Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 6.5 Grendel on Deer

My 10yo has put 123gr SST clean through two ~5yo whitetails so far this year. One went straight down due to perforated shoulder blades and spine. The other high lung near shoulder blade ( yeah he missed) with good blood 30 yards. Less blood forty yards to dead buck.

I say the 6.G gives some extra help on recovery over usual 30-30 and 243.

I have built and owned two 6.5Gs for myself and about 15 for others here in Wyoming. I killed 7 head of game with my 2. I have seen about 25 other kills (antelope and deer) with the other 6.5Gs and I have full confidence in the cartridge. I used the 123 gr Hornady SST, the 120 grain Remington Core-Lokt and thee 125 Ge Nosler Partitions. Of the 3 the Nosler was the best killer, but all 3 bullet gave 1 shot kills with short runs most times under 30 yards. The closest kills were in the 20 yard range and the longest was about 400. Of the kills by friends Randy and John which I got to witness, all were with the 123 gr SSY and the 129 grain Hornady Innerbonds.

If you look at load data for those bullets in the old 6.5 Jap and the same bullets in the Grendel, you'll see the velocities are quite close. So the track record of the old 6.5 Jap is well known. The same would be expected from the Grendel. The Jap and the old 6.5M/S will shoot a much heavier bullet then the 6.5G at the top ends so in comparisons we need to do the "apples to apples thing" and look at bullet of about 130 grains and lighter. The 140, 156 and 160s available in the older 6.5s will give more penetration and/or cavitation then the 6.5G, but for the bullets of 130 and lighter, the difference is so small as to be insignificant.

Nothing wrong with the 6.5 grendel. I've shot a few and they were accurate. I dont own one, so I cant say anything about it. But, let's see if it's still around 126 years from now, like the 30-30 is, and still doing its job.

Lots of rifles have come and gone, but the 30-30 is still with us and for good reason.

The 6.5 Grendel is a great little cartridge. I built an AR for my 7yr old chambered in it. He has taken 4 deer with it and 1 ran about 70 yards. That one was ranged at 202 yards when he shot off a Deathgrip. He uses the 123gr SSTs. He did shoot a 200+lb boar last year that absorbed the 1st round in the shoulder. Had to put 2 more in him to get him down.

I have been thinking of getting a Howa Mini action or a CZ just for a kids gun.

Killed my first with it this weekend. 123 SST over a medium load of Accurate 2520 going 2360 FPS. Boy did that little round perform.

Hit a medium sized spike tucked tight into the shoulder and a touch low (intentionally) at 70 yards. He didn’t jump, just trotted about 10 yards and began to wobble over. It was like those Rage Broadhead videos where you can see a hose of blood shooting out every time his heart beat. Clean pass through and near instant death. I couldn’t be happier.

Ive used 6.8 SPC on deer, similar power level. Works great. Mine is suppressed so it's like shooting an air rifle.

I like my Grendel but have only used it on feral hogs at under 150 yards. My rifle is a 16 inch barreled AR. The load I am going to test soon is a 100 grain Partition at 2700 fps. From mid January til the end of March that will be my truck gun and load. I can say the round is a big step up from the 223.

Mine is a Ruger American Predator....I took a deer last year with it.. a good sized blacktail...but at about 100 yards...

it stopped heading away from me... and slightly uphill. I put a shot at right behind the shoulder and it came out of the lower neck on the left side...hit on the right side..

was shooting a 140 grain Speer, behind 29 grains of W 748... velocity was around 2150 fps...so sample of one..

however, chronographing the loads I carried this year, a suitable candidate did not show itself, so deer track soup...

however the velocities I was getting with 100 gr, 120 gr 123 gr and 129 grain loads, doing velocities I have used out of the 260 Rem with success...
with the right scope and knowing how to use it and judging your distance, I'd rely on it out to 300 with no issues... the 129 Hornady SP especially.

the 100 grain Ballistic Tip or the Hornady 100 gr SP, would both do the job leaving the Muzzle at 2800 fps...

the load I did with the 129 SP, was chronographed at 2490 to a hair over 2500.....not a load manual powder... 3031...

Randy,

with Walmart stopping to see guns and ammo, do you think them not carrying ammo, might put a big dent in the 30/30 use finally?

rifle use around here, for non handloader, depends if it is available at Walmart or not...

