I decided it was time to play with a short barrel Grendel and do some testing.
I've shot the 10.5 inch guns but, feel they are not exactly what I wanted.
Basically I was looking to carry 1,000 ft-lbs out to 300 yards. The whole
purpose for this would be 300 yards and in. Sure it would shoot further, but
that would just be a plus.

I decided on a 12 inch chrome-lined barrel. Really basic upper receiver with
fixed front sight, Gov profile barrel and M4 handguards. Basically I had AA
hack one of their 14.5 inch barrels and rethread it.

He brought it up to the Big 3 Industry Event this past weekend and I had
a chance to try it on a registered lower Sabre Defence brought. Ran great on full auto.
Was great fun blasting Wolf through it. The ejection pattern and cases showed it
was timed spot on.

I had a few spare minutes today so I threw a few rounds over the chrono.
Pretty pleased. AA's 100 grain Berger load is clocking just under 2,500 fps.
Their 123 grain load is running 2,350 fps. That will retain 1,000 ft-lbs at 300 yards.
That's more than a 5.56 SBR has at the muzzle....I need to build some handloads.

So far I like it. I built a pistol lower for it. If it is something I really like when I am
done with testing I'll register a lower for it.

It will be interesting to see what a 12 inch Grendel can do.

I'll get pics up when I can...

I'd like to see that.

Sure would like to see some of that Wolf ammo local to try a couple boxes out but haven't been able to find any. My AA brass from Midway should be here in the next few days so loading without fire forming will be a joy. No SBR's here but a rifle like that would be an excellent gun for the woods here.

Good luck with the project. Looking forward to some pics.

Another writer, Tim Yan, took some pics at the event and he said he had some of me shooting it on full auto
with the Sabre lower. Said he'd email them to me in a couple days. He's driving back across country now.
I'll post them when I get them.

I want to see the results of this as well.

My wife has been asking for an SBR, and being able to have the same caliber/mags as my Recce would be nice.

In for pictures.

Can't wait to see this bad boy

I'm considering a SBR in 6.5G as well, looking forward to the additional info and pics.

This is really a lot of interest to me.  I am in the middle of the search for my favorite round.  I do a lot of pig hunting and a lot of precision rifle shooting.  Two passions lets say.  I love SBR's and Precision rifles obviously, based on my passions.  I use a 6.8 SBR for pig hunting with great results, but for some reason, i find myself trying to hate the round.  I am not exactly sure why at all.  It performed incredibly this past weekend when I shot six pigs with the Barnes TSX 85 gr. SSA loads.  But I also stalked a coyote about a half mile and found him in the middle of a field at around 250 yards.  I was not confident in taking the shot with the 12.5" 6.8.  

That said, I love the long distance capabilities of the 6.5 Grendel.  I have never owned one yet, but if it is proven that they can perform well as an SBR platform, I might be pushed into build mode.  I constantly hear that it is not a good hunting round for use as an SBR as the bullet expansion is not there due to lack of speed.  I have considered building an 18 or 20" 6.8 upper, but I still feel like I would be cheating myself out of distance when I could build the 6.5G SBR and LR upper set.  I guess I am jsut waiting for more evidence of the capabilities of the 6.5G SBR as a hunting rifle.  

Hope this was not a high jack; just VERY interested in the SBR side of the 6.5 Grendel.

I shoot, they drop and stop.  4 shots so far with it, 4 dead deer... DRT  10.5" Grendel SBR  The 120 Nosler ballistic tip has always done well on deer for me out of the 10.5" barrel.

From tiny:http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3356

To pretty big:http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4845

HTH!

Definitely wanna see pics!

Check out my 10.5" barrel load data in post #13 of this thread:http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8556

AA 1680 powder might run your 12" upper subsonic just fine with a can.  For better case fill volume you might be able to use Trailboss with your's too... Links in post #10 of this thread...

Do you know of any bullets heavier than the Honady RN 160 grainers available for the 6.5???

Nice! What are you getting for velocity out of the 10.5 inch barrel?

My build is very plain compared to that, consider it a 'shop mule'

but so far I am pretty pleased. Functions great.
I need to put it on paper and really see what it will do for
accuracy and build some handloads for it. Your exit wounds
look like what I've seen with Grendels. Lil holes going in, big holes
coming out.

that 120 Nosler is probably a good choice out of a short barrel as it
comes apart so easily. Havta load some up........

I know I know......but I just had a big industry event here and now I have Suarez International and BehindLines Training
doing a week of training on my range.........

I'll get pics as soon as possible!

Thanks!  I get about 2170-ish out of it with teh Wolf 120MPT loads.  Those were the old batches.  I haven't chronoed any of the newer stuff, so Icouldn't say what the latest stuff does.
Old thread with Wolf MPT chrono data...
Another thread with some more Wolf MPT data and some redneck high temperature testing...

The Hornady factory 123 AMAX loads are around 2179fps without a can, and go around 2198fps with my AAC 762SD mounted.
Thread with Hornady data...

I agree on the Nosler BT bullets.  They shoot very well in most Grendels, and they seem ideally suited to the Grendel's velocities too.

Definitely good information here.  Still love to see pics Dave.  Sounds like the Nosler 120 Grain is a good hunting round for the 6.5G SBR.  I generally use the Barnes TSX and TTSX in the 6.8, but the rumor is that the Barnes won't perform as well at the slower speeds of the 6.5g SBR.  Maybe that was more of the information that I was looking for was what hunting bullets perform well on Pigs at lower speeds.   My Grendel project may have gained new life.

One question though is why are there not any manufacturers out there selling 6.5 SBR barrels?  It sounds like they are a custom order product.  I assume the main reason is due to a lack of market interest.  I am excited about the project.  

Anyone have any input about the Model 1 sales 6.5 sporter (Grendel copy)?  I was thinking I could use that to chop for the SBR barrel and save a little cash and then build a nice 18-20" precision upper.

I think the only real problem with 6.5 Grendel in a short barrel is the lack of research and development in this particular area. It seems as though there has been so much focus on maximizing the potential of this round in long barrels, that very little thought has gone into a barrel/ammo match for SBR's having barrels from 12" to 16" in length.  If fast burning loads were mated to barrels of the optimum twist rate, I think we could enjoy much better performance from 6.5 in SBR's, and probably a significant jump up from 6.8 SPC (in SBR's of the same length).  Personally, I would love to see a cartridge utilizing Barnes 100gr. or 120gr. TTSX and an appropriate fast burning load specifically tailored for use in SBR.  I think the Alexander Arms equivalent is tailored for performance in longer barrels, thus performance in SBR is compromised.  I don't do any reloading, so I am limited in what I can experiment with, but it sure would be a fun project to develop a specialty cartridge for a compact AR that would provide an effective clean kill range of 600 yds.   I don't know what the big fascination there is with long barrel rifles, since after you screw on a suppressor you end up with a really long pita weapon to have to deal with.