Wanna point my lightweight, 18" barreled AR at a couse deer next year's.
I might could stretch it to 400 yards with the right bullet.
I have some bullets to choose from like 123 gr Amax's, 100 and 120 grain BT's, and it likes 125 gr partitions.
What would you use ?

120 grain ballistic tips.

I will also be hunting a 6.5 Grendel (CZ 527) for the first time this year and have so far only tried the 120 BT and the 129 ABLR, both of which are shooting well.
I have not been able to find any more 129 ABLR but these seem perfect for the Grendel, if the rifle likes them. They have a really high BC, important for a cartridge that can't start them very fast to begin with, and are claimed to expand well down to the lowest velocity of any. Nosler says 1300 FPS.
If you could start them at 2400 FPS in your 18" barrel (which I think you likely can) you're carrying plenty of speed and energy for Coues out at 400 yards. The 120 BT would surely be a good one too. If you can hit with the partition I think it'll be fast enough at your max range but I've not run those numbers. Pretty soft front end on those, which is good. I love them, but never shot them at Grendel speeds (except for the 250 grain in the 35 Whelen).

Good luck on the hunt. You chasing Coues in NM or AZ?
Rex

I'll be down in Southwest NM, on the AZ border, if I draw next year.
I shot a coyote at @150 yards with a 125 partition. Ripped it up pretty good.
I have some 100 and 120 bt's. Problem was powders. I bought a can of 8208.
I have 100 grain Hornady fbsp's loaded with h4895, and they shoot great. Rldr15 is behind 120 grain bt's, and 8208 is behind the 125 grain partitions.
I have 129 grain Hornady btsp's, 123 grain A max's, and a few 120 grain Gold Dots.
Having no experience with a Grendel for hunting, I'm interested in who's using what bullet, and how they perform.

I've been shooting the 123 Amax out of a 6.5 creed for about 6 years. Killed a pile of Muley bucks with it, all were one and done. Ranges from 30 out to 500.

I never considered stretching a Grendel out that far but good bullets I have used were the Hornady 129 grain spire point and the 120 grain Ballistic Tip. I did use the Hornady Black on a couple of pigs before I started loading for my Grendel. Worked pretty good. The SST factory load has a good reputation but after I bought a couple boxes I had worked up good loads with the bullets mentioned and the Hornady factory loads sit unused.

I set up an er collet chuck in my lathe, ground a parting tool with an angle for a boat tail and cut the back end off of 120gr copper bullets. Both the 120 Nosler Etip and the 120gr gmx bullets were shortened to 87gr. Shoot really well and gets the velocity up into a better window for expansion with the smaller capacity and shorter barrel of the Grendel. I was in excess of 2900 FPS with them with expansion and penetration with the solid shank on whitetails. There’s a few makers of bullets for the Grendel of similar type. Cavity Back Bullets and Maker bullets make some lighter weight copper hunting bullets that will expand in a lower velocity window.

I enjoy the results of these bullet tests.

https://youtube.com/c/HornHillRange

https://youtube.com/channel/UCnqJoGlKC2vGn33hGPI312w

Next in the bullet queue are 108gr Lapua Scenars and 100gr Partitions. Stay tuned!

Thanks, Dinny

I’ll be following this thread - very recently set up
A Ruger Ranch its got 123gr SST, 129gr Interlock & 127gr LRX to digest at the moment. Good luck in your search!

I didn't stick with the Grendel very long before I switched over to 6mmAR, but I always thought the 129 LRAB would be just the ticket.

Yeah, the 129 ABLR expands easily even at modest velocities.

Sounds like a pretty good report on the 6.5 Grendel(one and done. Ranges from 30 out to 500)

Don't get much better than that.

The 120 NBT shoots really well in my 18" AR and is what I'd use. The heavier bullets I tried didn't seem to shoot as well so I haven't worked with them as much. The 129 ABLR does sound intriguing...

I'm going to start with 120 grain Gold Dot's over 8208 when my replacement barrel gets here on Thursday.
I hope the throat is the same, as I have 100 grain Hornady fbsp's already loaded, up, as well as 120 grain Ballistic tips over rldr 15.

I had the best results with the 125 Nosler Partitions.

120 Gold Dots are perfect!

I'd reckon the 120gn Ballistic Tip would provide more than enough penetration at Grendel speeds. It works very well in my 6.5x47 at 2757fps.

I run 100gn NBTs out of my 21in barreled 6.5 Grendel.

At just under 3000fps they are within 2in of PoA out to 250, zero is 170. Max range is 250 with the Grendel, but that is a long way in many places.