I’m practically certain that in 126 years I’ll be less than concerned, possibly sooner.

Do you have a .30/30 load that remains supersonic at 1000 yards?😜

I have done well with the Grendel out to 150 yards or so as that is all the further I needed to shoot on whitetail deer for the last 5 years. This has been with a CZ 527 that had been re-barreled to 6.5 Grendel.

This year I opted for a different caliber as the 6mm ARC became available. Again the CZ 527 was re-barreled to 6mm ARC. Last weekend The arc sent a 108 grain Berger Elite Hunter to take my nicest whitetail to date in very clean fashion at a smudge over 250 yards. Buck collapsed at the shot lights completely out in an instant. Was shooting for high shoulder & ended up a bit back from the shoulder on the lower side of the spine.

Point is with the right shot placement the 6.5 Grendel is easily up to the task of CPX class game. Not sure what barrel length you are considering though at the extended distances the longer barrels certainly can tip the moving velocity in your favor. 22" has been my favored barrel length for a utility hunting rifle.

120 Grain Fusion Work perfectly for deer. I would keep it 250yds or less. Not that it wouldnt be effective farther out. Just my opinion. Where I hunt 200yds is all the farther I can see.

My 100 grain partition load is just a bullet replacement for the steel cased Wolf ammo that came with a 100 gr. FMJ. Pull the FMJ, pour out the powder, chamfer case, put the powder back in and seat the 100 gr. Partition. It actually shoots pretty good. That said my Wolf steel case supply is not infinite. Are you using 3031 to get 2800 fps with 100 grain bullets?

I am using 8208 to get 2800 with the 100gr bullets.

Killed 3, 1 buck, 160 pounds live,, 2 does, 100 pounds or so,, with a Grendel so far this year. 125 Partition over 30.xx grains of Leverevolution. All complete pass through, even the buck with 2 shoulder joints taken out. Ranges from 40 to 90 yards, so no 300 yard experience. All 3 were shoulder shots, down where they stood. Personally, on those 3, they were just as dead, just as quick, as if I'd have been shooting a 300 mag.

Rifle is a re-barreled Savage 10, 26 inch Shaw, 1:8 twist. With a different bullet, Berger 130 AR Hybrid, I've used it to ring steel out to 1000 yards.

In the end, the Grendel will work, but not sure I'd push it to 300 on a deer. Steel,yes; coyotes, yes; pigs, maybe, but personally, I'd limit shots on deer to 200 or so. But, on the other hand, 99 percent of the places that I hunt, shots are limited to 150 yards or less because of the terrain and vegetation.

Rick,

with 3031/ 28 grain charge, and a 100 grain Hornady SP or A Max, the Ruger was chronographing right at 2700, not 2800 fps...

I save Ballistic Tips and Partitions for hunting in the field... Hornadys that I have a good stock of, use those for chronographing...

I practice shooting 300 yds, with downloaded 223 cases using shot gun powder or any powder that will match the Grendal velocity.

The biggest thing in shooting something at 300 yds, is practice.. which tightens up you eye to hand coordination.

I practice with my bolt action CZ 452 doing off hand shooting, to tune me up for being able to do with out a bench... tree stands are kinda useless deer hunting in my part of Oregon.

3031 with a 28 gr charge is getting me in the 2550 to 2600 fps, with 129 Hornady SPs.. primers are still tight, even tho the brass on this batch is buzzing 20 reloads...
primers still going in tight. that or a 125 partition I think are a good bullet combo.... or just the garden variety 120 gr Ballistic Tips...

I just looked at some Grendel data for 100 grain bullets. Several loads would have the 100 grain Ballistic Tip well above Nosler's recommended lower velocity level for expansion at 300 yards.

I'm down to a measly 1 1/2 pounds of 3031. Sad so sad. I can easily get BLC2 and burn a lot of it but it just isn't as accurate in my 260 which I now only punch paper with anyway. After guns deer is over in Latimer county I am taking the Grendel out to slay some pigs. It being a M4 copy it is light enough to carry as a second rifle while I am squirrel hunting.

I'll give y'all some feedback on how the li'l 6.5g works on deer, hopefully as soon as Kansas's opener tomorrow.

What load will you use?