I've had some requests that I make this its own post and sticky, so I'll put it up as such and if its a worthwhile I'll sticky it.
And yea, verily, I say unto you, before there was Grendel, there was Beowulf. And Beowulf required a bolt, for it was a rebated case, and Bill Alexander did search high and low, and went hither and yon, and did labor greatly to find a bolt that would make Beowulf a usable cartridge. For Beowulf was the first of the large bore cartridges for the AR15, and as yet, no one had found a bolt.
And he did peer into the archives, and found the work of Colt, for Colt had done much work with the 7.62x39. And Bill Alexander did note that the rebated rim of the Beowulf could be designed to be like unto the diameter of the 7.62x39. And Colt had discovered that the rim of 7.62x39 was thicker than the rim of 5.56. And Colt did recognize that rim thickness was important, and they did make the depth of the face greater than the bolt of the 5.56, and this did allow the extractor to have greater purchase, yea and that did allow the bolt to work more effectively. And Bill Alexander saw that it was good, and he did design the bolt of the Beowulf to be like unto the bolts that Colt did produce in the past. And he did make some enhancements, for verily, verily, there were enhancements to be made. And it was good, and thus Beowulf came to be, and it became much desired. And Alexander Arms did begin to sell many of the Beowulfs and great was the demand for ammunition and rifles.
And Bill Alexander did begin to desire a hunting cartridge for the AR15. And he did believe that a short, fat cartridge would be good and that a 6.5 mm bullet would be optimal for the case capacity. And he was introduced to Arne Brennan, and Arne Brennan had many similar ideas, and had begun shooting a 6.5mm cartridge based upon the 6mm PPC cartridge, which was itself based upon the .220 Russian cartridge, which itself was based upon the 7.62x39 cartridge. And Bill Alexander saw that it was good. And he worked with Arne Brennan, and then with Lapua, and they made changes and improvements, for verily there was indeed room to make changes, and to improve upon the long neck of the PPC cartridge. And so the neck and shoulder geometry was improved with the help of the Finns. And Bill Alexander did pay greatly for the tooling to build the cases in Finland. And the new cartridge was called the .264 Grendel, and David Fortier did say unto Bill Alexander, "No way Dude, it should be the 6.5 Grendel!" and he did argue persuasively, and thus it was.
And because Bill Alexander had based the Beowulf rim upon the earlier work done by Colt upon the bolt for the 7.62x39, and because Colt had far more experience with the AR15 designs, and because the 6.5 Grendel case was based upon the .220 Russian, and the .220 Russian was based on the 7.62x39, verily the bolt had come full circle and now it was seen that the same bolt could be used for 2 different cartridges, without changes.
But others did not have access to the Colt designs, or they did not do sufficient research and simply opened up 5.56 bolts and used the same face depth and called the bolts "7.62x39", and many of them broke easily, while others worked well. But there was great confusion, and thus it continues, even unto this day. And often, those who are not aware of the history cry out, "Why, oh why, did Bill Alexander design a proprietary bolt for the Grendel?" For they fail to seek out the answer, yea, verily, even though the facts are available on the internet!
And thus it is that the Grendel bolt came to be, for it is not, in reality, the Grendel bolt, having been designed BEFORE the Grendel came to be. Yea, it should indeed be called the Beowulf bolt, and then all might easily understand the history!
And yea, verily, I say unto you, before there was Grendel, there was Beowulf. And Beowulf required a bolt, for it was a rebated case, and Bill Alexander did search high and low, and went hither and yon, and did labor greatly to find a bolt that would make Beowulf a usable cartridge. For Beowulf was the first of the large bore cartridges for the AR15, and as yet, no one had found a bolt.
And he did peer into the archives, and found the work of Colt, for Colt had done much work with the 7.62x39. And Bill Alexander did note that the rebated rim of the Beowulf could be designed to be like unto the diameter of the 7.62x39. And Colt had discovered that the rim of 7.62x39 was thicker than the rim of 5.56. And Colt did recognize that rim thickness was important, and they did make the depth of the face greater than the bolt of the 5.56, and this did allow the extractor to have greater purchase, yea and that did allow the bolt to work more effectively. And Bill Alexander saw that it was good, and he did design the bolt of the Beowulf to be like unto the bolts that Colt did produce in the past. And he did make some enhancements, for verily, verily, there were enhancements to be made. And it was good, and thus Beowulf came to be, and it became much desired. And Alexander Arms did begin to sell many of the Beowulfs and great was the demand for ammunition and rifles.
And Bill Alexander did begin to desire a hunting cartridge for the AR15. And he did believe that a short, fat cartridge would be good and that a 6.5 mm bullet would be optimal for the case capacity. And he was introduced to Arne Brennan, and Arne Brennan had many similar ideas, and had begun shooting a 6.5mm cartridge based upon the 6mm PPC cartridge, which was itself based upon the .220 Russian cartridge, which itself was based upon the 7.62x39 cartridge. And Bill Alexander saw that it was good. And he worked with Arne Brennan, and then with Lapua, and they made changes and improvements, for verily there was indeed room to make changes, and to improve upon the long neck of the PPC cartridge. And so the neck and shoulder geometry was improved with the help of the Finns. And Bill Alexander did pay greatly for the tooling to build the cases in Finland. And the new cartridge was called the .264 Grendel, and David Fortier did say unto Bill Alexander, "No way Dude, it should be the 6.5 Grendel!" and he did argue persuasively, and thus it was.
And because Bill Alexander had based the Beowulf rim upon the earlier work done by Colt upon the bolt for the 7.62x39, and because Colt had far more experience with the AR15 designs, and because the 6.5 Grendel case was based upon the .220 Russian, and the .220 Russian was based on the 7.62x39, verily the bolt had come full circle and now it was seen that the same bolt could be used for 2 different cartridges, without changes.
But others did not have access to the Colt designs, or they did not do sufficient research and simply opened up 5.56 bolts and used the same face depth and called the bolts "7.62x39", and many of them broke easily, while others worked well. But there was great confusion, and thus it continues, even unto this day. And often, those who are not aware of the history cry out, "Why, oh why, did Bill Alexander design a proprietary bolt for the Grendel?" For they fail to seek out the answer, yea, verily, even though the facts are available on the internet!
And thus it is that the Grendel bolt came to be, for it is not, in reality, the Grendel bolt, having been designed BEFORE the Grendel came to be. Yea, it should indeed be called the Beowulf bolt, and then all might easily understand the history!
You seek escape from pain. We seek the achievement of happiness. You exist for the sake of avoiding punishment. We exist for the sake of earning rewards. Threats will not make us function; fear is not our incentive. It is not death that we wish to avoid, but life that we wish to live. - John Galt
![[Image: 65G_Bolt_Info_600x2025_zps60e1ff32.png]](http://i1286.photobucket.com/albums/a607/HACLLC/65G_Bolt_Info_600x2025_zps60e1ff32.png)
