putting weight on, they fall over. If they aren't putting weight on it when you shoot it they will probably take off running though.
2. Central nervous system damage. Unlike ducks, head and spine shots work really well on large mammals. Your target is no longer a 10 inch circle though.

If they take off running when they get shot, what makes them stop running is blood loss, just like the ducks and chickens. A double lung shot is basically the same thing as blood loss since oxygen rich blood is no longer getting to the brain, organs and muscles.

All that being said, I aim for the shoulder and try to get the heart/lungs at the same time. Knock his legs out from under him and create enough internal hemorrhaging (blood loss) that he doesn't get back up.

This is where the 6.5 Grendel comes into play. It can punch through those tough shoulder, ribs and leg bones and still create the necessary internal blood loss. At the same time it doesn't destroy all the surrounding meat due to excessive velocity or energy.

I chose the Grendel based on:

• What I hunt
• The distance at which I am hunting
• The anatomy of the target zone

If I was "hunting" deer at 5 yards, I would use a 22LR and shoot them in the top of the head like a cow.

[LRRPF52]

Another thing to consider is that we normally hunt big game in at least pairs.

I think a lightweight 6.5 Grendel that shoots from positions well is a good option to have, in addition to another rifle where you might have more time to get into position, settle into that position while the other ranges and measures wind, and spots for you.

6.5 Grendel and 6.5 Creedmoor/6.5x47/.260 Rem/6.5x284, or 7mm-08, 7mm Mag, etc. are good hunting combos.

[CaptFacePwn]

Wish i would have read this a long time ago. Would have solidified my choice in the 6.5G instead of racking my brain between 6.8SPC, 6.5G, and others.

[sneaky one]

L 52, that is a great idea for a hunt team- same diam. bullets, make up loads for each, using same bullets , to expect sim. results from short range, & longer ranges.

I had a similar idea years back- 30-30, & .308. & 30-06 in our family 20 years ago, The flex tip was not around then, otherwise we would have tried it for all our .30 cals.


The reasons that I hunt with a 6.5 Grrr? It is my first AR in 2008. It's a cool factor,

I hunt with 2 Timberwolf Packs nearby, a cougar is in the area, many antlerless tags were available then, Lots of brush to poke a bullet through,

I wanted to shoot some long range targets, I wanted a mid size round , to minimize the on game damage that we were getting from the 7mm, & .30 cal's.

I felt the need for High capacity mags., to keep me in safety mode, 1 in gun -2 in ready pack- just in case..

That we in Northern MN have used for decades. I was scoffed at by a few, that saw my Mattel gun. I painted the flash hider blaze orange .

So when the monkeys would stop by to place a comment, on side of dirt road where we drop the Ice Castle camp trailer- Yes, I would say- it's a paint ball gun.

Shock value, Then Dudley Dooright shows up in 2009, --- The Game Enforcement Officer , could not believe that my Grrr was legal to hunt with...

20 minutes on his laptop later--- Oh, you're fine he said... so you call that contraption , an AR ? Geeze............

Also like the way the rifle can be carried, and fast mag reloads if needed. 6.5mm is the best caliber, for a many reasons. Study it...

Also the results I get with lighter wt. LFP's are better than std. cup core pills. Way better than the big .30 cal's. For short range hunts.

I did my best to push for the best for this round. Many options are showing up now in LFP.

[Frontier Gear]

A 6.5 Grendel paired with the 6.5 Creedmoor would be awesome. Next on my list is a 6.5 Creedmoor upper for my AR10. I just showed my youngest boy the budget build 6.5 Grendel and he was drooling pretty heavily over using it next season for deer and bear. The light weight and nice trigger had him hooked. They would be a good father-son combo.
Budget Grendel.jpg

http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthread.php?15526-Better-Entry-Level-Grendel&p=176737&viewfull=1#post176737

We often do hunt in pairs. Two hunting buddies come to mind. The first likes to carry a 300 blackout pistol and hunts in thicker brush. When I'm with him my 6.5 Grendel is the long range option. My other buddy carries a 338 Win. Mag and likes to find wide open fields or clearings across mountain draws. When I'm with him, anything under 400 yards is mine to pass up. Beyond that it's his. Personally I think that the 300blk pistol and 338 Win Mag are on opposite ends of the extremes, but to each his own.