Store or online Bought for Deer/Hogs/Medium Game to 200-300 yards.   Left out what I thought were more practice/match rounds.  Not trying to start a 6.8 vs 6.5 debate, just help list and share your thoughts on hunting ammo for each.  I'll probably buy both guns anyways!

Edited based on comments 12/11/218 - Checked Academy/Bass Pro here in Houston, haven't made it to some of the other "major" stores yet.

6.8 - Bold items have feedback below, not ranked but have been mentioned and used by a member in this thread.   Most are found on various websites with a few in stores (Federal fusion, SST, VMAX @ academy/bass).  Prices as of 12/31/2018 from ammoseek

- Federal Fusion 90gr Gold Dot XM68GD - Heavily Used, due to cheap .50-.70 $/rd
- Fed Fusion MSR 90gr - Same as gold dot .89 $/rd
- Fed Fusion MSR 115gr - Heavily Used .89 $/rd
- SSA 110 Gr Nosler Accubond - Heavily Used, but reports FPS is inaccurate (not 2700) .97 $/rd
- Hornady  120gr SST - Heavily Used, fragments but does alot of damage. .86 $/rd
- S&B 110gr PTS Fragments less than SST .76 $/rd
- Hornady 100 gr GMX Full Boar Not used as often 1 $/rd
- Hornady  Black 110 gr VMAX Varmint Round 1 $/rd
- S&B 110 gr TSX - $1.4 $/rd

DT Hunter 110 Gr Nosler Accumbond
SSA 85-95 (T)TSX (DT also makes a version)
SSA Sierra Pro Hunter

S&B 110gr FMJ .59 $/rd - cheap practice ammo

6.5 - Bold items have feedback below, not ranked but have been mentioned and used by a member in this tread. , a large set are from PF/AA website,(123 SST and ELD-M @ Academy).  A list was given, but I am not sure all the bolded ones had actual usage data/feedback.  Alot of the rounds below are not showing up on ammoseek so plain ol' google was used...

- 129gr ABLR from Precision Firearm - Only 1 site sells it $2.14 $/rd
- 110gr Lehigh defense Controlled Chaos $1.3 $/rd
- Hornady Black 123g ELD-M $.72 /rd
- Hornady 123 gr SST $.81 /rd
- Federal Fusion MSR 120 gr Soft Point $.97/rd
- 100gr Nosler Ballistic Tip  $1.42 $/rd
- Precision firearm 100gr Barnes TTSX $2.62 $/rd
- 90gr TNT
- Alexander Arms 6.5 123 gr luplua or SST loaded $1.52 $/rd
- 129gr SST from Alexander Arms $1.41 $/rd
- 130gr Swift Scirocco from Alexander Arms $1.50 $/rd
- 127gr Barnes LRX from Precision Firearm  $2.20 $/rd
- 120gr Barnes TSX from Alexander Arms or Precision Firearms $1.50 $/rd

Wolf Ammo .26 $/rd - cheap practice ammo

For 68

SSA 85-95 (T)TSX if you can con someone into selling some of their stash - R.I.P.
Hornady SST
SSA Sierra Pro Hunter - again if you can find some
Federal Fusion

Data point: 6.5 Grendel SST 123gr. I have only just started using this round, but took a doe with it last month. Used a 12.5”, shot was a 50m broadside neck shot. Round struck the spine, and exited leaving a sizable exit wound. I plan on trying the Federal Fusion 6.5G whenever I burn up the rest of my SSTs, but the SST is a great hunting bullet especially when paired with 6.5G, plus it is precise and shares a zero with American Gunner.

6.8:

XM68GD/Fed Fusion 90gr: I wondered if 90gr would be too light but 100% passthrough rate and 100% DRT deer (on the 6 I've shot with it so far) prove otherwise. Almost 3,000fps from my 18" barrel. 2,750fps from my 12.5" barrel.
120gr Hornady SSTs: Dead deer very quickly. Heavy bruising on far side of shot.
Fed Fusion 115gr: Same speed as the 120gr SST. Bullet holds together very nicely (like all Fusions I've used).
S&B PTS 110gr: Impossibly accurate in every barrel I've tried. Hot load, too, 2600-2700 fps from a 16" or 18" barrel. Still no consensus on what the bullet is.
Nosler AB: Super accurate and super slow. Frustrating.
AE TNT 90gr: Very accurate, almost as fast as Fusion.

My top choice is the 90gr Fusion.

-Stooxie

Thanks doty_soty and stooxie.

