Who else is hunting with a 6.5 Grendel?

[Titan_Bow]

I've built an AR for my son in 6.8SPC and he's taken 2 deer with it. 16" barrel and M4 stock, makes it ideal for youth. But, its darn fun to shoot too. I know its not the 6.5, but they are both so close within 300 yards. I find the recoil almost non-existent really. My son was able to stay on the glass and make a quick follow up shot on his first deer when he was 10. That right there paid for itself, becuase I doubt a 10 year old could have been able to quickly bolt another round with something like a 308, creedmoor, 7mm-08, 243..

 

[Newtosavage]

I've built an AR for my son in 6.8SPC and he's taken 2 deer with it. 16" barrel and M4 stock, makes it ideal for youth. But, its darn fun to shoot too. I know its not the 6.5, but they are both so close within 300 yards. I find the recoil almost non-existent really. My son was able to stay on the glass and make a quick follow up shot on his first deer when he was 10. That right there paid for itself, becuase I doubt a 10 year old could have been able to quickly bolt another round with something like a 308, creedmoor, 7mm-08, 243..

Agreed. I started my daughter (10 at the time) with a single shot .243 and although it worked very well (2 shots, 2 deer in 2 consecutive seasons) she really didn't enjoy shooting it. Thank goodness for our local 4-H .22 rifle program because without all that trigger time beforehand, I think the .243 single shot would have caused her to flinch pretty badly otherwise. When she was 12 she shot a nice mature buck at about 125 yards with her .243 and she couldn't have weighed 85 lbs. at the time. That was the last time she pulled the trigger on that gun.

I think if I had a 6.5 Grendel or 6.8 SPC for her, that would have been a different story. People call .243's "kids" guns but IMO the recoil is still pretty sharp and they are loud for what you get downrange. My 6.5 Grendel will keep pace, or even exceed .243 ballistics with a lot less recoil and noise. It's just a more pleasant gun to shoot all around.

 

[Newtosavage]

Well I couldn't take it anymore and I finally got out the rasp, sandpaper, hacksaw and wood files and went to work on the plastic Howa Mini stock on my Grendel. It bugged me that the rifle and scope combo was over 7 lbs. LOL Not sure why it bothered me so much, but it did.

I thinned out the forend, put a round taper on it and hacked off that ridiculous blob on the bottom of the pistol grip. Got a pretty decent workout doing it all by hand, but it didn't take as long as I had expected. I ended up with a pile of green plastic at my feet that weighed 4 oz., taking my complete rifle from 7 lbs. 1 oz. down to 6 lbs. 13 oz. And the forend fits in my hand a lot better. Losing most of the weight around the barrel made it point a little quicker too.

There were some tiny little bubbles in the plastic near the forend, so I may or may not paint the stock to cover those up. Going to give it a few months and then decide. I like the sponge paint jobs I've seen on here, so that's probably what it will get if I go that route.

BTW I did pull the recoil pad off and it weighs 3 1/2 oz. so if I really wanted to shave more weight I guess I could go with a flip-flop pad. But I'm pretty happy with where it's at right now. I pulled the pad to make sure the pistol grip was solid. It was, which is why I just took a hacksaw to it to trim it down. Hollowing that out and gluing a cap on would probably drop another ounce, but like I said, I like where it's at now. It's getting closer to the stock that Howa should have sold with the Mini.

 

[Newtosavage]

A few pics...

 

[Newtosavage]

So at least for now, I think I'm done tinkering with this rifle. I trimmed the magazine latch and flushed the mag, worked up a great hunting load using 130 grain Sierra Gamechangers and LeverEvolution powder, epoxy bedded the stock (it already had aluminum pillars) and found a great scope with a ballistic reticle that matches the load almost exactly. It gives me sub MOA groups with boring regularity, and best of all the first shot is always where I expect it to be.

I've had the gun for about 2 months now and it's already accounted for 1 deer (more to come), 11 pigs, four coyotes and one bobcat. Darn handy hunting rifle!

