01-10-2012, 08:53 PM
stokesrj Wrote:The rim diameter was .4580".
I agree this was a great cartridge that was neglected for the wrong reasons. What I have learned by using various calibers on the game fields all over the world, is that an intermediate cartridge is really the best all around choice. Preferably one that has long for caliber bullets, so this leads us to something in the .25 to .28 diameter range at modest velocities. In Africa, the 6.5 X 54 and 7 X 57 are revered for their effectiveness on game above and beyond more powerful calibers. In my opinion .25 is too light and 7mm is getting into excessive recoil with long for caliber bullets so 6.5 is ideal in my humble opinion.
My first encounter with the 6.5x55 was one of doubt until I saw it perform on Dall Sheep, Caribou, Moose and Grizzly Bears. This was on the Brooks Range of Alaska and I was a young guide, expecting to have to use my big rifle, but never did. In fact, I could tell no difference in effectiveness on Grizzlies between the 6.5 X 55 and the .375 H&H. The bear would roll around bite at the wound and die. Of course shot placement is still a critical determining factor and every hunter I guided with the 6.5X55 placed his shots perfectly. These were mostly northern European hunters from Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Germany.
When you combine the similar performance of the 6.5 Grendel to the 6.5X54 or 55 and combine that with the wonderful ergonomics of the AR platform, it is truly a great system, and when used intelligently, is a very capable in the game fields, on the target range, or for social applications.
Bob
Thanks. That rim diameter is really close to a 6.5 Carcano rim diameter (.451"), with a shorter case of 42mm for the .280 originally then.
I agree that 6.5mm is the optimum intermediate cartridge caliber for the reasons you stated. 7mm is getting into more recoil for light weapons, and 6mm is a bit small for retained energy on-target at distance.
I was just out hunting with some friends here in Finland this weekend, and although we didn't see any deer, one got a very large rabbit with his 6.5x55 Swede, producing an impressive 3.5" exit wound with the 156gr Norma Oryx in an animal whose shoulders were no more than 6 or 7 inches wide. The 6.5x55 Swede is one of the best all-round rifles out there, with little recoil and moderate pressures.
The Grendel with a larger bolt can bite the heels of the Swede quite hard I think, since a buddy of mine is getting 2700fps with 139gr Scenars out of his CZ527 micro-action 6.5 Grendel. That is definitely Swede territory.
From the military side, it seems that the US and England even were leaning more towards a cartridge for riflemen that was closer to the capabilities of the previous battle rifles, rather than the sub-machinegun side of the scale with the 7.62x25 and 7.92x33 like the Ppsh and Sturmgewehr.
The .280 leaned more towards the rifle side definitely, but nowhere near as much as the 7.62x51, which isn't intermediate at all.
I wonder if the Danes, Belgians, Norwegians, and Germans would have followed suit of the British design, or come up with their own intermediate calibers. It would have been better to see England take the lead in that realm, since we could have LMG's chambered in the .280, along with the 5.56 carbines and rifles. That would make a great system. The Grendel seems to sit right on the fulcrum of the balance between all these cartridges.