Always great when you can match-up a cheaper ammo w/ a good hunting round.  Thanks for the tip!  I spend ALOT of money just testing rounds to see what "matches"

Agreed, I've had phenomenal results from Fusion in 6.8, 7mm-08, 308 and 270win. Cheap, accurate, punches clean big holes through deer, bullet stays together.

-Stooxie

I think pretty much across the board, the Fusion (and their cousin, the Gold Dot) line is a pretty awesome blend of precision and lethality.

I am very impressed with the Federal Fusion MSR 120 gr Soft Point  for the Grendel. It works very well.

I have both in 12.5" and the answers are similar.

6.5G
120gr Federal Fusion
123gr Hornady SST

6.8SPC
115gr Federal Fusion
120gr Hornady SST

Few notes:

Federal Fusion seems to be the best all around option in factory ammo for controlled expansion, penetration, and modest meat damage. This would be my factory choice.

For just killing things the SST is hard to beat as it is highly destructive and cheap. I nolonger use SSTs in any caliber for game I intend to eat. It destroys too much meat and spreads fine bits of lead along the wound channel.

I mostly hunt with monolithics now and my favorite projectile for hunting with these calibers remains the 95gr TTSX, I wish the 6.5G had a monolithic equivalent.

In the 6.8 I’ve killed a ton of deer with the 115 fusion and it is awesome. I’ve killed a couples with xm68gd, pro hunters, accubonds, and the 95 ttsx. They all work good, but I would put fusions and ttsx on top

Do you have chrono data from those loads with the 12.5" barrels?

I've got a bunch of XM68GD for hunting. Bought it pretty cheap, I think .40/rd+shipping.

The 110 PTS is a bullet made by Hornady for S&B. Its is not a 110 V-max, it is more like a 110 SST.
S&B ammo is loaded warm, think SPCII loads or +P.

Prefer not to potentially derail thread. If OP wants, I can dig through the archives post some data.

Hunting ammo for 6.5 Grendel

129gr ABLR from Precision Firearms (50rd)
129gr SST from Alexander Arms
130gr Swift Scirocco from Alexander Arms
130gr Berger Hunting VLD from Precision Firearms (50rd)
127gr Barnes LRX from Precision Firearms (50rd)

123gr SST from Hornady
123gr ELD-M from Hornady (meant for target, but is a proven killer on game, to include a recent 12.5" Grendel kill this weekend)
120gr Barnes TSX from Alexander Arms or Precision Firearms (50rd)
120gr Barnes TTSX from PF (50rd)
120gr Nosler E-Tip from PF (50rd)
120gr Nosler Ballistic Tip from AA and PF 20 & 50rd boxes respectively
120gr Federal Fusion

110gr Lehigh Controlled Chaos from Underwood Ammo

100gr Nosler Ballistic Tip from PF (50rd)
100gr TTSX from PF (50rx)

90gr TNT from Federal AE (50rd box)

Out of all of those, for a 12.5", I would choose in this order:

129gr ABLR
110gr Controlled Chaos
123g ELD-M
123gr SST
120gr Federal Fusion
100gr Nosler Ballistic Tip
90gr TNT

For a no worries solution, the 129gr ABLR is the one to beat with 1300fps expansion and .563 G1 BC.  It exhibits immediate and full expansion within the first inch of penetration, wide more than double caliber expansion, and deep penetration, with beautiful energy retention like no other.

Velocities I'm seeing from a slightly shorter 12" Grendel are:

90gr TNT 2683fps suppressed (9rd avg)
120gr Federal 2384fps suppressed (11rd avg)

I have only shot factor ammo through my 12" so far, mostly 123gr American Gunner, 90gr TNT, and 120gr Federal.

I'm interested to see what the 110gr Controlled Chaos will do, since it has 1500fps expansion floor and is lead-free.

https://www.cavitybackbullets.com/product-p/cb-mkz-6.5-105.htm

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010414157/barnes-tipped-triple-shock-x-ttsx-bullets-264-caliber-65mm-264-diameter-100-grain-spitzer-boat-tail-lead-free-box-of-50

https://www.lehighdefense.com/collections/264

12.5" 6.8ARP 5R, LabRadar

XM68GD 2,743
AE 115gr 2,446
Rem UMC 115gr 2,421
Fusion 115gr 2,406
Nosler AB 110gr 2,374
Hornady 120gr SST 2,400
S&B PTS 110gr 2,500 (I think)

Just for kicks: 18" 6.8ARP 5R, LabRadar

XM68GD 2,987
AE 115gr 2,618
Hornady 120gr SST 2,559

S&B PTS 110gr 2,677
S&B FMJ 110gr 2,738

-Stooxie

You preach 6.5 Grendel on how cheap it is to shoot then your #1 hunting cartridge choice weighs in at a very economical $2 per round? Website says it reaches 2,400 fps from a TWENTY FOUR inch barrel? What's it out of a 12.5" barrel, friend? 1,900? 1,800? At 1,800 fps you only need to be 5" high at 100 yards for a 200 yard zero. Muzzle energy doesn't even break 1,000.

