10 Head of Big Game - 6.5 Grendel – 4 Seasons
10 Big Game Animals taken over 4 seasons in Alberta with a 6.5 Grendel. Myself and my Kids. Before my two Boys were of legal Hunting age, I wanted a cartridge that would suit all our needs without any excess and settled on the 6.5 Grendel many years previous but had to wait for availability of factory rifles and ammo. The cartridge was released in 2004 so it took its sweet time becoming readily available up here in Canada.
I purchased the first 6.5 Grendel in late 2017 or early 2018 and had it ready to go for the 2018 season.
2018; The first animal taken, a young Bull Moose at 125 yards with a 15-yard recovery, later the same day a small 4-point Whitetail Buck at 125 yards also with a 15-yard recovery. Appears to be the first Moose ever taken with this cartridge (Nov 10, 2018). Boys weren’t old enough yet, so this season was just me filling the freezer and studying performance of the new cartridge.
2019; My oldest was now 12, passed his Hunters Education and had a Whitetail tag in his pocket. He took a nice little 4-point Whitetail Buck from a blind at 238 yards, DRT.
2020; I took a Non-Trophy Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep at 170 yards, DRT, my oldest took a large Mule Deer Buck at 192 yards, DRT, and then I took a nice 4-point Whitetail Buck at 198 yards, DRT. My youngest turned 12 just after the 2020 season so he got his Hunters Education over the Holiday Break and we made plans for Spring Bear to find his first.
2021; My youngest takes his first with a nice 5’ Black Bear at 10 yards, DRT. In the fall he took a nice 5x4 mature Whitetail Buck at 300 yards! 50-yard recovery. Then later in the season my oldest took a young Whitetail Doe at 355 yards with 40-yard recovery and I turned it into a double header with a mature Whitetail Doe at 420 yards, DRT.
We are 10 for 10 on Big Game now, at least 4 coyotes have also fallen to the Grendel as well. There’s only one miss on Big Game (a number of misses on coyotes), it was in 2021 on a rushed shot by my oldest in a blind with a Doe, she was in a hurry, and we couldn’t quite get moved and settled as she blew through on the wrong side of our blind at 120 yards and only stopped once briefly. The 300 yard plus shots were all laying prone across a valley, the 192-yard Mule Deer was prone, Sheep was prone, sitting height bipods used on a couple and shooting sticks, nothing freehand.
Since it’s a relatively newer cartridge for our part of the world I’ve been careful to detail the experiences to this point. Our average shot distance has been 213 yards and our average recovery distance has been 12 yards. 5 head of Big Game taken by Myself (experienced shooter), and 5 Head by two new shooters.
The ammo we have used throughout has been factory Hornady Black with the 123gr ELD-M bullets. The bullet combination of high sectional density, lighter construction (modern cup and core), and moderate velocity has been performing to expectation. We are getting deep penetration, great expansion and internal damage, and exits on almost all the class 2 size game(deer/sheep/bear), two larger deer had enough angle to keep the bullets in for some study and the best example to record was the 2020 Whitetail Buck at 198 yards steep quartering away. Impact velocity 2100 fps, entered through the second last rib and stopped after about 18” penetration in offsite meat front of brisket just under the hide, 99.8 grains recovered or 81%. The 420-yard mature Doe from this season was similar quartering away, 1800 fps impact, entrance was middle rib cage and it exited just inside offside front shoulder after 15” penetration with a 1.5” hole out the front end. Both those deer dropped on the spot with brilliant internal damage.
The game has been taken by 3 different rifles. The first 4 head of game (2018 & 2019) with a CZ 527 American (2 head with factory barrel about 23.5” and 2552 fps mv and 1 with 24” Proof Research carbon barrel at 2605 fps mv) then the 2019 deer taken with 20” Howa Mini Action with approx. 2500 fps mv. From 2020 onward and 6 head of the game has all been taken with Ruger American Ranch with 16.1” barrel and 2386 fps mv.
Trying out several rifles and platforms through these 4 seasons with traditional and chassis style stocks etc. we’ve migrated to the Ruger platform in MDT LSS-XL Gen2 AR chassis with Magpul furniture. The rifle has adjustable LOP to fit any size shooter and grow with them. The chassis adds weight but really ups the shoot-ability, soaks recoil, easy to watch everything in scope, and or, get back in scope etc. and the Kids are shooting it well as a result. Recoil energy calculates to approx. 6.5 ft/lbs. We’re about 8 ¼ lbs scoped without ammo. Our choice of accessories currently is Trijicon 3-9x40 Accupoint green dot duplex with Kenton Industries Speed Dial Turret (dials to 500 from 200 zero), removed factory picatinny rail in favor of Talley 1” Low Lightweight Rings, Strike Industries Buffer Tube, Magpul CTR Butt Stock, Magpul Moe-K Grip. Average 3-Shot group accuracy has been about ¾ moa all the way to 500 yards with that factory Hornady ammo and factory trigger setting at approx. 3 lbs.
