The 6.5 Grendel Cartridge changes everything if you want an AR-style hog hunting rifle for anything up to the size of deer. The 5.56mm (or .223 Remington), the standard round the AR15 was designed around is ok for coyotes or other small predator hunting, but for anything larger, it is sadly lacking in power, and accuracy suffers at long range.
The 6.5mm Grendel (6.5×39mm) cartridge was designed by Bill Alexander, Arne Brennan, and Janne Pohjoispää to improve the power and range of the AR-15 rifle. The parent case, the Russian 7.62×39 was reformed to design a cartridge that held more powder than the 5.56 NATO round and used the very aerodynamic 6.5mm bullet. The very high ballistic coefficient and sectional density of the .264 caliber bullet make it a top choice for long-range target shooters and hunters alike.
Bullet weights in the 100-123 grain range are especially well suited for the 6.5 Grendel case size and can be pushed at velocities between 2400 and 2900 feet per second from standard 16-24” barrels. To get all of this performance from a cartridge that is only 2.26 inches long and fits into an AR15 magazine is truly amazing. For long-range target shooting, it is right on the heels of its big brother the 6.5 Creedmore and the .308 Winchester with superb accuracy out to 1000 yards.
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For years, about the only place you could buy a 6.5 Grendel rifle was from Alexander Arms, but today Ruger and Howa are chambering bolt action rifles for the Grendel and many companies like Palmetto State Armory build complete AR15 rifles in the caliber. It is great that companies are selling more of these fine rifles, but if you already have an AR15 rifle, you can just buy or build a 6.5 Grendel AR15 upper assembly custom suited to your needs. You can build expensive match systems or just pick up a low priced upper assembly for hunting as I did, and be very pleased with the performance of the 6.5 Grendel. My PSA unit functions perfectly and is extremely accurate for a hunting rifle, producing groups under an inch at 100 yards with hunting ammo.
Several companies make upper assemblies for as little as $300, and you can order it directly from the manufacturer with no FFL. I bought my upper from Palmetto State Armory (PSA) in South Carolina for $349 and they shipped it directly to me the next day. It features a stainless steel barrel, slim M-Lock handguard, flash suppressor, and complete bolt assembly. The only other thing you will need for the conversion is 6.5 Grendel magazines. PSA has these to for about $20 each, or you can order from several other companies like Midway USA. Here are more sources for 6.5 Grendel magazines.
Nothing else is required to make the conversion. Just pop out the pins securing the upper on your AR15 and attach the new 6.5 Grendel upper assembly. THAT’S IT! You are in business and have doubled the power of your AR15 for hunting. Now you have an AR15 that will deliver the power of a 243 Winchester. The standard hunting loads by Hornady and Federal drive 120-123 grain bullets around 2500 feet per second. It has as much power at 200 yards as a .223 has at the muzzle, but more importantly, it has a much heavier bullet designed for hunting deer-size game. Federal also has ammo available with 90-grain hollow points shooting about 2750 fps if you want a flat shooing coyote buster.
Honestly, I do not know how PSA can produce such a high-quality upper assembly for the price they charge. I really like the slim free-floating M-lock handguard. It fits my hand well and looks great, and it comes with a couple of bases you can add to attach a light or sight. The stainless 18” barrel is very accurate and provides great balance and velocity. The bolt works smoothly and I have not had a single malfunction of any kind. I use it with my Smith & Wesson MP15 lower unit, and the combo works together like a charm.
The new hog hunting rifle started out using a Leupold VX-R 3×9 scope, with only a flashlight and Hornady SST’s for hunting pigs at night.
We then used the new Sightmark Wraith HD 4-32×50 Digital Riflescope from Outdoor Legacy for day or night hunting. Be sure to see out Sightmark Wraith videos. It is a great Night Vision Scope.
The Hog Hunting Rifle now wears a Pulsar Thermion 2 XP50 Pro Thermal Rifle Scope most of the time. The American Defense QD mount makes it possible to change scopes when necessary without losing zero.
The 6.5 Grendel Hunting Rifle At Work
6.5 Grendel Gets The Job Done!
If you are a year-round hunter like I am and live in the Southeast, you probably love to hunt feral hogs. These beasts can destroy acres of crops overnight, and most farmers in the South are eager for you to shoot as many hogs as you can to protect their investments. The .223 Remington, even with heavy hunting bullets, is not a great choice for shooting pigs weighing up to 300 pounds. Yes, most pigs are not that large, but just about every sounder you encounter will have a sow over 150 pounds or boars that are 200 plus and tough as nails. Most serious hog hunters have gone to the AR10 rifles shooting the 308 Winchester. The AR10 will defiantly take down big pigs, but they weigh a lot and cost more than a typical AR15.
