Gunco Forums banner

6.5 Grendel

8K views 50 replies 15 participants last post by  madriverarms 
#1 ·
Isn't the 6.5 mm Grendel supposed to be based on the 6mm BR, which I read somewhere is based on the 7.62x39? Wonder if the AK could be converted to the Grendel. Ballistics are supposed to be very impressive.

John
 
#2 ·
A-Yep! Do a quick site search for "Grendel" and you'll find the threads - there is an extremely LONG thread discussing the build issues, and some caliber conversion/wildcat discussions.

The big issue is the fact that reamers are practically non-existant.
 
#3 ·
Isn't the 6.5 mm Grendel supposed to be based on the 6mm BR
NO! NO! the 6.5 grendal is based on the 6.5mm PPC with the neck moved forward
the 6.5mmPPC is based on the 6mm PPC. the 6mm ppc is based on the 22 PPC. the 22 PPC is based on the 220 russian. the 22 russsian is based on the good ol 7.62x39. The 6.5 grendal shares the same rim as the 7.62x39 and can be formed from it as well.
the bench rest series of rounds is derived from basicaly a cut down 308 with a smaller primer pocket. it uses the .470 rim and base same as the 308, 30-06 ect.
ppc and benchrest rounds are designed for the same purpose Benchrest shooting but that is all they share.
Like HC said scroll down there is a lot of discussion on 6.5 grendal, 6.8 spc. 6.5x39 ect
 
#5 ·
looks to me like you could get a 6.5 barrel blank and a 6.5g reamer seems like i saw one the other day for $90 after a 60 day wait on the back-order.--

you would have to turn the barrel down to AK form so it would be a pretty involved project.

my guess is that you could use 5.56 mags from a galil or the new ak-223 mags.

i don't really know if the 6.5 is going to take off though--tough to beat the old AK in 7.62 IMHO.
 
#6 ·
6.5 has got its niche. As does the whisper. The nice thing about the Grendel is both the lack of recoil, a flatter path (flatter then the .308), and that you can use it in an AR upper, or in a bolt gun. I've even seen one in a Mini 30, after an old barrel was swapped out. Its on my list for buys this year.

You can spend hours reading about the Grendel here.
 
#7 ·
looks to me like you could get a 6.5 barrel blank and a 6.5g reamer seems like i saw one the other day for $90 after a 60 day wait on the back-order.--
Again a note of caution every thing I have read up to about 6 monthes ago says that the reamers that are avaliable are set up for boltaction rifles. from what I have been able to gather guys using these reamers on AR,s have had trouble making them work. Alakander arms goes into alot of stuff claming that his specs are differant. (likely in the neck dia and free bore) this may have changed recently as I have been doing other projects. mags are said to be tricky as well. I saw today that copes has AR 6.5 mags for around $25 that likely could be modifed or an adapter could be bought. as far as the barrel that would be pretty straight forward.
If something has changed and makers are offering a reamer suitable for an autoloader I am interested. do you have a link to your barrel source??? Also keep in mind the chamber pressure is higher than the 7.62x39 I dont think this is a beag deal but always must be considerd.
Personaly every thing I can tell about this round is it seems to be better than the 6.8 SPC in almost every department except close range energy and that is only slightly. I have shelved my plans on it for now as I am working on a 260 (6.5mm) remington that will kick the grendals ass and be cheaper to shoot IMOA
 
#11 ·
Some on the grendal sight they speak of a reamer avaliable for the 6.5x39. It has been around for awhile. the disadvantages of the it are as noted above are case capacity .IMOA the the 6.5x39 should be the easiest to build and make work as the standard mag would work. It would be a reload only propisition and might require a form die as well.
there would be a performance loss as well. I personaly thing figuring out a mag and reamer for the grendal would be worth it unless you dont mind reloading.
 
#12 ·
Edit - rethinking my post here.

Seems that I recall a 6x39 wildcat already exists. I think a 6.5x39 does too... just don't know about that one.

