6.5 Grendel Hunting Bullet

[OpsMan]

What bullet has done well for those hunting whitetail deer with a 6.5 Grendel? My son shot a doe this year with Hornady 123gr SST’s. Small entry hole, no exit. Ran 100 yards before she dropped. He shot her in the vitals and was a 60 yard shot. I’m not a fan of no blood trails.

 

[Actual_Cryptid]

Did it hit bone or just expand and get stuck?

I'm loading Barnes Vor-TX 115gr this year, but they didn't arrive until after I shot my first buck with the 30-30. I'll be watching this with interest.

 

[OpsMan]

No bone that I saw. It definitely did a lot of damage inside, but if it was a larger buck I’d hate to know how much further it would have went. I don’t want to give up on the bullet on one experience but curious to hear any feedback if there is any.

 

[justinspicher]

I also had trouble with the SST bullets under 200yds. Switched to a HPBT type bullet and dropped the rest of the deer wherever they were shot.

 

[JohnOD]

Not whitetail but I've had good success with Nosler 120 B-Tips on two mule deer and one antelope with exits on all three.

 

[GunsAreFun]

It’s a target bullet…I know I know…but ELD-M has worked well for me on deer in my Grendel.

Two examples of 30 and 60 yard shots with exit holes that are 3” wide. Dead in their tracks both times.

 

[Glendon Mullins]

I havent had trouble with the Hornady's on wild hogs, (dropped in tracks, but farthest shot has been maybe 50 yards) but never shot a deer with them yet.

The Lapua Scenar's same, dropped hogs, my buddy loaded some Barnes a couple years back and they are dead on arrival as well from the Grendel

 

[Titan_Bow]

My son has shot a handful of deer with his AR, chambered in 6.8SPC though, not Grendel. I've been using the 110Gr. Accubond out of the 6.8 however, and all the deer he's shot have dropped in their tracks except the first one, which he made a non-optimal shot, but he was able to get a follow up shot quickly, and the second shot dropped him. I have been very pleased with the Nosler Accubond bullet out of that little 6.8.
I see they make a 129gr Accubond Long Range, that might be worth taking a look at.

 

[119bowhunter]

No advice on what to switch to, but I had a similar experience with the 123 grain SST out of my Grendel a few years ago, shot a buck and he ran 150 yards through a rhododendron thicket with zero blood trail, ended up finding him just grid searching the area and he had 3 teeny-tiny exit holes where the bullet had split apart...after that I just went back to hunting with my 30-06, if I were to try hunting with the Grendel again though I would probably look at solid copper offerings

 

[kit_man_duu]

It’s a target bullet…I know I know…but ELD-M has worked well for me on deer in my Grendel.

Two examples of 30 and 60 yard shots with exit holes that are 3” wide. Dead in their tracks both times.

I have hear good things about ELD-M for hunting too.

 

[mscott72]

My son had great luck this year with his CZ 527 using the 99gr Hammer Hunter. Our first use of the Hammer bullets. His little Grendel is running 2680fps with VV N530. If I remember correctly, that particular bullet was very close in OAL to 123gr Hornady offerings. Thankfully had fast kills on an Axis doe, two whitetail does and a whitetail buck this year. All shots where around 100yds, shoulder crease shots. Organ damage and bullet pass through.

 

[OpsMan]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Looks like I’ll be moving on from the SST for hunting.

 

[Seeknelk]

If it's a small cartridge people think they should use a hard, bonded or copper bullet. Go the other way! 130 berger or 120 ?eld m or 123 Scenar are your huckleberry. Need to maximize the wound channel.

 

[msalm]

Still need to get penetration. But with the moderate velocity rounds, any standard cup and core bullet works well. I’ve used the 120gr Speer gold dot, which is bonded but that’s part of the jacket plating process. Also both 100 and 120 Nosler bt’s, and look at Maker bullets along with Cavity Back. I also make an 87gr bullet out of both the 120 Nosler Etip and Hornady GMX by putting them in a precision collet on my lathe and parting off the base and adding a boat tail. They shoot great, get 2900 FPS and open up better than at the 2500ish the full bullet would. Much better for the velocity window for good expansion and solid base that will still penetrate.

 

[Ruger UL]

I used the 129 grain Hornady Spire point until I ran out of them. They actually did very well on both deer and hogs. Using a stash of 100 grain Partitions presently.

 

[Mountain_Life]

I have used the 120 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips for the last several years. I have shot over a half dozen deer from 100-560ish yards. I have recovered a few bullets in the offside hide, all of which have been intact. I haven't weighed any but I'd guess 90+% retention, which is expected with the velocity. Even at longer ranges the mushroom has been picture perfect. More often they seem to pass through.

The initial reaction of the deer after a well placed shot has always been kinda underwhelming, usually a kick followed by a few jumps. That is an expected reaction from a smaller round like a Grendel, and I have not lost a deer and all have died within a hundredish yards of initial impact. Chest cavity damage is devastating. Also, most of the deer I shoot with this gun get multiple rounds because it is in an AR platform. Follow up shots are quick and you can watch bullet impacts through scope.

I'll be moving away from it next year for everything except stalking thick timber, as the mild recoil and fast follow up shots are not a good enough trade off for the underwhelming shot reactions.

 

[blackdirtdiaries]

use the controlled chaos round that underwood ammo loads

 

[Mike D Texas]

100 or 125 grain Nosler Partition, 120 grain Nosler Ballistic tip hunting. Speer Gold Dots would be another good one.

I’m working on a load with 97 grain Hammer Absolute Hammer bullets and am getting 2960fps from a 20” AR barrel.

You will definitely get pass through with a mono but run them light for caliber and as fast as possible.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Stinky Coyote]

have heard quite a few times guys didn't like the SST and switched to the ELD-M and much happier

I've only used the ELD-M, 4 seasons now and 10 head of big game in Alberta, 213 yard average shot distance and 12 yard average recovery distance, the eld-m is where it's at, very happy with this little combo

even from a short 16.1" barrel like I'm shooting now 1700 fps lands around 500 yards with a 2386 fps launch with factory hornady black ammo, I took a large whitetail doe at 420 and 1800 fps impact this year, quartering away, in middle of ribs, 1.5" exit hole after 15" penetration out inside opposite front shoulder and everything above the heart destroyed, DRT

pretty tough to get the SD or BC out of the mono-metals imo, if you're gonna play with the Grendel and maximize what those 30 grains of powder are doing then the 123gr eld-m is 'thee' bullet choice imo, we're batting 1000 over 4 seasons with it and 10 big game critters, 5 for me, 5 for my kids who are 12 and 14 now

 

[davidsapp]

My son and I’ve killed about ten to twelve deer with the fusion load, unobtainable now it seems, but always two holes and lots of blood.

Shot a deer this year with the SST, I was a bit tentative knowing the bullet’s variable reputation but wanted to try it. Busted both shoulders at about 30 yards, deer did a 25 yardish death run and went ass over teakettle. About a quarter sized hole on entry and exit. I saw the deer fall so didn’t follow the blood trail, but clinically impressive.