What kind of accuracy are you seeing with the Ballistic Advantage Barrel? I have a couple of there 223 and 300 Blackouts and they shoot great.I am heavily invested in the 6.8 SPC between powder ,bullets and brass and 3 rifles...well 2 rifles and 1 that the Milwaukee Police Department has that I HOPE to get back 1 day. But quite a few buddies of mine that I hog hunt with are buying 6.5 Grendels. I may have to get one just to play with.It might be a bolt for my Grandkids to use. Thanks, Bill
quote=coryj]I put together an AR 15 with an 18" ballistic advantage barrel for the kids to hunt deer with.
I used it one day because I knew the horseback fox hunters on the property across the road had a hunt planned and their hounds move all sorts of game. Thought I might appreciate quick follow up shots. Ended up with an 8 point and a coyote for their efforts.
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Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely
What kind of accuracy are you seeing with the Ballistic Advantage Barrel? I have a couple of there 223 and 300 Blackouts and they shoot great.I am heavily invested in the 6.8 SPC between powder ,bullets and brass and 3 rifles...well 2 rifles and 1 that the Milwaukee Police Department has that I HOPE to get back 1 day. But quite a few buddies of mine that I hog hunt with are buying 6.5 Grendels. I may have to get one just to play with.It might be a bolt for my Grandkids to use. Thanks, Bill
quote=coryj]I put together an AR 15 with an 18" ballistic advantage barrel for the kids to hunt deer with.
I used it one day because I knew the horseback fox hunters on the property across the road had a hunt planned and their hounds move all sorts of game. Thought I might appreciate quick follow up shots. Ended up with an 8 point and a coyote for their efforts.
[/quote]
The BA barrel has been pretty accurate for my needs. Sub-MOA with Hornady black, MOA +/- with federal fusion, but it hates Hornady SSTs. I started shooting some druid hill armory ammo recently, their 120 grain corelokt load and it was right around MOA with just a rolled up sweatshirt for a front rest off a bench. Haven't really given that load a fair shake with a solid rest.
My 12 year old got her personal best last weekend using the 6.5 grendel. 18" ballistic advantage barrel and 120 grain corelokt load from druid hill armory. I think the smile says it all.
Good for her! And, yes, you're correct; the smile says it all.
Purely anecdotal, but we are 0-1 with the 6.5 Grendel.
I picked up a Howa Mini 6.5 Grendel in a chassis stock for my 12 yr old to hunt with, and he's been shooting 120gr Federal Fusions. He had a shot at his first deer last night (a very good buck), a perfect broadside shot at around 75-100 yards. I was in the stand with him, watching through binoculars when he shot. The shot knocked the buck down, he got up and stumbled again, and then flopped into the tree line. We got down, expecting to find him just inside the woods, but all we found was some hair and a blood trail. Ended up waiting about 25-35 minutes, and tracked blood for almost 3 hours last night and well over 400 yards. I've never tracked blood this far and never found a deer, it was definitely odd. Went back this morning, and never could find any more blood. Looked through the woods for a couple more hours, and never found a thing. I considered getting a tracking dog, but there was no way the deer was still on our property.
Not sure what to think at this point, but we may be moving up to a Featherweight in 6.5x55 with 140gr bullets. I'm still not 100% sure where he hit the deer, so it may not be fair to completely blame the Grendel, but it has me a little concerned.
Purely anecdotal, but we are 0-1 with the 6.5 Grendel.
I picked up a Howa Mini 6.5 Grendel in a chassis stock for my 12 yr old to hunt with, and he's been shooting 120gr Federal Fusions. He had a shot at his first deer last night (a very good buck), a perfect broadside shot at around 75-100 yards. I was in the stand with him, watching through binoculars when he shot. The shot knocked the buck down, he got up and stumbled again, and then flopped into the tree line. We got down, expecting to find him just inside the woods, but all we found was some hair and a blood trail. Ended up waiting about 25-35 minutes, and tracked blood for almost 3 hours last night and well over 400 yards. I've never tracked blood this far and never found a deer, it was definitely odd. Went back this morning, and never could find any more blood. Looked through the woods for a couple more hours, and never found a thing. I considered getting a tracking dog, but there was no way the deer was still on our property.