{  Keep the non tech images out of the tech forums - F }

-Stooxie

Not the quoted poster, but ehhhh. I know one must practice with the round they hunt with, especially when it comes to practicing with holds. But the cost of individual hunting rounds is the cheapest part of hunting. My hunting rounds could cost $10 each for all I care, once I’m proficient with the round it’s not like I’m emptying the mag into the deer.

Is your frustration based on assumptions and unproven data?

129gr ABLR does anywhere from 2140-2260fps from 11.5"-12.5" barrels.  It still has over 1000ft-lbs at 275yds from 2260fps mv.

Not sure where you're getting 1800-1900fps mv from, but it isn't even close to real world.

People are slaying game with 129gr ABLR on a regular basis from 11.5"-12.5" Grendels.  There isn't anything available in any other cartridge that fits in the AR15 that does what the 129gr ABLR does.

129gr ABLR at 2260fps mv from a 12.5" Group Buy barreled AR15 on hog:



From a little 12.5" AR15, it maintains 800ft-lbs and more than enough expansion out to 425yds (819ft-lbs at 1691fps).  Expansion goes down to 1300fps.

Nobody said bonded bullets are plinking-cheap, that's Wolf steel case at anywhere from 23-27 cents per round.  If someone is telling you they can buy Nosler bonded loads on the cheap, they're not in touch with the reality of what it costs to make bonded bullets and premium ammo.

6.5 data is based on Mr. LRRPRF's posts such as this one here:

Ok, you got me on that one, I would never have imagined in my wildest dreams that an additional 12 inches of barrel would only add 140 fps, but I guess it makes sense if the powder charge is already out of gas after the first 12 trying to heave such a heavy bullet.

Marvelling at 300BLK terminal ballistics and trajectories? Playing the game of how little energy can we impart on a live animal and still get some expansion on a bullet? Shooting at a live animal at 425 yards with a bullet that will have 36" of drop? If that's cause for you to celebrate, power to you!

Pass the bong!

Apologies to the OP...

-Stooxie

ETA: Not sure what the video proves. That at close range the hog was still kicking like mad until the end of the video from a head shot? I'd use a heavier caliber but I guess I must live in that world of assumption where quick, humane kills are appropriate.

You stated that muzzle energy wouldn't even break 1000ft-lbs.  Even at 2140fps, muzzle energy is 1312ft-lbs, and it still has 1000ft-lbs at 200yds at that slower speed.

The point is retaining as much energy as possible, not how little energy you can scrape by with.  No other projectile available in factory ammo comes even close to the 129gr ABLR when looking at the AR15, so it's not making any sense for someone to come to the conclusions you are.

As to how the hog and animals in general behave after being shot DRT:  Most DRT kills look exactly like that whether shooting with 7mm Mag, .308, or 6.5 Grendel.  Thot shot in the video was textbook DRT humane, quick kill.  What you're seeing is after the CNS kill, the severed or damaged nerves are getting signal input to them from another stimuli than normal brain function for locomotive activity.  On animals and humans, it's common to see residual spasming in the limbs post-mortem, and is in no way an indicator of bad shot placement or ineffective killing mechanisms.

You would have to be extremely inexperienced to walk away with that conclusion from witnessing rigor mortis and post-mortem spasming in the limbs.

I've seen plenty of deer and hogs die, by my hand and others', and there's a difference to me between twitching until expiration and clearly not hit hard enough.

It's ok, I'll learn not to argue with folks like you and Skypup one of these days...

-Stooxie

I would also mention that the 123gr Scenar isn't a hunting bullet.

There are plenty of factory hunting loads to add to your list for 6.5 Grendel.  I've shared what I know of them and where to get them.

129gr ABLR is the one to beat for 12.5" or any pistol/SBR barrel length in the AR15.  We don't have a lot of experience with the 110gr CC yet, but I think it will end up being another great factory load for hunting with such wide petal expansion and it being a solid.

90gr TNT has done surprisingly well with hundreds of real-world samples on mostly hogs:

Where's the fun in that?

I got a bunch of the gold dot 90g Federals cheap; my 12.5" barrel likes them and they always result in DRT or just a bit further over there so I haven't tried much else. White Tail, hogs or any coyote I see

Updated the first post.

I don't have a 6.8 or grendel currently, but soon I'd like to buy a 8 to 12 inch barrel, just waiting to see more data from shorter barrels.

