Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots Talk me out of buying a 6.5 Grendel barrel

For my Contender.

My preliminary work tells me that 120 gr. bullets (maybe 129 gr.) are about the heaviest that can be used - without seating the bullet too deeply, that is.

So 100 to 120 gr. deery bullets would be the ones. Apart from the reason, "Just because I can,", there isn't a good reason to even bother. I have a 243 and a 6x45mm.

In Ontario, and this is the reason why I am considering it, we cannot hunt with a CF rifle whose bullet dia. is greater than .275, south of the French River. I hunt there sometimes. The Grendel works, but I have 6mms.

Don't buy it!

You're right. I should.

I used 129gr ABLRs in a CZ with no issues.

Why don't you get a .257 Redgwell?

I had 14" Contender in 6.5 TCU...always thought that would be a good number in a carbine Contender. Don't know how that would compare to Grendel.

I have a CZ-527 American in 6.5 Grendel. I like it and think it would be great in a Contender. It worked well on the only deer I shot with it last year. I did not get opportunity to use it on any others but did not feel under gunned though where I hunt ranges are relatively close. Most of my shots are 40-60 yards so loss of velocity really isn’t an issue.
I’ve found it a fun little cartridge to play with and would do it again FWIW to you.

FWIW 6.5 Grendel supposed to be for G2 Contender only.

It's hard to resist either the 6.5 Grendel or the 257 Redgwell. If I ordered the barrel today, I would have it in the new year.

It might be fun at that. Ballistically superior to the Creedmoor because it would be my rifle, and I can say whatever I want. Personally, I'd prefer a Contender barrel. The problem I have with the CZ is that strange black growth just forward of the trigger.



The 257 Redgwell

Sorry, I can't talk you out of it. I just bought a Howa Mini Action for my daughter to use. I've taken to it myself. I have loaded 100g NBT at a little over 2600 fps. It is an accurate pussycat.

thread title: "Talk me out of buying a 6.5 Grendel barrel"

why in the world would you ask a bunch of co-dependent, enabling, rifle loonies to talk you OUT of buying a rifle?!?!?!?!?!?

the only reason one of us would tell you not to buy it is if it was the last one in the shop and we wanted first!

A friend of mine killed an elk (that's a large deer-like mammal that lives out here in the west) with a 6.5 Grendel, (in an AR-15 of course).... I would not have used a caliber so small, but it works for lots of stuff, some day I'll get one (in an AR-15 of course) but not if there's a new run of Ruger No1 rifles in some classic caliber that same paycheck...

shoot good!

Poole

Up here, there is a company called Tradeex that has hundreds of 6.5x55s in stock, starting at $250. The inexpensive ones are used M96s, but most are in VG condition. They also have new Zastava Mausers for $695. That also happens to be the price of a new Contender barrel in Canuckian Dinars.

Here's one of their used, professionally redone M96 sporters in VG condition. Perhaps you can understand my dilemma.

Such burdens we carry, hey?

Can't you get a contender in 250 Savage? I know I've seen 300 Savage barrels.

If i could get one of those at a reasonable price and in excellent condition, I would jump on it. Now I have built 3 AR types in 6.5 Grendel and finally last year got my hands on a pretty little CZ 527 American in 6.5 Grendel. I started early in the 6.5 Grendel game, when brass was expensive and hard to find so got a large quantiy of IMI 7.62x39 brass and sized it all down in 6.5 Grendel dies to be fireformed, which is easy and straightforward with that little cartridge.

It's probably the mildest shooting caliber I have, recoil even in the lightweight CZ is much less than a 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser.

I think the appearance of the 6.5 Creedmoor, and many younger shooters not wanting a used rifle, has caused these rifles to sit. They have been on Tradeex's shelves for a long time. Recoil of these reworked M96s, scoped, is about 12 ft/lb. Quite mild. I had a few of the M96s years ago, but never got around to fixing them up, and sold them off. With so many rifles in the $225 to $300 range, it would probably be foolish to bother with a Grendel or a Creedmoor.

I could loan the .30 Sneezer reamer. Bullberry knows how to use it. Hornady knows how to make the dies.

It's an interesting thought. My buddy and I were talking about this dilemma on Saturday. He reminded me that I had a couple hundred new 6.5x55 Lapua cases and at least the same number of once or twice fired under my bench.

"Why bother getting all that new equipment when you've already got everything here? If you really want a 6.5 again, use what you have!"

Sometimes, I hate the voice of reason.

Where do I get a Redgwell reamer??

I had MGM make a 22" stainless 6.5TCU carbine a little over a year ago, and load it with 100gr Partitions...my load notes say 27.7gr AA2230 with that bullet yielded 2650fps in the 'tender carbine..... and, its pretty handy to pack around. And, it shoots those partitions decently enough.

Dont have the Grendel in a 'tender, but do have a howa mini in Grendel, complete with that "Low Hanging Fruit" magazine swinging in the breeze....