Plenty of energy for the lighter deer, last one was dead right there and the bullet went in and came out.

Heavier critters get a 100gn TSX which flies so close it's not funny.

I like a little more velocity than I can get with the 120gn and heavier bullets and would not recommend them for hunting. The 125gn Partition would be interesting for heavier critters within 200.

I forgot I had loaded up a box of 125 grain partitions !
Here's a coyote I whacked at @150 yards.

Good shot, not trying to save hides? Rio7

No. Was hot out, and heading out in the hills to shoot.
He ran across the dirt road, and made the mistake of stopping !
My Grendels 1st kill !

Trauma Diaries #33 wraps up the details on the 125gr Partitions pretty well. They need more speed than we had powder for. Future tests are planned when a better powder becomes available again.

I killed a young Virginia buck two years ago using my 6.5 Grendel Howa Mini loaded with the 129gr ABLR. The shot was 100yds and the deer ran in a circle from inside the field to inside the woods and back out to the field where it dropped no more than 30ft from where it was shot. My velocity is 2300+fps.

This is why, me, as a new to the Grendel for hunting, is asking...
So, what all bullets have you tested ?
With where I live, and the low odds of me drawing, a coues deer might be about the only "big game" I'd point it at, so a proper performing bullet is what I'd need.
Sounds like my 125 grain partitions aren't that bullet.

That can happen with ANY bullet. I try to judge big game bullets after taking more than one animal--usually several.

There are several 6.5 cartridges in the same general velocity range of the Grendel, including the ancient 6.5x54 Mannlicher-Schoenauer. The only one I wouldn't use again is the 160-grain Hornady round-nose. Have seen it fail to reach the far side of the chest on average deer with behind-the-shoulder shots--and break both shoulders and exit at the same range.

I'm gonna work on 120 gr Gold Dots, over imr8208xbr, and Leverevolution powders.

Really like the Idea of your gold dots out to 200 yards, perhaps a bit more.

Not sure Id go for any bullet for hunting purposes from any 18 " 6.5 Grendel barrel out to 400 yards, though some will come closer than others. Ballistic tip mentioned earlier would get a serious look.

123gr SSTs have been proven time and time again as very capable bullets in the 6.5 Grendel.

100 grain Partition.

Just bought 100 Gold Dots, plus I have 40.
I didn't have good luck with sst's grouping too well.
I do have a box of 123 grain A Max's. (Discontinued)
I'll play with what I have, and see what I can get to shoot the best.
Range toy, unless I can draw something next year, but depends on what, as I may (probably) take something more appropriate.

I run Sierra 85g jhp and speers 90g bullets in my 6.5G ar15 and Ruger predator bolt gun, both accurate, drops deer, goats, coyote easy from 100 to 400 yds.

I have also found these to be effective in my Ruger American Predator... at about 3000 fps... also 90 gr Varmaggeddons.

100 gr Ballistic tips and 100 gr SP Hornadys ( discontinued)... and 100 gr HP Sierras...

120 gr Ballistic Tips... 129 Hornady SPs...

first kill with mine? 140 grain SP Speer...2200 fps MV... blacktail 100 to 110 yds.. bang flop results.

Go To Powders.. W 748, 3031, AR Comp.. Benchmark, H 322...IMR 4895, RL 15...

actually have played with Blue Dot, Unique and Alliant Steel also.. mostly with the 85 to 100 gr bullets..

mine has has a couple thousand rounds down the barrel in like the 3 years I've had it.

I have used 100 & 125 gr. Nosler Partitions as well as 120 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips to take deer at closer ranges than you’re potentially shooting. Of the bullets you listed I would use the 120 gr. Ballistic Tip. None of the deer I’ve taken with 6.5 Grendel none have gone more than about 40 yards - that one outlier was a death dash from heart/lung shot. Others either made a lunge and dropped or fell in their tracks. I have also taken a couple with Hornady 123 gr. SST factory ammunition which worked just fine.

Regrettably, I have yet to take a poke at anything with my Grendel yet, but 120gr Gold dots shot so well without futzing around that I’ve yet to break into the supply of 129gr ABLRS I have. Seems to me that for an
Easterner, the Grendel does most of what folks want from a .243 with about 3/4 the powder and with a barrel life more like a .223. It does peter out a bit out past 2-300 yards, but those kind of shots just don’t happen for me, haven’t in 40-some years hunting in PA, VA, and my adopted home WV. Gonna pass on my .243 to my son for the grandkids where its barrel life won’t be an issue, and reduce the number of rifles that I feel obligated to have ready to go before deer season (self-induced stress!).