I just bought a ar15 lower receiver and I have enough 223 rifles already .I am thinking of getting a 6.5 Grendel upper .I wanted a 260 rem ar 10 but that fell through .This will be way cheaper to build except for the brass .I don't think you can make it from anything else .I don't want in the brass crunch again .I sleazy load for the 6.5 jap ,260 rem ,264-win mag .That a why I wanted an ar10 in 260 Remington I can get plenty of 308 brass.I think the 6.5 Grendel is a made from 220 Russian which comes from 7.62x39 buy it has a rim on it !I think this is a cool little round just worried about brass !

It's popular enough that I don't think you'll have trouble finding brass. I went with the 6.8 SPC. They both have advantages and disadvantages. In a short barreled AR I think the 6.8 is a better choice. In an AR with an 18" barrel the 6.5 may or may not be the better choice depending on what you are looking for. In a barrel longer than 18" the 6.5 does much better than the 6.8, the longer the barrel the greater the performance gap.

Bear Creek Arsenal has very good prices on Grendel uppers. I bought an M4 copy upper and it is a tackdriver! did not expect that for less than $300. Brass is easy to come by and there is a military grade plinking ammo out there.

Hornady makes brass by the rail car load, and you can get real brass from Lapua for $1.00 each.

There is a dedicated 65Grendel.com forum, over 600 loads for it on Ammoguide.com and one can buy dedicated Grendel Reloading handbooks at ar15buildbox.com and alexanderarms.com

I was choosing between this and a 450 bushmaster in the ar15 .I want it to be light and accurate .I.Wish I.could have one in a mini 14 target rifle but that won't happen .I am still hoping the ar10 260 Remington poops back up that I.wanted ! I think this 6.5 Grendel could be a fun Rifle to shoot .I just like my 260 rifles I make brass for .03 cents for from 308 brass and I won't.ever run out .I shot my 260 savage today shot three in a nickel at 100 yards just playing around ..

You'll love the 6.5 Grendel, easy to load easy to form brass if need be (from 7.62 x 39) and very easy to shoot. I have an 18 inch barrelled AR and a custom barrelled Mini Mk X with an 18 inch Douglass XX barrel that will shoot some insanely tight groups. If you get one be sure to try CFE 223, it seems like it is made just for the 6.5 Grendel.

Steve.......

I.thought the 6.5 Grendel was timeless? I.had heard could from.it.out of 7.62x39 brass cases .I.Will pick up.some .I.don't like hornady brass way.too.many.problems with it !I think a 6.5 Grendel in.a mini 14 ,target Rifle would be awesome and I have one .I guess a mini.30 would convert to.a 6.5 Grendel then.

quote:

Originally posted by dgr416:
I.thought the 6.5 Grendel was timeless? I.had heard could from.it.out of 7.62x39 brass cases .I.Will pick up.some .I.don't like hornady brass way.too.many.problems with it !I think a 6.5 Grendel in.a mini 14 ,target Rifle would be awesome and I have one .I guess a mini.30 would convert to.a 6.5 Grendel then.

A bunch of folks have done the conversion from 7.62x39 brass. A few ardent DIY types still do.

The case volume is a bit less than one sees in Hornady and other's Grendel brass too, so directly transferring load data means using start loads a few tenths of a grain lower than the published numbers. If I recall correctly, case life tends to be a be short with this source of brass, but I started with the Grendel after Hornady and Alexander Arms had brass on the shelf, so never needed to do the conversion myself.

Hornady brass works reasonably well in the Grendel with reasonable case life unless one plays with over max loads or excessively resizes. Most reloaders report ten or more uses of their brass before having to retire it. A small number see failures at five reloads. My own experience with the Grendel in the Encore is more like 10 to 15 even with aggressive full length sizing each load.

quote:

Originally posted by dgr416:
I.thought the 6.5 Grendel was timeless? I.had heard could from.it.out of 7.62x39 brass cases .I.Will pick up.some .I.don't like hornady brass way.too.many.problems with it !I think a 6.5 Grendel in.a mini 14 ,target Rifle would be awesome and I have one .I guess a mini.30 would convert to.a 6.5 Grendel then.

Two things. First there is plenty of brass out there, much more than when I started with it 7-8 years ago, and much more reasonably priced.

