Quote History Originally Posted By dubya3:
I second this. Never understood why people build 6.5 Grendel pistols/SBRs when 6.8 SPC does better out of the shorter barrel. The Grendel can't use the long, heavy bullets that made the Creedmoor successful either.
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Quote History Originally Posted By dubya3:Originally Posted By gasgas:
Go with the 6.8spc 10.5-12.5”barrel
Flatter shooting and more energy than 300
I second this. Never understood why people build 6.5 Grendel pistols/SBRs when 6.8 SPC does better out of the shorter barrel. The Grendel can't use the long, heavy bullets that made the Creedmoor successful either.
Because 6.8 doesn't do better out of a shorter barrel, just like a 16" or 18" barrel.
Sure, you can hot-load it for more muzzle velocity, but that muzzle velocity will not translate to the same retained energy downrange because the projectiles are not anywhere near as efficient.
If you hand-load for one, then you need to compare hand-loading for the other.
Even
without hand-loading, I'm getting 2400fps mv with 120gr Federal factory ammo from my 12" Grendel, and 2700fps with 90gr TNT factory ammo.
Also, Grendel was developed with use of the 6.5mm long, heavy bullets before 6.5 Creedmoor even existed, and the data for those loads was published well before 6.5CM was introduced.
These include 130gr Berger VLD, 130gr Norma Golden Target, 140gr Lapua Naturalis, 140gr Berger VLD, 139gr Scenar, 144gr Lapua FMJ, and 156gr Lapua Mega.
You won't shoot them anywhere near the same speeds as 6.5CM or .260 Rem, but they do a lot better than you might think.
When I compare my 22" .260 Rem to my 22" 6.5 Grendel, I lose about 175-225yds of supersonic reach, no matter what bullet it is. With any of the higher BC bullets like the 130gr VLDs and longer, both rifles are supersonic well past 1300yds for me. Shooting at 1000yds with either rifle using higher BC bullets like the Bergers isn't a challenge unless the wind exceeds 15mph full value, then your hit probability on man-sized silhouettes starts to drop and the effective range pulls back to around 800yds even with the .260 Rem or 6.5CM for 1st-round connect. In 10mph or less winds, both are surprisingly-capable out to 1300yds at 4400ft elevation. Once you get higher in the 6000ft or more bands, it gets even better. Down at sea level, you're fine to 1000yds and will have a hard time finding ranges that go out to 1000yds in your area.
The question for me then was, "Is it worth having to go up to the larger frame, low brass life, must trim brass, heavy weight, more recoil, less sight picture stability AR10?"
The answer for me was, "Sometimes, though not often." I haven't shot my .260 Rem in a long time now.
I honestly haven't shot 22" Grendel in a long time either, because 18" and shorter do really well for me even out to 1000yds.
The same things that make this possible also work at closer range when looking at velocity loss, so the velocity loss with the Grendel is flatter if you were to graph the 2 out.
For hunting within 200yds, I doubt you'd be able to see much difference, other than with 6.5mm, you have a lot more projectile selection and a lot of loads that are above 120gr, whereas with 6.8, the average projectile weight with factory ammo is 102gr.
Most of the .277" bullets on the market can't be used inside the 6.8's COL and case length/magazine length limitations in the AR15, since they were made for the .270 Winchester, .270 Weatherby, and .270 Winchester Short Magnum.
Just like the claims about 6.8 being better in 16" barrels were erroneous, the claims about short barrels are incorrect as well.
It's not bad, but you aren't gaining any practical advantages over short barreled 6.5 Grendels.
Then there is the issue with ammunition costs.
With PPU and S&B Grendel ammo now, along with the 90 other factory options that also include Wolf, it's becoming harder to make a case for the 6.8 SPC.
2 areas that I've seen people mention that still make it a better option for them are local gun store ammo availability and magazines.
Those are usually determined by what area you live in and how cheap you went on a DIY build.