Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles 6.5 Grendel loads for deer sized game

I've taken several animals with the 123 scenar out of a 6.5 gren in an AR. I like what I see but it is still pretty new to me. I have yet to recover a bullet. Terminal performance so far has been very good, at least in my book. Looks very similar to performance I've got with the 139 out of faster rounds.

The Federal Fusion load has devastated some TN whitetails for me.

Under 100. LOL. While that would not be my choice, out to about 300 yards pretty easy in the ribs should be no issue for a load like that on deer.

If we think we'll be shooting pigs as close as 20-30 yards we use the suppressed sub sonic 10-22. Not that the grendel won't work just fine.

No doubt a .22 sub or some buckshot, maybe turkey load, and many options in between would’ve killed her. Just so happened they came out that close to my blind , where I just so happened to be sitting with my Howa 6.5 Grendel with factory 90 gr TNT in a 300 yard long field so I picked the biggest one, aimed for the neck and shot, where she dropped dead.
I knew the round killed pigs so very comfortable using it.. I’m still not comfortable shooting a deer over 100 yards with the TNT because I have not seen what it will do on a deer. I am very interested to see or hear about some actual experiences on deer with the round no matter the distance.

I used a Nosler 120gr Bal Tip on antelope last year. 268 yds. In and out. First shot I over compensated for the wind and put it in the guts. Next shot was in the neck and lights out.
16" AR platform

Finally got a shot on a deer with the Howa Mini 6.5 Grendel this morning. Small 8 point at 80 yards with Hornady Black. He dropped like a sack with high shoulder shot. No exit at all but heart lung area mashed up good. Loving the rifle and cartridge. Would like to find a factory load that provided some exit but guess can’t argue with results.

Looks great, about like a 223 with heavy bullets.

That's a ELD M bullet ?

For factory loads that will give you an exit, I would recommend the Federal Fusion 120 grain, the Hornady 123 SST, or the Underwood 110 controlled chaos. I shot two deer with the Hornady load in Texas and didn't catch either bullet. I would imagine that the 115 fusion and 110 grain controlled chaos would give similar performance.

For a handload option, check out Cavity Back Bullets. The 105 grain MKZ bullet is strong medicine on deer. The cavity in the base of the bullet allows for more powder capacity while still seating to mag length for the AR platform and it is designed to open and perform reliably at lower impact velocities. I used it on two Texas Axis (a buck and a doe). Both shots were just a hair over 100 yards and both died within 20 yards of where they were standing at the shot.

Unless you want to punch paper at 1000, I don't see any reason to switch to the 6.5 grendel. Sure wouldn't do it for 400 yard hunting.

My best results were with Nosler 125 grain Partitions. When I had my 6.5 G. I killed both antelope and deer. Several of each. I used other bullets too, but the Partitions were the ones that seemed to drop them best overall.
123 grain Hornadys did well, but with some breaking up and not exiting. The Hornady 129s also did ok. But the Partitions were about the best of the lot for me.

Great. Thanks for sharing that. "Dropped like a sack." Dead is dead.

Took 3 whitetail a few weeks ago with the 120 gold dot over CFE223. Ranges from about 100 out to 390. Expansion looked good based on exam. All bullets exited. Small sample but I liked what I saw.

Yes it was the Factory 123 grain ELDM bullet. For some reason I could not get SST to group well at all with this gun. I don’t reload yet...so may get some Fusion to try. I have also read good things about the Underwood loads. Hard to be bit too picky when you see his feet fall out from under him though.
So far with the Howa:
1 250# plus sow DRT 25 yards.- Federal TNT 90gr
1 coyote - 200 yards anchored but finish shot added-Hornady Black
1 young 8 pt - 80 yards DRT- Hornady Black

I’m sure 6.8 is great for same scenarios but I’m a Grendel fanboy for sure. Picked up an ALexander Arms upper and and getting back into the AR game soon so will play with some other offerings.

Mine is a Ruger bolt action... But I think of the Grendal as a 30/30 equivalent, using more aerodynamic bullets, giving it further range. and I am using 129 gr SP and 140 grain SPs, which gives it excellent penetration...

I like the 125 partition mentioned above. The season I have some 105 grain SMP Partitions I picked up years ago from Shooters Pro Shop, factory seconds intended for the European Market. Well see if a candidate shows up to test them out for me...

Plenty of deer in the front yard daily... and this afternoon, I came out the front door and their was about 20 cow elk grazing in the grass and on leaves, along with 5 bulls, the biggest being a 6 x 6. That was around 2 PM this afternoon. They are usually here earlier in the morning or early evening just after the sun has set.

NOT going to use the Grendal on those tho....

I haven’t had the chance to try it on a game animal but the 123 gr SST is very accurate in my Alexander Arms with a 20” barrel. On top of 26.7 gr of Benchmark it foes 2475 fps. I can get more fps with CFE223 but the Benchmark is a temp stable powder. I’m hoping to harvest a deer or some pigs with the Grendel this year

I"m way late on this. I know. Just back to decent internet since April.

That said I gave up on Sierra regardless price. Just way to erratic bullet performance on game. In fact the most reliable performance with Sierra has been their match kings non tipped( never seen or shot a tipped one) and they don't suggest them for game... go figure.

Game is to valuable and my ethics are such Sierra on game is just a no go anymore. And thats from seeing it from 3 sides. Hunter. Guide. Taxidermist. Over many years.

Oops.. bullet answer.. so far 123? Scenar. 120 ttsx. 120 Berger. The hornadys et all are reliable to do more damage than I care to see on a deer and have proven just a bit iffy on pass throughs on bigger pigs.

A sleeper might be the 108 scenar. I’ll be giving those a try this year. 2660fps from an 18” barrel, suppressed. I’ve used both the 123 eldm and the PPU 120 hpbt. Eld was predictable, the 120 was a grenade but still exited.

I have been so satisfied with the 100g NBT that I haven't tried anything else--maybe a bad thing. They have all exits and dropped deer from 150-250 yards. The only problem with them is they are not currently available, so unless that changes, I'll have to try something else.

The 123 grain SST with H335 powder shoots very good out of my Howa Mini, so that's what I'll use come deer season. I wanted to work up a load using the 120 Gold Dots, but that will have to wait until next year. It also shoots the 90 TNT very well, but I don't consider that a deer bullet.