12" 6.5 Grendel Update 5 month Review

[LRRPF52]

Have any of y’all run the Wolf 6.5 Grendel? I’m curious how it compares to the brass cased factory offerings. I built a 16” upper with mostly Alexander Arms parts and an Adams Arms piston system. It runs 100%, including the upper half on my M16, once I figured out that I have to use an H1 buffer with this setup. I’m wondering if the Wolf I’m using provides the same energy or more/less than the brass cased offerings.

The Wolf ammo shoots well from barrels with Enfield rifling. With 5R rifling, most people are getting 1.5-4 MOA.

I've personally only bought brass-cased ammo, but have shot some of the Wolf when people bring it to courses.

[pinzgauer]

Its cheap blaster ammo, no more no less. At its best its not as good as the (now much hated by some) Chinese Wolf gold 5.56. At its worst probably about the same as the wolf gold 5.56 at its worst (3-4 moa for many). For what its worth, I still shoot WG 5.56, even if I'm a bit leery of buying new given some of the recent reports.

I use steel Grendel when I don't want to pickup brass (or cannot). And usually not past 100 yards. 25-50 yards, offhand and fast, most cannot tell the difference.q

Reliability is fine, no issues there.

Some will say its crap ammo. I like having the option, and always have some on hand. For dynamic shooting out to 75-100 yards its fine to train with. Sit on a bench and you'll get frustrated. It's not made for that.

LRRP will have more details, but the variability seems to be in the bullet... People have done Mexican match loads with a decent bullet and (from memory) saw groups cut in half.

Grendel is very easy to load accurately, so it is a bit of a disappointment that grendel steel is about the same as 7.62 x39 steel. Sometimes I think a slightly more expensive variant with decent bullets would be useful, but we're not talking big increase to jump to brass case bulk Grendel, so we'll probably never see it.

[maximus83]

Great thread, raised my interest in a short barreled 6.5 G. I'm currently in process of assembling a longer-barreled 6.5 G upper, but think I need one of these eventually. Notice I said 'need', now I'll have to convince my better half. :-)

BTW, AA has a pretty sweet-looking complete 6.5 G pistol 11.5" called the Highlander, they also published info about the ballistics with different loads.

https://www.shopalexanderarms.com/pr...&product=45464

[klc4622]

Nice hybrid you have there and the 6.5 grendel is superior to the 5.56/.223 and your test results show that even though you are comparing the 6.5 with the 7.62. I know you are talking 6.5 Grendel but the 6.5 Creedmoor was a hard sell for me until I actually got adequate range time. As an old sniper, the advantages are: flatter trajectory than the typical .308. Terminal Ballistics are superior/ barrier penetration and hitting long range targets under extreme windy conditions I still had tighter groupings. I made sure that the conditions were as equal as you can find in Afghanistan and anyone who has been there knows about the wind factor. I am sold...wait I am so old hahaha. Seriously I think it is better for the 500 yd+ range targets than the .308. When hitting targets in the 500 yard range the .308 give similar results but we are looking at moving from one DMR type round to another and the Military can either be either 911 fast or post office slow. One weapon that needs to be replaced immediately is the M240 LWMG. General Dynamics has the solution, the LWMMG chambered in the .338 Norma Magnum. This weapon has been field tested (not in combat) and the report(s) have been submitted. This weapon is a sniper accurate when mounted and can reach out and drop a target at 1700 meters. That is way beyond the capabilities of M240 or PKM (which is overmatching our 240's). Yeah the ammo is heavier but the weapon weighs 3 lbs less than the 240 so to me it's a win win but it's being viewed in post office mode. I personally believe this is where the efforts need to be focused and they are but the powers to be actually have said "well you can always call in air power if you are getting overrun". Crickets overcame me....I mean damn

[Skeeter98]

Would a 12.5 inch BA barrel be better than a 12 inch faxon in this caliber? The faxon has nitriding and 5r while the BA does not. This is a very interesting concept. The fact that steel cased ammo can be found for as low as 25 cents a round with decent terminal ballistics makes this even more intriguing. Also what is the reliability and or lifespan of a 6.5 G carbine? Id imagine a lot less than a 5.56 chambered rifle.

[maximus83]

Would a 12.5 inch BA barrel be better than a 12 inch faxon in this caliber? The faxon has nitriding and 5r while the BA does not. This is a very interesting concept. The fact that steel cased ammo can be found for as low as 25 cents a round with decent terminal ballistics makes this even more intriguing. Also what is the reliability and or lifespan of a 6.5 G carbine? Id imagine a lot less than a 5.56 chambered rifle.

Both those barrels have good reputations for solid accuracy and you can learn more over on the 65Grendel forums.

As to barrel life, Arne Brennan (who helped design the cartridge) has estimated 6K rounds due to the relatively low case-volume to bore diameter ratio. It doesn't have a ton of powder capacity, so it's not really a barrel burner.

[Karralys]

What sort of mags are you getting the best reliability out of for Grendel?

[maximus83]

What sort of mags are you getting the best reliability out of for Grendel?

New to Grendel myself so I'm as interested to learn that as you are; pending my first upper being finished by Precision Firearms (should be within the next 2-4 weeks). LRRPF52 is the guy to ask here, but since I'm not sure when he'll be back on this thread, here's what I know from the guys at 65Grendel.

In no special order:

* Elander (used by Alexander Arms)
* ASC (used by Precision Firearms, others)
* C-Products
* A few by smaller companies or forthcoming ones. For example, Amend 2 is planning to release a polymer 6.5 G mag, supposedly this fall.

The first 3 are the leaders for sure, all get used. Interestingly, some large/reputable retailers like Primary Arms carry all 3 brands. And on the Grendel forums I haven't seen any strong consensus that one is clearly superior. I can't even find any consensus on whether there's a consensus. I'm starting with ASC since Precision Firearms is one of the top Grendel shops, and they sell and package them with their uppers. But Alexander Arms going with Elander says something too, you prob know this but Bill Alexander was a co-designer of the Grendel so you have to assume Elander works.

[Bret]

What sort of mags are you getting the best reliability out of for Grendel?

I've been running the Elanders on full auto and they've been 100%.

[Karralys]

I've been running the Elanders on full auto and they've been 100%.

Awesome, good to know.
I don't want to hi-jack the thread, but I picked up 5 24 round E-Landers recently. Three ran flawlessly, but two were nose diving rounds inside the mag body, getting failures to feed. Was using Wolf steel cased ammo, so maybe that's the problem? Followers seemed a little "floaty" while loading them to capacity.