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Posted: 1/31/2005 9:30:39 AM EDT
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OK, I looked this over pretty quickly before posting, so if someone has alreay posted this I'm sorry for duplicating. I had thought of getting a 6.8 upper, but now I'm not so sure after reading about it's competion the 6.5. Anybody know anymore about this caliber? ie price, availability, what kind of magazine? All I've heard about it has been though Military.com's Soldier Tech. Again sorry if someone has already posted. 
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It was probably the 6.5 Grendel which is a round that has some relationship to the PPC line of cartridges. The 6.5 Grendel with a bullet around the 123grn weight has some decent legs on it it for getting out to 1000 yards. It's more of a long range target round and there are certain aspects of it that are more desireable to the long range minded shooter. Handloader has a WIDE variety of projectiles to choose from with this cartridge for obtaining long range accuracy. Downside? There are very few makers of the 6.5 Grendel, I believe it's only 2 people making them, one is a competition minded shooter who helped in the creation of the cartridge and the other is the company responsible for developing it. Good luck trying to get a barrel and bolt to build your own, about the only way to play the 6.5 Grendel game is to buy a complete upper. Compare to the 6.8 which is supposedly designed to perform better on target at ranges out to around 300 yards. More companies seem to be offering 6.8 SPC chambered uppers, take your pick among the respected folks who build decent guns or you might even be able to build your own by obtaining the parts. Downsides, both are fairly scarce in terms of availability on the market. Can pretty much bet your ass you won't find a gunshop stocking it so you'll either have to order it online, mail order, or handload it. 6.8 from Remington is pretty dry right now, rumor mill is going nuts on that one. As a long range minded shooter I lean towards the 6.5 Grendel |
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As stated, 6.8 SPC was developed specifically to be the best possible COMBAT round out of an AR15 (or other 5.56) platform, meaning the primary focus was on the round's terminal ballistics. While it can be shot out to 800 yards or more, it's really designed to enhance performance from 0-500 yards. It can shot MOA or better out to 600 yards, but the short bullet doesn't have the best trajectory or crosswind resistance to hold that level of accuracy much farther. Unlike 5.56 or 6.5 Grendel, it works very well even from very short barrels, which is extremely important for a combat round. Finally, it can be a great choice for hunting small or medium-sized game. The 6.5 Grendel was developed as a long-range target round, and beyond 600 yards, it's going to give you better accuracy performance than either 5.56mm or 6.8 SPC. 6.5mm bullets are well-known for their long-range accuracy, and that is certainly true here. IIRC, the shortest barrels in this caliber are 18", with most being in the 20-24" range, which is appropriate for the type of shooting that the round is designed for. It would also be a good choice for medium and larger (North American) game, given the penetration depth most loads offer. Just as 6.8 SPC is not at its best as a long-range accuracy round, the 6.5 Grendel is not at its best as a combat round. It simply reflects the priorities of the designers and the needs of the end-users of each product. Fortunately, we have both choices available to us, so that we can pick whichever best matches our needs. -Troy |
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