I weighed this cartridge very heavily against the long-time champ of starter cartridges, the .243 win. The 6.5 Grendel may give up some point blank zero range, but we live in a day of rangefinders now so it’s a smaller advantage. The 123gr bullet of the 6.5 Grendel starts to walk away from the .243 after 300 yards in most factory ammo comparisons and it does it with a heavier better penetrating bullet as well. Less wind drift due to the high BC also. I’ve owned several .243’s and introduced new shooters with it previously. Now I will recommend the 6.5 Grendel, at minimum an equal to the .243 win. For reasons surrounding the bullet I think it’s actually better suited to Big Game than the .243. I would recommend the 6.5 Grendel not just as a starter cartridge but also as that cartridge a long-time shooter may migrate to after climbing the horsepower ladder and coming back down the other side.
I’m not a big Elk guy or traveller to hunt rare game in distant lands. We are primarily deer/sheep and other class 2 game, meat over trophy, the odd moose draw, lots of coyote/predator calling. We have found something that does what we ask with no fat and it’s working well.
A final observation we have noticed with this cartridge is the apparent lack of noise to the game, they didn't seem to explode out of the country at the shot as I've always been used with typical standard Big Game cartridges, including the .243 win although usually shot a .270 win or .270 wsm. We had game standing around, not going as far even hit fatally, and other game that was with animal we shot would stick around also. There was a lot that we were able to see in the scope after pulling the trigger on the first shot. This has become a common enough theme as the seasons have rolled on now that it's standing out as an unexpected benefit. We even had a coyote give my youngest a second shot from the blind after I lip squeaked it into 80 yards and he missed a head on shot but it didn't leave full scald like usual, a good lope and stopped again at 120 yards broadside and give another chance. That's quite unusual.
So that’s a wrap on our first 10 head of Big Game over 4 seasons. The 6.5 Grendel is the 21st Century Interpretation of what 30 grains of powder can do. We’ve heard plenty about two other 21st Century 6.5’s in the Creedmoor and PRC so maybe a little attention was due, especially since the Grendel was here first in 2004, the Creedmoor in 2008, and the PRC in 2020. All 3 amazingly efficient providing the most performance available for the powder burned. Hope you enjoyed the write up.
10 Big Game Animals taken over 4 seasons in Alberta with a 6.5 Grendel. Myself and my Kids. Before my two Boys were of legal Hunting age, I wanted a cartridge that would suit all our needs without any excess and settled on the 6.5 Grendel many years previous but had to wait for availability of factory rifles and ammo. The cartridge was released in 2004 so it took its sweet time becoming readily available up here in Canada.
I purchased the first 6.5 Grendel in late 2017 or early 2018 and had it ready to go for the 2018 season.
2018; The first animal taken, a young Bull Moose at 125 yards with a 15-yard recovery, later the same day a small 4-point Whitetail Buck at 125 yards also with a 15-yard recovery. Appears to be the first Moose ever taken with this cartridge (Nov 10, 2018). Boys weren’t old enough yet, so this season was just me filling the freezer and studying performance of the new cartridge.
2019; My oldest was now 12, passed his Hunters Education and had a Whitetail tag in his pocket. He took a nice little 4-point Whitetail Buck from a blind at 238 yards, DRT.
2020; I took a Non-Trophy Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep at 170 yards, DRT, my oldest took a large Mule Deer Buck at 192 yards, DRT, and then I took a nice 4-point Whitetail Buck at 198 yards, DRT. My youngest turned 12 just after the 2020 season so he got his Hunters Education over the Holiday Break and we made plans for Spring Bear to find his first.
2021; My youngest takes his first with a nice 5’ Black Bear at 10 yards, DRT. In the fall he took a nice 5x4 mature Whitetail Buck at 300 yards! 50-yard recovery. Then later in the season my oldest took a young Whitetail Doe at 355 yards with 40-yard recovery and I turned it into a double header with a mature Whitetail Doe at 420 yards, DRT.
We are 10 for 10 on Big Game now, at least 4 coyotes have also fallen to the Grendel as well. There’s only one miss on Big Game (a number of misses on coyotes), it was in 2021 on a rushed shot by my oldest in a blind with a Doe, she was in a hurry, and we couldn’t quite get moved and settled as she blew through on the wrong side of our blind at 120 yards and only stopped once briefly. The 300 yard plus shots were all laying prone across a valley, the 192-yard Mule Deer was prone, Sheep was prone, sitting height bipods used on a couple and shooting sticks, nothing freehand.
Since it’s a relatively newer cartridge for our part of the world I’ve been careful to detail the experiences to this point. Our average shot distance has been 213 yards and our average recovery distance has been 12 yards. 5 head of Big Game taken by Myself (experienced shooter), and 5 Head by two new shooters.