Field Test – My first couple of hunts with the 6.5 Grendel did not disappoint. I intentionally took body shots on the first five hogs to see if the Grendel had enough power to put hogs down quickly with chest shots. One-shot at 50 yards put the 150lb sow pictured above down in her tracks using a Hornady 123 SST bullet. The next four hogs weighing between 25-150 pounds went down on the spot with chest shots. The 3 larger hogs (100-150lbs) were all shot within 50 yards and were quartering shots. The 123 grain Hornady bullet did not exit all of the large hogs, but on the smaller pigs, straight shots through the rib cage it left gaping exit wounds. Factory Hornady 123 SST ammo from my 18″ barrel was chronographed at 2425 fps. The Grendel is proving to have plenty of knockdown power for the job.
The Hunt Continues – Another successful hunt with the Grendel yesterday, taking two 40-50 pound pigs with one shot. About an hour before dark, four young hogs came into the food plot and a couple of them lined up for double lung shots. At the crack of the Grendel, two pigs were down with one shot. The Hornady 123 gn SST plowed through the first pig blowing out chunks of meat and continued to the second pig to put both down and out DRT. It is really hard to beat the performance of the Hornady SST bullet.
Factory Ammo Performance from the 6.5 Grendel
I found three types of factory ammo to try in my new Grendel – Hornady Custom 123 gn SST, Hornady Black 123 gn ELD, and Federal’s American Eagle featuring a Speer 90 gn HP. The Hornady ammo chronographed the same velocities and grouped all together. The only difference was the type of bullet. The SST is for Hunting and the Black ELD is for target shooting. Both shot 1” groups at 100 yards at the same point of impact. The Federal 90 gn HP’s were over 300 fps faster than the 123’s from my 18” barrel. I was hoping for a little higher velocity from the 123’s, but was pleasantly surprised with the Federals moving out at 2750 fps.
The Chrono Does Not Lie!
Even from an 18” barrel, the ballistics from factory ammo are very good. Zeroed at 2” high at 100 yards gives you the ability to hold center of mass on medium game out to 200-250 yards. Power retention is excellent with over 1000 ft/lbs of energy at 300 yards, right on par with at 243 Winchester. Keep in mind that this is from an 18” barrel and that a longer barrel can increase the performance even more if you are a long-range target shooter. It is hard to believe this level of performance comes from a cartridge that is only 2.25″ long and fits inside an AR15 magazine.
Handloading the 6.5 Grendel
The chart below shows chronographed velocities for factory and hand loads tested.
| Weight/Bullet | Powder Charge | Velocity | Primer | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 123 Hornady SST | 2500 | 1 MOA | ||
| 123 Hornady Black | 2475 | 1/2" | ||
| 123 Hornady SST | 29.0 AA2520 | 2360 | CCI | 1/2" |
| 123 Hornady SST | 28.0 IMR8082 | 2450 | CCI | 3/4" |
| 123 Hornady SST | 29.0 Power Pro Varmint | 2425 | CCI | 1" |
| 100 Hornady Amax | 31.5 AA2520 | 2700 | CCI | 3/4" |
| 90 Speer HP | 32.0 Power Pro Varmint | 2800 | CCI | 1/2" same POI as 123 |
My first hand load used 100-grain Hornady A-Max bullets, H335 powder and Winchester small rifle primers. For my rifle, the 29.5-grain charge of H335 was as hot as I want to shoot in my AR15. 29.5 grains of H335 was producing only about 100 fps less with a 100 -grain bullet as the 90 -grain factory load. I was happy with those results and did not want to push the load any higher. The great news is that this load consistently shoots 1/2” groups a 100 yards.
Several great powders and bullets are available for the Grendel. The next test will be using Nosler Ballistic Tips in 100 and 120 grains with H335 and AA2520 powders. Most reports indicate AA2520 is an excellent powder for bullets in the 120-125 grain weight ranges. H335 seems to work great for the 100-grain bullets.
UPDATE
Loading Data for 6.5 Grendel
More testing at the range today using 120 gn Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets and Accurate Arms 2520 powder. This powder is one of the original AA powders made in Israel, not the new AA powder sold by Western Powder company. Western has 6.5 Grendel loading data available that shows a max load of 29.7 grains for 120 Seirra bullets. I would say that that appears to be about max with my older powder also. My old Accurate Loading Manual does not list 6.5 Grendel data.
After some initial testing, I settled on a load of 29.0 grains of AA2520 with the Nosler 120-grain Ballistic Tip bullet and got very good results. I was trying to find a load as close to the Hornady Factory ammo as possible for velocity and point of impact. Velocity of this load is just over 2400 fps and it groups into about an inch at 100 yards. The second load of 30.5 grains of CFE223 produced about the same velocity and also printed the same point of am.
The new Nosler 120 loads shoot to almost the same point of impact as the factory 123-grain loads and almost the same velocity. Now I can hunt with either the Nosler hand loads or the factory ammo without having to re-zero the scope. Both loads are ringing the 3 ” steel plates at 200 yds. The energy at 200 yards is over 1200 ft/lbs and you really get to see the power of this little round when you start whacking steel plates out at 200 yards. I have not shot any pigs or deer at that range but I have total confidence that it will get the job done on medium-size game at that range.
