AR Style 6.8 SPC or 6.5 Grendel?

[Southbay]

I was at Rifle Gear today doing a PPT with another Calgunner. There was a guy touting the merits of the 6.5, he claimed he can hit steel at 1700 yards, is this possible?

[ar15barrels]

I was at Rifle Gear today doing a PPT with another Calgunner. There was a guy touting the merits of the 6.5, he claimed he can hit steel at 1700 yards, is this possible?

Did you ask him where he was able to shoot at steel buildings?
He's full of crap.

No 6.5 grendel loading will keep the bullet supersonic at those ranges.
Heck, not even any 308 loads will do that.
Even the 300 win mag is running out of steam at 1700yds.
That's well into 338 Lapua range.

He's probably like most people in that he can not judge distance well.
Most people would look downrange and guess double the actual distance.
That being the case, his 1700yd shot was probably 850yds.

[Southbay]

Did you ask him where he was able to shoot at steel buildings?
He's full of crap.

No 6.5 grendel loading will keep the bullet supersonic at those ranges.
Heck, not even any 308 loads will do that.
Even the 300 win mag is running out of steam at 1700yds.
That's well into 338 Lapua range.

He's probably like most people in that he can not judge distance well.
Most people would look downrange and guess double the actual distance.
That being the case, his 1700yd shot was probably 850yds.

Thanks Randall,

It sounded crazy to me, he claimed 5 shots on an 8” steel at 1700 yards, I would pay to see that.

[C.G.]

Thanks Randall,

It sounded crazy to me, he claimed 5 shots on an 8” steel at 1700 yards, I would pay to see that.

Impossible, and this is from a guy that owns a 24" 6.5 Grendel. As AR15barrels said that is .338 LM range.

Unfortunately, on both sides of the camp you will read a lot of half truths or article repetitions that will have notthing to do with the capabilities of either round.

BTW, 6.8 SPC is not going to be the replacement for 5.56 anytime soon if ever, no matter how many times it is touted as such on the internet.

[jwb28]

So would a lot of people. Maybe he ment 170.0 yards

[k1dude]

The advantage is bigger when barrel lengths are short, 6.8 was designed for 16" barrels and people get the most out of it with hand loads in a 20" barrel. You need a 24" barrel to get the most out of a grendel.

The difference between a 16" barrel and a 24" barrel isn't that significant with a Grendel. For example, shooting Lapua 123 grain Scenars at 300 yards, the difference in energy is 1127 out of a 16 to 1270 out of a 24. The penalty for a 16" isn't as bad as you'd think.

[ar15barrels]

So would a lot of people. Maybe he ment 170.0 yards

Probably 1700ft.

[javalos]

6.8 SPC for hunting
6.5 Grendel for long range target shooting.

I am more than impressed with the 6.8 SPC which I might add was developed to be shot from a carbine length barrel. It was made with the collaboration of Special Forces and Remington. When I zero'd my 6.8 SPC at the 100 yard range, I was astounded at its accuracy, shot out the orange circle which was the size of a quarter. To say that I'm stoked over this cartridge is an understatement.

[Scorpiusdeus]

I've long desired a rifle in 6.8 SPC. It seems to me to be a great caliber for def/hunting purposes. A nice all around caliber.

[DannyInSoCal]

I was at Rifle Gear today doing a PPT with another Calgunner. There was a guy touting the merits of the 6.5, he claimed he can hit steel at 1700 yards, is this possible?

I'll bet his dime against my mortgage - That he can't hit 1 out of 10...

[Capt. Speirs]

Grendel

dont try this with 6.8 at 550 yards
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48W7NfyT6xg

6.8 was not designed for 500 yards plus. Can't compare 6.8 to 6.5, two different applications.

[wash]

What's on the video?

I can't watch it here.

If you look around you can find a 5-6" group that Bill Wilson shot at 500 yards with one of his 6.8's.

Grendel might do better at that distance but not by much and 6.8 just wasn't designed for that (but it does pretty good any way).

[goodlookin1]

The Grendel cartridge just looks cooler, so it must be better.





In all seriousness, I chose the 6.5 because of the choice of bullets (I reload), the higher BC for long range shooting, and the ability to shoot heavier bullets than the 6.8, if desired.

Drawbacks for the 6.8 (for me) were that there wasnt an official chamber spec...SPCI, SPCII, different typed of rifling, some ammo was dangerous to load in earlier spec'd chambers, etc. I didnt want to worry about that when I was reloading.

Cost for retail rounds are about the same, so both are still expensive and hard to find. In the end, I found the longer range potential of the Grendel to be more appealing than the (arguably) minimal benefot of the close range of the 6.8

YMMV