 

[BeaverHunter]

I was thinking of one of the Ruger American Rifles in 6.5 grendel. Looks like I can buy one for$399. 22 inch threaded barrel, 10 round magazine. You think thats enough gun for buck Mule Deer? Any body have one of these guns? Dont really need one of these as I have a nice 6.5 284 but this caliber intrigues me because of the low recoil.

 

[Newtosavage]

I was thinking of one of the Ruger American Rifles in 6.5 grendel. Looks like I can buy one for$399. 22 inch threaded barrel, 10 round magazine. You think thats enough gun for buck Mule Deer? Any body have one of these guns? Dont really need one of these as I have a nice 6.5 284 but this caliber intrigues me because of the low recoil.

Keep your shots inside of 300 yards and I'd say it's plenty for a muley buck. The Grendel out of a good bolt action, is accurate and carries plenty of energy and very high SD bullets out to most anyone's practical hunting distances. My 130 grain Gamechangers are still clocking 1800 fps at 400 yards.

 

[JWP58]

When I had a mini lightweight grendel I shaved it down to about 6lbs 4oz with scope and 4rds. The key was trimming down the hogue knock off stock.

Newsavage has the right idea, but you can lose a few more ounces by shortening the forend (save the end cap and epoxy it back on).

 

[howl]

I was thinking of one of the Ruger American Rifles in 6.5 grendel. Looks like I can buy one for$399. 22 inch threaded barrel, 10 round magazine. You think thats enough gun for buck Mule Deer? Any body have one of these guns? Dont really need one of these as I have a nice 6.5 284 but this caliber intrigues me because of the low recoil.

6.5-284 slows down to Grendel speed at around 300 yards. So, however far you'd shoot one with the 6.5-284 less 300 yards.

 

[Newtosavage]

6.5-284 slows down to Grendel speed at around 300 yards. So, however far you'd shoot one with the 6.5-284 less 300 yards.

Or, the 6.5 Creed minus 100.

 

[Newtosavage]

When I had a mini lightweight grendel I shaved it down to about 6lbs 4oz with scope and 4rds. The key was trimming down the hogue knock off stock.

Newsavage has the right idea, but you can lose a few more ounces by shortening the forend (save the end cap and epoxy it back on).

Yea, I thought about doing that but I just didn't want to go that far yet. I can always do it later if I decide to. Honestly, if not for the tiny bubbles in the plastic that I uncovered, I'd probably be done, without painting it. If I'm going to paint it, then I may as well shorten the forend while I'm at it but not until then.

With that 3-9x40 Leupold scope, I'm thinking 6 lbs. 10 oz. is about the lightest I can get that rig if I'm willing to shorten the forend and use a flip-flop recoil pad.

Time will tell. The important thing is she shoots fantastic and is stacking up game left and right.

 

[BoscoBear9]

6.5 Grendel build. Only taken one deer with it so far

 

[Mac7]

My daughter has been shooting a howa mini the last 2 years. 2 deer and an elk so far. It's a nice little rifle and fun to shoot. That said while it worked on the elk, shopping for a 6.5 creedmoor or 7-08 for her next elk hunt.

 

[FlyingScot]

Anyone here messed with the 6mm Grendel offshoot? I'm curious to try one in my next AR build.

 

[Glendon Mullins]

Pencil me in as a fan of the 6.5 grendel

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[menhaden_man]

Hey @Newtosavage , what loads are you shooting hogs with? I’ve got an AR that loves jump and lighter bullets for some reason. I also picked up a Howa with a youth stock for my middle son after reading all the propaganda on here . Just can’t get the Howa to shoot like my other rifles for some reason. I’ve got a pile of components to experiment.

 

[Newtosavage]

Menhaden, I don't have that Grendel anymore, but I was using 120 ELD-M's, 120 NBT's, 120 Gold Tips and 130 Sierra Gamechangers. The DRT's I got on pigs were from the 120 ELD-M's and a few from the 130 Sierras. Sorry to hear your Howa is giving you fits. My Howa 6.5 Grendel was an absolutely boring tack driver regardless of what I fed it. Shot some of the smallest groups of my life with that gun. I sometimes regret selling it, esp. after all the work I put into it, but I guess I do like my 7mm's better still.