6.5 Grendal VS 6x45

F

Field Medic

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Would like to hear from actual owners or builders of these two calibers.. Which one do you prefer for coyotes and punching some paper.. Im not going to be shooting at anything over 500 yds in the area I hunt or target shoot. Mostly coyotes and maybe a whitetail or two. Which caliber is easier to reload for? availabilty of brass and components?? Thanks!!!!
 
I debated for a while on what to build. I ended up building a 6x45.

Cheaper brass, don't have to worry about trying to find it after I shoot in the field.
Cheaper bullets, all 6mm are cheaper then 6.5mm
No special magazines needed, pmags work great.
No special bolt to buy, uses the same as 223
Easy reloading, not hard to find loads for.
I have yet to kill a deer with it, it is kinda border line on deer but I bet it'd work fine on a doe.

Love my 6x45, still cheap to shoot and packs more of a punch for coyotes.
Yeah a 6.5 will have more energy and less wind drift for long range but is it worth the extra $$?

It would be nice to carry around an Ar with enough energy to knock a deer down with no worries, if that's what your leaning more towards then I'd get the grendel.

And if you're gonna shoot 500 yards very regularly then the 6.5 grendel would probably be your best bet in an Ar platform.

 
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I just got done with my Grendel build this summer. The upper is one of Scott's uppers at Specialized Dynamics.
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Both are great rounds in my opinion but two totally different animals as well. The brass for the 6x45 is a definate advantage (or was up to a month ago). The 6x45 has a lot of bullet selection but not much over 85ish grains will be worth it. There are a lot of great 6mm bullets out there and is one of my favorite. If you are looking to hunt with this round it certainly has it's limitations. As long as you know what they are, you will be fine.

I built my Grendel to shoot a 123gr bullet and that is it. Ballistically this round is pretty amazing considered it is fired from the AR15 platform. There is no way I would have a Grendel and not reload. To the best of my knowledge there are only three commercial manufactures of ammo. With that said there are only three commercial manufactures of brass as well though. Although I shoot the 123's, there is also a great selection of bullets for the 6.5 as well. I know a lot of guys run the 95gr VMax with great results.

Basically it boils down to what you plan to do with the rifle. IMO varmints, coyotes and even smaller big game the 6x45 is hard to beat. Bigger, big game, and anything at a bit longer range, the Grendel fits the bill as well. From what you've described, I would go with the 6x45.
 
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First question I have is. Do you reload? If you don't then I would look at something else. Like an ar10 in 243. Because there are only a couple of rounds for the 6x45 and the 6.5 shells can get$ and you can find 243's at about every sporting goods store. But If you do reload then either one. But I would lean to the 6.5. Yes the brass is cheap and easy to make. Good bullet selection up to 80 or 85gr. Anything heavier would have to single feed. But if you do reload then I would really push you to the 6mmWOA or 6mmdti. Either one is going to be super easy to reload for. You will be able to load heavier bullets and still keep you speed up when whitetail hunting. When I go out calling between the three r25 in 243,6x45,6mmWOA. The 6mmWOA or the 243 gets to play more than the 6x45. Don't get me wrong I like the 6x45 caliber. It just does not get played with as much.
 
I have built and now shoot both (the 6.5 is chambered in .264lbc - essentially a tighter neck Grendel). Both are easy to load for. I had no trouble getting both to shoot under MOA at 100 and some loads are much better.

I built my 6 around a 20" 1:9 Blackhole barrel and a Mega side charge upper receiver. 26.3 gr of 8208xbr sends 5 85gr HPSGK down range at about 2850 fps into about 3/4". If I drop back to 25.7 MV drops to about 2770 and the group to about 1/2. I'm still working to see if it can do better.

My .264 is an 18" 1:7.5 Kies Firearms upper. I'm just getting serious about sorting the loads out and haven't chrono'd any yet, but it shoots Hdy factory loads under an inch and some preliminary handloads a bit better.

As noted above, 5.56/.223 brass is (or used to be) much easier to get, bullets are a bit cheaper and the 6x45 uses slightly smaller powder charges.

I load the .264 in Hdy. and AA (Lapua) brass with 123 amax and 123 SMKs. Like the 6 8208 works well.

I use them almost exclusively on paper. I like both, but If I had to choose, I'd probably opt for the 6. Why? In principle, the .264 comes into its own at longer ranges than I am able to shoot. If you have access to 500 yard ranges or you want shoot heavier bullets, the 6.5/.264 may be a better answer. Or you could do what I did and build both.

The standard hand loading disclaimers apply.
 
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I built a 6x45 on a Savage action after I sold my AR15 6x45.
My reason was yup...I have tons of .223 brass, 2-223s and forming easy simple as drinking milk.
Its very accurate to 700 yards. Its my main coyote rig and with a 65g vmax I have taken over 200 of them in the last 3 yrs w/it to 600 yards.
Light recoil, noise is like the .223 & a great caliber.
This is also perfect for antelope/deer to 400 yards. I have 4 antelope in the freezer due to the 6x45.
 
Thanks for the information... I really do appreciate all of you taking the time to post..Am I correct in saying that you can reuse 223 cal brass to load 6x45??? What is the process for this ??

6mm WOA and ddti really has sparked my interest.. Is this basically the same as a 6x45 but you are able to load for heavier bullets without losing velocity??
 
Originally Posted By: Field MedicThanks for the information... I really do appreciate all of you taking the time to post..Am I correct in saying that you can reuse 223 cal brass to load 6x45??? What is the process for this ??

Buy a set of 6x45 dies, lube a .223 case, run it through the resizing/decapping die, prime it, dump in some powder and seat a 6mm/.243 diameter bullet. No different than loading .223 except for the diameter of the bullet...
 
I believe the 6mm woa is off the 6.8 case. The 6x45 is off the 223 case. I love the 6x45. Sold out of the 6.8 and never looked back. For the ranges I deer hunt here in Missouri it works good on deer too. I shoot 55gr noses bt and it just hammers coyotes and doesn't tear them up. I can use all the same mags too. So one mag for the 223,6x45, and the 17 Remington. Can't comment on the 6.5 never been around one.
 
Originally Posted By: Field MedicThanks for the information... I really do appreciate all of you taking the time to post..Am I correct in saying that you can reuse 223 cal brass to load 6x45??? What is the process for this ??

6mm WOA and ddti really has sparked my interest.. Is this basically the same as a 6x45 but you are able to load for heavier bullets without losing velocity??

The 6 WOA seems to be a 6.8 SPC case necked down, which would require other mags, bolt, special dies, etc.
 
The 6dti and 6 woa are nothing like the 6x45. I own a 6.5 grendel., 6x45, and a 6woa. Love them all. All shoot scary accurate. PM me with anything you want to know specific. Be glad to help
 
Originally Posted By: Field Medicmoonshine

good to know!!! Thanks BUD!!!

You're welcome! I have a 6x45 barrel coming from Black Hole that I just started putting a few rounds together to test once the barrel gets installed.
 
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