Second. It is one of the easiest cases to make. Start with 7.62x39 brass and simply resize, charge with a slightly reduced load, and fire to form the case. Back when I started I found a good deal on 2000 cases of 7.62 IMI brass and resized all and have been fireforming. I just got a neat little CZ 527 American in 6.5 Grendel and the first time out, after shooting some Wolf and Hornandy factory ammo, tried some of the fireforming loads I had loaded a year or so ago for my AR15. As I expected from previous experience in the AR, they grouped quite well, but about 6" low, due to a greatly reduced velocity. When I use those those same loads in my AR they generate sufficient pressure to cycle the action just like full power loads, so I use them for fun plinking.


IMHO it's one of the best little cartridges to come along, very accurate, extremely low recoil, and potential for long range shooting. I do like to play with some big calibers, but finding that I like this one more and more the older I get.

You said in the first post that you thought the 7.62x39 case was rimmed, not so! I think you are thinking about the old 7.62 Russian, or 7.62x54R which was chambered in the Mosin rifles, and dates from the early 1890's.

The only difference will be that converted 7.62x39 cases will use large rifle primers, where the SAAMi specs for the actual 6.5 Grendel call for small rifle primers.

Lots of data about poor case life with resized 7.62x39 cases, as well as loose primers causing short life. Lapua cases have neither problems. Hornady aren't bad but not as good as Lapua.

I have heard about the short case life, and loose pockets. I honestly have not reloaded cases enough to run into any problems, but then that may also be due to brass quality. Wildcatters have been transforming cases for years and generally have not complained. The cases I used IMI or Israeli Military INdustries, seems to have rather tight primer pockets starting out. I got them as new unprimed brass, and got a quantity at a good enough price that it's doubtful that I will ever reload any more than 3-4 times.

When I did this it was when Grendel brass was literally available by ordering and being on a back order waiting list, and very expensive. I bought 1000 cases of the IMI 7.62 brasss and was impressed enough with the quality that I order another 1000 while it was on sale. I literally got 1000 cases of this stuff for the price of less than 100 Lapua Grendel cases, which was all that was being made at the time as Hornandy had not yet gotten to the party.

Would I do it again, No. But it is a viable alternative.

I can get once fired 7.62x39 ,very cheap but I.heard Remington cases did not work shoulder collapsed .I also have a 260 Remington that I make cases for it's crazy accurate with lapua bullets .I have three 223 rifles already all mini 14 .A friend just told me today he had a Mimi 30 that had been barreled into 6.5 Grendel and was crazy accurate .I will look into that too .I will get a bunch of brass first then build the gun .Too many good deals these days it's crazy .This might be a good kids gun for training young kids .I bought two 260 Remington savages for that reason and kids love to shoot them .They would really like shooting that semiautomatic 6.5 Grendel .

I do not understand why shoulder on Remington cases would collapse and others would not. I have used a fair amount of Remington brass over the years with no problems reloading. In this case all we are really doing is reducing the neck size, the body of the 6.5 Grendel is much fatter than the 7.62 case, and the shoulder is not resized but blown out when fireforming.

If I had a good source of once fired 7.62 brass, I would use it, just make sure it is real brass cases and not some of the steel cases which are quite common and probably just about impossible to use. I found that the necked down cases loaded with a very slightly reduced charge fed through my 6.5 Grendel AR magazines and cycled my gun just fine, maybe a little slower, but they still fed and extracted ok. Accuracy was fine, although not as good as when using fully formed brass. Point of impact was much lower than full power loads. I would think fireforming loads would be fine for kids shooting, just set zero so they can hit something.

I found the company that converts Ruger mini 30-rifles to 6.5 Grendel .It's accuratemini14.com .I like the mini 14 and mini 30 way better than the ar15 which I Still don't trust .If I am going to put Money into something I want it to last forever .I wish Ruger had done this but they are about to dump the mini 14 .I wish I could find someone who has one to shoot it .

I have had a 6.5 Grendel since about late 2004/2005 time frame. When I bought mine Lapua was the only game in town for brass. Alexander Arms bought their brass from Lapua. It was hard to find brass because it was always out of stock.
That's when I started necking down 7.62x39 brass for quite a big difference in price.

The round is easy to load for and performance and accuracy are great. I really like the little round. Especially now that more companies are building parts and brass for them.

As to the comment on the Mini-14/Mini-30 being a better rifle than an AR-15 all I can do is laugh at that statement.
I have never seen a Mini-14 do better than 1.5-2" groups. Period!!!! In fact most of the Mini-14s i've been exposed to have shot 3"+ groups on a good day. There have been others that have been lucky to keep the 3 round group on a full size paper plate.

