Where has this cartridge been all my life?

[wolverine114]

Hey everyone, brand new to the 6.5 Grendel...put one together out of curiosity...found an "on sale" fluted 20" stainless Red X Arms barrel on some PSA blemished parts, still had a 5 round group touching at 100 meters.

I'm not new to shooting, I'm actually an 18 year active duty army Infantryman who spent a lot of money trying to get a 5.56 to shoot as well as this $340 upper I just built...

Now it's an obsession. I have the Grendel II chambering, I have run about 50 rounds through it, 20 Hornady 123 A-max and 30 wolf 100 grain steel case. Function was perfect, acuracy was amazing with hornady, ran about 2 1/2 MOA with the wolf.

But, I'm hearing all about broken bolts and ruptured casings...mostly from the 6.8 SPC crowd. I had one of the wolf casings crack at the base of the throat where it meets the shoulder, not sure if anyone is familiar with stuff like this happening?

[cory]

Welcome to the horde brother.

Ignore those 6.8 guys. As long as the bolt was manufactured correctly and you stay within 55ksi you'll be fine. The split case was probably a combination of the cheaper cases wolf uses and the specific satern chamber you have. If you see it from a virgin Hornady or AA brass then something might be out of spec.

[LRRPF52]

I would have loved to have had this cartridge when I was a kid. At least it came along.

Ruptured casings? Not sure what that means.

Broken bolts are from shops that don't know the Grendel bolt dimensions, and try to use inferior steels, with shoddy heat treating processes, and don't test their product. Happens with 5.56 and 7.62x39 all the time.

Even the ARP and LWRC 6.8 bolts break if people run them at published 6.8 chamber pressures.

A properly built and tested 6.5 Grendel bolt will last a very long time. There are bolts in full auto guns still trucking along.

[NugginFutz]

First, welcome to the Horde, wolverine114. Your'e in dreadful company and among the most unruly rapscallions you will ever know. In other words, you will not find a friendlier, more helpful bunch than here.

As far as what you may have heard from others >cough< 6.8 fanboys >cough< about the evil nature of the Grendel, please put your mind at ease. Broken bolts are largely a thing of the past, from a period when a lot of manufacturers who were new to the game didn't get the metallurgy right and hand loaders were exploring pressure limits. In my opinion, if a bolt breaks nowadays, it is either from an out of true receiver, which causes a Barrel Extension to Bolt Lug misalignment, or someone was hot-rodding their loads a little too long and/or a little too high (affects literally any AR chambering.)

As far as Wolf Steel splitting cases, I seem to remember someone mentioning that they saw one, back when they were first being evaluated. Point there is that this seems to be confined to that specific ammunition. I've not heard of any instances where ordinary brass cased ammunition had exhibited this behavior. I have personally only seen one instance where a case showed signs of splitting, and that was after the 9th or 10th sizing.

I suggest that you observe the following: Procure additional ammunition - Factory Hornady for precision stuff, and Wolf for blasting. Shoot. Enjoy. Repeat as needed.

There has been a long running "Hatfield v. McCoy" style feud going on among some of the SPC and Grendel folks, and most don't remember what started it in the first place. You've seen for yourself what the cartridge is capable of, but don't expect the "Hatfields" to agree with what you now already know. (To hear some of the SPC guys say it, all Grendels disintegrate their BCG's when fired, don't function well with less than 24" of barrel, are only good for paper punching, are ineffective at ranges under 300 yards, etc. etc., but you probably already heard that, too.)

So, congratulations on putting your first (yes, I said first) Grendel together, and having it function without issue.

[Mecharius]

Your post title is exactly what I thought when I discovered the Grendel.

[wolverine114]

Well, it's good to be here and thank you for the warm welcome.

The 6.8 crowd is amusing...and they get really upset when you tell them that 6.8 is just an intermediate range, harder hitting (supposedly) 5.56.

I bought an Alexander Arms bolt, so I'm going to assume a broken bolt isn't something I need to be overly concerned about. Same goes for the wolf ammo. I apreciate all the good info.

I know exactly what you are saying about my "first" grendel...I drove home thinking about rebarreling my 5.56....and if I didn't have all this dang ammo, it probably would have already happened. So, a 14.5 inch pinned lightweight barrel upper is already in the planning stage.

[jagonh]

I agree with nugginfutz a bullet is only as good as the guy behind it, a gut shot is still a gut shot unless ts from a bmg lol. If you have to squeeze everything you can possibly get out of a caliber then its time to go forward to a bigger one. Plus when you start playing out of specs you get what you asked for.

[VASCAR2]

Welcome aboard, split cases with the Wolf FMJ using laquer steel cases is common but I haven't heard of any ill effects other than being a little dirty. The bi-metal bullets from the wolf is more of a concern for me because of the potential accelerated barrel wear.

[JASmith]

Welcome aboard Wolverine!

I have come, slowly, to understand how truly unique the Grendel is.

That realization came only after a lot of study, research, and writing.

I am a little envious of those like you who get the picture immediately!

Cheers!

[Rickyi]

Your post title is exactly what I thought when I discovered the Grendel.

This was the same with me too! I had heard and saw were Ambush/DD was building the 6.8 and then a friend told me if you really want a good round for both deer hunting & paper punching, go get yourself a 6.5 Grendel & I said, what the heck is that? The rest is History!

Enjoy your 6.5 Grendel....
Ricky

[ah1whiskey]

i have been shooting the 6.5 wolf steel case quite a bit lately through a sprinta .264LBC rifle and a sabre 14.5" m4 clone- pinned to 16" with 6.5G bolt depth.

so far it has been fine through both of um, maybe a little dirty though--lol.

no issues with bulges, cracks ect-- the spent cases are so pristine i am tempted to re-load um--


i am retired infantry myself , sent many rounds down rage with the 5.56 -- i do recall a few M4 bolts going bork in a really hot dry place i won't mention here.

i haven't had any bolt problems so far with any of the three 6.5s i have and i am using some el-cheapos . i haven't fired thousands and thousands of 6.5 rounds but i expect they should last at least as long as those m4s did on the mk262s , which would be longer than all the 6.5 ammo i got loaded stocked up.

provided you have a properly made bolt that fits as it should i don't see a huge issue.

i did see one of my pals SBR 7.62x39s break a bolt -- i haven't broke a 7.62x39, 5.45x39 or 6.5 bolt yet -- i suspect that it is because i try to keep the gas system , buffers and dwell pretty close to USGI standards.


i think the entire bolt breaking deal is a bit overstated by the interwebs media mouth automatic scuttlebutt repeating system.

hey i got my sabra m4 barrel from red-X and i am using the .136 bolt from them with it --seems to run like a champ.