16" for deer at 200+

[Trock03]

I'm working on getting a Grendel put together with some spares I've got laying around. I have the opportunity to pick up a 16" barrel and am curious about people's experiences with Grendel effectiveness on deer/hogs out past 200 yards with that barrel length. I hunt in south Texas a lot so long shots are pretty frequent down there.

The 16" interests me because they're easy to manage inside a deer stand. My preferred rifle is my 25.06 but the 26" tube can be a pain in the stand/vehicle. The ballistics of the Grendel are great but I'm curious to hear about some real-world experience with a shorter barrel.

TC

[LRRPF52]

Welcome. There are a lot of posts in the hunting section with hunters using 16" barrels, 14.5" barrels, and even 10.5" barrels on hogs and deer. I'm also a big fan of the .25-06. The trajectory of the .25-06 makes it an excellent antelope and medium game cartridge for regions out here in the West, where you often need more reach. I grew up on the .270 Winchester, which is a very popular cartridge for the same reasons.

A 16" Grendel will easily handle deer and medium game at 200yds+. With the 123gr SST, you still are at 1800fps out to 350-410yds, depending on muzzle velocity, but I still think shot placement is most important, which leads me into one of the main lures of the Grendel:

You can literally blast away all day long with a lightweight 16" 6.5 Grendel, and shoot small clusters at 200yds, 300yds, 400yds, or whatever the accuracy potential is between you and the system. Your kids can do the same, and there is little felt recoil or muzzle blast. For getting up into the stands, an AR15 carbine is hard to beat, unless we start talking about a Henry Rifle or TC Contender pistol.

It's hard to find an easier system to train with, and become practically-accurate with for field conditions. You start off with an action that is inherently accurate, drop in a good trigger or do some easy trigger work, buy 10 boxes or more of some factory ammo, and get good with the carbine, to include shooting from the same positions you will use in the field.

Here's a thread discussing your very topic, with mention of a deer shot at a lasered 437 yds. http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showt...r-issues/page3

[XcountryRider]

If you reload you can get great velocities with the 100gr Nosler BT hunting and that 120gr Barnes TSX really flys with AA2520.

[sneaky one]

Trock, welcome in-any barrel 16" plus is fine-if you can pick the hair you want to hit and follow thru. I like the 20" because it is the best for target, and hunting-I can go to 400 easy with the 20" if need be. I don't like to shoot extreme range at game-seen too many animals suffer-wander off. I prefer close in hits, like a hitman. Bang = perfect hit=down.
The performance will be good with most stock bullets =100-130 gr.

Shoot it, see your effective personal range distances. Be realistic of what you see-& can achieve. Not all of us are bred to be long range sniper class.
If not happy-trust me-the bbl will sell here in a day!
Enjoy the caliber-it is the best of the mid range AR calibers-close & far =does most just fine.

Hunt with me for a wknd. =you can smell the deer coming at you! So close in the thick woods..
StokesRJ uses a 14.5 bbl. He shoots game all over the earth-he loves the shorty 6.5 Grr bbl.

[Trock03]

Thanks for the comments. The 25.06 gives me a lot of confidence to take long range shots. The rifle is flawlessly accurate. I'm hoping this Grendel barrel will prove to be as accurate. There a lot of variables involved but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. In case anyone is curious, the lower it will be mounted on carries an A2 stock and Geiselle enhanced trigger.

Thanks again for the replies.

TC

[81police]

I used to hunt with a factory AA chromed lined 16" Grendel upper. I did not shoot out to 200 yards but the picture below were 2 hogs I took at 140 yards with that upper & 120gr. TSX's. On the range this particular upper was disappointing, averaging 3" groups @ 100 with multiple shooters trying it. This certainly was not indicative of all 16" Grendels only this particular AA upper. I too liked the short barrel length for getting in, out, and maneuvering in deer stands. Had the opportunity for another 16" came along I would have loved to use it.

[XcountryRider]

What load are you using with the 120tsx?

[KentuckyBuddha]

Is there are chance that tube does not like those pills or did they do as other projectiles as well? Were those DRT kills?

[XcountryRider]

I'm thinking the 100gr Barnes TSX would be pretty wicked in a 16in barrel. I'm getting 2750fps in my 18in barrel for the 100gr Nosler BT. Assuming a 20fps drop for each inch that means you could be around 2700fps in a 16in barrel. Not sure how the speed of the 100gr Nosler is going to compare to the speed of the 100gr Barnes but i'm sure they will be similar.

[hm2 clark]

I shoot some @ hogs. Mostly with a 14.5 grendel using 120 gr Remington coreloks. Make no mistake the grendel is effective at 250-300 yards. Its even effective at 400+ yards. I just have a hard time hitting a running hog at 400 yards, so at that range its not really one shot one kill; at that range it's more pest control than sporting. But for sure, if I hit a hog in the chest, neck, head or spine and its bang flop. I dont shoot at deer at that range. For me having 30 more rounds in a magazine to fix my first bad shot is an unsat way to hunt.

[81police]

Both of those hogs died where they stood within 5 feet of each other, both with full pass through shoulder shots. The 120gr. TSX was factory AA ammo. I now use 123gr. SST's (factory Hornady) but that's only because my new 18" upper prefers it.

Out of the 9 hogs I've shot with Grendels since December, only 1 has ran, and it was an SST bullet from a range of 150 yards. That hog was hit squarely on the shoulder, full bullet pass through, and he ran like a drunk man for 20 yards.

[KentuckyBuddha]

That is good to know thanks.