With the exception of one AR-15 I have seen them turn in groups ranging from 1.5" to .25" for 5 shot groups with factory rifles. Some have shot under an inch with surplus FMJ ammo.

There is a reason Ruger is dumping the Mini line. No one is buying them.

quote:

Originally posted by Palladin8:
I have had a 6.5 Grendel since about late 2004/2005 time frame. When I bought mine Lapua was the only game in town for brass. Alexander Arms bought their brass from Lapua. It was hard to find brass because it was always out of stock.
That's when I started necking down 7.62x39 brass for quite a big difference in price.

The round is easy to load for and performance and accuracy are great. I really like the little round. Especially now that more companies are building parts and brass for them.

As to the comment on the Mini-14/Mini-30 being a better rifle than an AR-15 all I can do is laugh at that statement.
I have never seen a Mini-14 do better than 1.5-2" groups. Period!!!! In fact most of the Mini-14s i've been exposed to have shot 3"+ groups on a good day. There have been others that have been lucky to keep the 3 round group on a full size paper plate.

With the exception of one AR-15 I have seen them turn in groups ranging from 1.5" to .25" for 5 shot groups with factory rifles. Some have shot under an inch with surplus FMJ ammo.

There is a reason Ruger is dumping the Mini line. No one is buying them.

That's my experience and close to same time frame for everything.

My ex brother in law had a stainless mini 30, and while a nice looking rifle, was a total POS, it was never reliable and definetly not accurate, my Colt AR Hbar would shoot rings around it, so I never commented here because of the caliber difference. If one could be made with quality parts, a really good trigger, like some of the aftermarket AR triggers, and accurate, I would love one. It would be a great little carrying around carbine, much handier and easier to handle than most of the AR types. I just like the traditional type stock better than the AR.

I have Wolf and Hornady 6.5 cases. one is small the other is large primer. The wolf reloaded fine the Hornady I was crushing necks/shoulders. Moving the expander/decapper rod fixed the problem.

120gr and AR-comp. out of the Bolt.

My mini 14 target Rifle shoot way under an inch with match bullets .It will shoot five shots under the size of a dime at 100 yards .It's the most accurate semiautomatic I have even seen .They are way more durable than ar15 which Jam and break easily .I.just found a awesome mini 30 stainless which will be what I.use for the 6.5 Grendel .I think a 23 inch .75 inch barrel will work awesome I.might try putting a boss on it too !

quote:

Originally posted by dgr416:
My mini 14 target Rifle shoot way under an inch with match bullets .It will shoot five shots under the size of a dime at 100 yards .It's the most accurate semiautomatic I have even seen .They are way more durable than ar15 which Jam and break easily .I.just found a awesome mini 30 stainless which will be what I.use for the 6.5 Grendel .I think a 23 inch .75 inch barrel will work awesome I.might try putting a boss on it too !

Like I said the one mini 30 I tried, basically and out of box, with nothing done, did not work right. One is definetly not a representative sample, so I do not condemn the model for this one example

My two Colt Hbar rifles, one rebarreled with a heavy varmit barrel, free floated are extremely accurate, and have been totally reliable, as have the six others I have built, some in 5.56, and three in 6.5 Grendel. I have never had a part break in one. I do clean and lubricate them well after each outing. Four of my builds have gas piston operating systems, which do keep the receiver much cleaner than the standard direct gas impingment system. I would think that the gas pistom system would be reliable for a longer time without cleaning, but I will never let a gun go long enough without cleaning to test that.

Many interesting comments about Hornady brass quality. I don't own a Grendel chambered rifle, however one of my shooting compadres does. While he's only on his 5th or 6th loading of his cases he's not having problems yet.
As far as accuarcy , his rifle (Alexander Arms) is amazing. I've seen just under 10" groups at 800 yards, which in my book is awesome in an AR.

quote:

Originally posted by Boyd L.:
Many interesting comments about Hornady brass quality. I don't own a Grendel chambered rifle, however one of my shooting compadres does. While he's only on his 5th or 6th loading of his cases he's not having problems yet.
As far as accuarcy , his rifle (Alexander Arms) is amazing. I've seen just under 10" groups at 800 yards, which in my book is awesome in an AR.

My first Grendel was on a lower I built myself, with an Alexander Arms Overwatch upper, the one with a 24" Shilen barrel and muzzlebrake. One of the most accurate rifles I have.