The ammo we have used throughout has been factory Hornady Black with the 123gr ELD-M bullets. The bullet combination of high sectional density, lighter construction (modern cup and core), and moderate velocity has been performing to expectation. We are getting deep penetration, great expansion and internal damage, and exits on almost all the class 2 size game(deer/sheep/bear), two larger deer had enough angle to keep the bullets in for some study and the best example to record was the 2020 Whitetail Buck at 198 yards steep quartering away. Impact velocity 2100 fps, entered through the second last rib and stopped after about 18” penetration in offsite meat front of brisket just under the hide, 99.8 grains recovered or 81%. The 420-yard mature Doe from this season was similar quartering away, 1800 fps impact, entrance was middle rib cage and it exited just inside offside front shoulder after 15” penetration with a 1.5” hole out the front end. Both those deer dropped on the spot with brilliant internal damage.
The game has been taken by 3 different rifles. The first 4 head of game (2018 & 2019) with a CZ 527 American (2 head with factory barrel about 23.5” and 2552 fps mv and 1 with 24” Proof Research carbon barrel at 2605 fps mv) then the 2019 deer taken with 20” Howa Mini Action with approx. 2500 fps mv. From 2020 onward and 6 head of the game has all been taken with Ruger American Ranch with 16.1” barrel and 2386 fps mv.
Trying out several rifles and platforms through these 4 seasons with traditional and chassis style stocks etc. we’ve migrated to the Ruger platform in MDT LSS-XL Gen2 AR chassis with Magpul furniture. The rifle has adjustable LOP to fit any size shooter and grow with them. The chassis adds weight but really ups the shoot-ability, soaks recoil, easy to watch everything in scope, and or, get back in scope etc. and the Kids are shooting it well as a result. Recoil energy calculates to approx. 6.5 ft/lbs. We’re about 8 ¼ lbs scoped without ammo. Our choice of accessories currently is Trijicon 3-9x40 Accupoint green dot duplex with Kenton Industries Speed Dial Turret (dials to 500 from 200 zero), removed factory picatinny rail in favor of Talley 1” Low Lightweight Rings, Strike Industries Buffer Tube, Magpul CTR Butt Stock, Magpul Moe-K Grip. Average 3-Shot group accuracy has been about ¾ moa all the way to 500 yards with that factory Hornady ammo and factory trigger setting at approx. 3 lbs.
I weighed this cartridge very heavily against the long-time champ of starter cartridges, the .243 win. The 6.5 Grendel may give up some point blank zero range, but we live in a day of rangefinders now so it’s a smaller advantage. The 123gr bullet of the 6.5 Grendel starts to walk away from the .243 after 300 yards in most factory ammo comparisons and it does it with a heavier better penetrating bullet as well. Less wind drift due to the high BC also. I’ve owned several .243’s and introduced new shooters with it previously. Now I will recommend the 6.5 Grendel, at minimum an equal to the .243 win. For reasons surrounding the bullet I think it’s actually better suited to Big Game than the .243. I would recommend the 6.5 Grendel not just as a starter cartridge but also as that cartridge a long-time shooter may migrate to after climbing the horsepower ladder and coming back down the other side.
I’m not a big Elk guy or traveller to hunt rare game in distant lands. We are primarily deer/sheep and other class 2 game, meat over trophy, the odd moose draw, lots of coyote/predator calling. We have found something that does what we ask with no fat and it’s working well.
A final observation we have noticed with this cartridge is the apparent lack of noise to the game, they didn't seem to explode out of the country at the shot as I've always been used with typical standard Big Game cartridges, including the .243 win although usually shot a .270 win or .270 wsm. We had game standing around, not going as far even hit fatally, and other game that was with animal we shot would stick around also. There was a lot that we were able to see in the scope after pulling the trigger on the first shot. This has become a common enough theme as the seasons have rolled on now that it's standing out as an unexpected benefit. We even had a coyote give my youngest a second shot from the blind after I lip squeaked it into 80 yards and he missed a head on shot but it didn't leave full scald like usual, a good lope and stopped again at 120 yards broadside and give another chance. That's quite unusual.
So that’s a wrap on our first 10 head of Big Game over 4 seasons. The 6.5 Grendel is the 21st Century Interpretation of what 30 grains of powder can do. We’ve heard plenty about two other 21st Century 6.5’s in the Creedmoor and PRC so maybe a little attention was due, especially since the Grendel was here first in 2004, the Creedmoor in 2008, and the PRC in 2020. All 3 amazingly efficient providing the most performance available for the powder burned. Hope you enjoyed the write up.
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The Grendel is like a 3/4 scale .308 running a little slower and less pressure so it should be a barrel life champ.