129 ABLR, Wow, as much as I liked Tnts in both the 6.8 and Gs, I'll probably only use the 129s(hunting deer, hogs, and steel)

I've shot several hogs and sheep with the 120gr Barnes TSX from Alexander Arms out of various 6.5 Grendels. With the exception of a single 225lb sow who ran ~30y after taking a shot in the neck, they've all been DRT after the first round.

Reason I don't recommend the 120gr TSX from a 12.5" barrel is because its expansion threshold is 2000fps.

Even if we take the AA factory load from a faster 24" barrel at 2500fps, and extrapolate that down to the 12.5" through the velocity estimator, you're looking at maybe 2230fps from a 12.5".

That leaves you only with 100yds of expansion potential.  A more realistic velocity under 2200fps will leave you with 75yds expansion....

Or you can shoot the 129gr ABLR and not worry about it.

Even at a lowly 2150fps mv, the 129gr ABLR has over 900ft-lbs at 275yds, 1775fps impact speed, which is 475fps above its expansion threshold of 1300fps.

To get an idea of where these numbers are at next to something most of us are familiar with, a 20" .30-30 Winchester spitting a 150gr RN at 2300fps compares thusly:

.30-30 Winchester 150gr Round Nose Flat Base, .186 BC, 2300fps
100yds  1879fps 1176ft-lbs (you see why .30-30 Win has been a successful hunting cartridge even on large game within 100yds for 123 years)
150yds  1689fps 950ft-lbs (still plenty of energy to get the job done, and only 2.7" of drop with a 100yd zero even)
200yds  1515fps 764ft-lbs
275yds  1290fps 554ft-lbs

The 12.5" Grendel with 129gr ABLR has the energy at 275yds that the 20" .30-30 Win/150gr RN has at 162yds.

Excellent point. I should have mentioned that the results I cited above were out of a 20" barrel. I generally use the factory loaded Hornady 123gr SST out of my shorter Grendels (which I haven't had any luck hunting with recently).

Mark LaRue used the AA factory 120gr TSX load to take a big bull elk at 407yds up in Wyoming through a 20" Stealth Grendel he built.

At the altitude he was at, the 120gr TSX was still barely in its expansion envelope, but would not be at sea level if shooting out to 400yds.

I've loaded them for a friend for his elk hunts as well.  We don't see elk here in Utah below 6600ft, as they're normally 8000ft and above in the Uintah Mountain Range.

Thanks for the links, but I've tried the three and they didn't work out for various reasons.

95gr Controlled Chaos - Seems to work exactly as designed, break apart on contact and expends all energy in target. Unfortunately, the animals I've seen shot with it left absolutely no blood trail and you could barely tell externally they were shot. Minimal entry and no exit wound. Seems like it has interesting potential, but I have no interest in hunting with it. I prefer exit wounds and blood trails.

100 TSX - I don't believe the 1600fps expansion limit. Actual results make me think its closer to 2000fps. That's limiting but workable for my 16/18" builds. I would not recommend it for 12.5".

105 CBB - Couldn't get a good group in either of my BA barrels with 2 boxes. I will probably revist based on excellent results with CBB bullets in 6.8. This bullet has the potential if I can get it to shoot.

Great info, I would agree with the barnes for sure, it loves velocity.

The CBB is the most interesting to me out of the 3, I'd be interested to hear if you ever make them work. I'm getting ready to test some 107smk bullets in my new 12" Grendel, hopefully they do the job for coyotes.

SSA Pro Hunters group best in both my 6.8s. One is suppressed 12.5" and the other 16". I shot one and only one deer (close shot in the 16") with the Pro Hunter and you'd think I shot it with a FMJ. It should have dropped quickly with that shot but it went a ridiculous distance before it went down. It was still alive when I caught up. Maybe that was a one in a million defect or something but it was enough for me not to use them for hunting again.

Federal Fusion 115 groups almost as well in both so that's what I use now. Hornady SST 120s group worse at 50 yards than Fusion does at 100 in my rifles. Others have better luck with them. I'm glad both rifles (ARP barrels) like the same rounds.

I've added more information (12/31/2018 ammo pricing through quick searching) and cleaned up some of the rounds info.  I am shy some info on the 6.5 grendel but will update later.

Yea, I got a couple of cases of that when PSA had it for 40¢ a round a while back.  Shoots ~2850 from my 16" Stag barrel.  I can't load it that cheap.

I've got an 18" barrel and BCG coming from the place in Florida that should be here either the end of this week or the first of next week.  Looking forward to putting some rounds across the chrono with it too.