Not sure what to think at this point, but we may be moving up to a Featherweight in 6.5x55 with 140gr bullets. I'm still not 100% sure where he hit the deer, so it may not be fair to completely blame the Grendel, but it has me a little concerned.
Location of the hit - is all that matters. A 6.5mm 120 Fushion in the vitals should have killed that deer...
Last edited by MtnBoomer; 11/25/20.
"I can't be canceled, because, I don't give a fuuck!" --- Kid Rock 2022
My 12 year old got her personal best last weekend using the 6.5 grendel. 18" ballistic advantage barrel and 120 grain corelokt load from druid hill armory. I think the smile says it all.
Sweet! Congrats to the proud dad, and your daughter...
That is a nice central Virginia Buck....
I'd like to come back home one season, and hunt in VA and over into WVa....
From there but never had gotten to hunt there.. and have seen some huge bucks...
Just wish Virginia was still the Virginia I left to go to College out of state...
"Minus the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the Country" Marion Barry, Mayor of Wash DC
“Owning guns is not a right. If it were a right, it would be in the Constitution.” ~Alexandria Ocasio Cortez
Before you give up on the Grendal for the Swede ( I shoot both calibers)...
I handload my ammo... My Grendel had its first season... I took one, and took another kid of a family friend out, who borrowed my Grendel ( Ruger American Predator)...
I loaded a 140 grain Speer, with 29.5 grains of W 748.... 2400 fps MV from a 22 inch barrel... The Swede with load of a 140 gr bullet meeting military specs, is about the same speed range, depending upon powder... between 2400 to 2500 fps MV...
My deer dropped at the shot.. DRT...
His took a shot, just as he turned, chasing a doe hit between the rib and left rear hip... but the way it had turned just as it got hit, the bullet went up thru the chest cavity, thru the heart along with a right lung and out the right shoulder.. he did a button hook, and flopped over, probably 30 yds total, but he did the button hook, because he was losing blood fast
"Minus the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the Country" Marion Barry, Mayor of Wash DC
“Owning guns is not a right. If it were a right, it would be in the Constitution.” ~Alexandria Ocasio Cortez
Purely anecdotal, but we are 0-1 with the 6.5 Grendel.
I picked up a Howa Mini 6.5 Grendel in a chassis stock for my 12 yr old to hunt with, and he's been shooting 120gr Federal Fusions. He had a shot at his first deer last night (a very good buck), a perfect broadside shot at around 75-100 yards. I was in the stand with him, watching through binoculars when he shot. The shot knocked the buck down, he got up and stumbled again, and then flopped into the tree line. We got down, expecting to find him just inside the woods, but all we found was some hair and a blood trail. Ended up waiting about 25-35 minutes, and tracked blood for almost 3 hours last night and well over 400 yards. I've never tracked blood this far and never found a deer, it was definitely odd. Went back this morning, and never could find any more blood. Looked through the woods for a couple more hours, and never found a thing. I considered getting a tracking dog, but there was no way the deer was still on our property.
Not sure what to think at this point, but we may be moving up to a Featherweight in 6.5x55 with 140gr bullets. I'm still not 100% sure where he hit the deer, so it may not be fair to completely blame the Grendel, but it has me a little concerned.
My guess is that the shot hit just below the spine, too far forward to get the aorta. I made a hit like that a couple of weeks ago with my crossbow. I got the deer, but had a long, difficult tracking job, in the wrong direction of course. By the time I caught up with him, he was almost done. In that case, a sharp arrow might be better than a bullet, because the bleeding doesn’t stop as quickly. Have tracked a couple for others hit like that with rifles, and the blood just quits. Your son’s deer will probably recover if the yotes don’t get him. I killed one in 2016 hit like that the year before with an expandable crossbow head that didn’t open. He was fat and fine, but the head and a piece of shaft was embedded in him, and the point was poking his hide on the far side. No infection, just a bit of scarring. The only outward sign he’d been wounded was the small, freaky, multi-point rack he had.
Grendel is a good round. 100 Barnes, NBT, and any cup core 120-140 will work fine though I believe 120 may give the most useful trajectory.
Too bad they never Saami’d a 6.5BR for a mini action. A BR can run 2700-2800 with 120’s.
The 120 corelokts are deadly having used them in Swedes dumping a few deer. They will not bugholes like the 120 NBT which would be my go to at these speeds. The tipped 130 Sierra would also be interesting.
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