If you necked it properly, you could have enough shoulder to headspace but the problem is the lack of powder capacity. You may be better served by starting with .308 / .30-06 brass and opening up your bolt face to use the .308 round.


Found my pic of the Grendel vs. 6mm PPC rounds:


 
#14 ·
Measured the reamer vs loaded and unfired brass.Other than the .292 neck, the dimensions on pookie's print on the G round are much closer to the reamer specs than the AA brass I have.Set the caliper to the .4323 forward case dim. and it will slide halfway down the case before touching.Seems like there is plenty of room for the case.Freebore may be an issue.I have to get a 6.5mm reamer to simulate the bore before I can ream a chunk and then cut it in half longwise and see how it all fits.
 

Attachments

#16 ·
Pupwag. How much neck clearance is there based on your measurements??? looks like
.004" (pleanty good)seems like I read that the comercialy avalible reamer had a pretty tight neck and very short free bore. I suspect it will still work on a autolader build but it might not be 100% reliable. my 223 varmit build uses a pretty tight bolt action chamber and it works pretty good with an ocasional failure to extract especially after the chamber an barrel get dirty. It is not nearly as good nwith steel wolf crap however.
You already have the reamer you dont have much to loose. find a 264 mag or 260 REM take off barrel and rechamber it and try it.
 
#17 ·
does any one know the case capacity of the 6.5 grendal?? Just rying to figure out what could be gained here if necked back up to a .311 bore again, sort of a 7.62x39 improved? a couple grains coulld make a big differance here. looking closer at the print I also notice that the loaded length of the grendal is 2,250" this thing only has .003" clearance in the 7.62x39 mag I just measured (NOT MUCH).
 
#18 ·
FWIW, I got those prints from the 6mm PPC / 6mm Benchrest website. Not sure of how accurate they are.

Based on what I measured from the AK-47 Romy "G" chamber, I would expect the bore to be at least .002"-.003" larger than the actual cartridge. This is a "match grade" reamer, correct? A "service-grade" reamer would have more clearance - up to .006" on the AK-47. According to Clymer, the reamer could be up to .008" larger on autoloaders.
 
#19 ·
.008 would really streach/work the brass and likely result in a buldge just past the head. Acurracy would likely be poor as well. I would shoot for around .002 to .004 at the neck. I am not sure how consistant the wolf and other brands of brass are.
I wonder if one were to slightly modify the specks say add .001 to the overall length and perhaps subtract .001 form the free bore, if a reamer manufacture would be willing to make it then?? Also it sounds like if you ask Alexander arms for permission to have a reamer made for personal use they may likely allow it. I have been looking for a savage 223 bolt action for awhile to build up a 22 or 6mm ppc and since they allow easy barrel changes a lightwight barrel on 6.5 grendal would be nice for a carrry around varmit /coyote an whitetail hunter as well.
 
#21 ·
Kinda hard to measure but looks like .003/.005 across the board case to reamer.Case/shoulder is the hardest to measure it looks like .008 but as you can see in the last pic the unfired brass is rather radiused there compared to the prints and reamer.It is a 6.5 Grendel finishing reamer from PTG is all I know.
I bought an ORF Galil receiver and have the AR mag adapter and C-Products AR "G" mag so ALL I have to do is turn a barrel to have a 6.5 Grendel Galil.
 
#22 ·
Man that sounds like a really nice nice build$$. is that a milled reciver?? I regret that I didnt get a couple of those adapters myself before they all got bought up to be resold
What length barrel and twist are you planing to go with? I personly would want a
20"+ with a fast twist for the heavy bullets,but I like to try hitting stuff at 500YDS.
Im kind of wondering if some of this reamer bussiness is just hype and an effort by Alander Arms to keep more controll on things?? I have read his posts on the grendal sight and he seems like a OK guy to ME however. (hey bill if your watching I need permission for a 6.5 and .50 bowulf)
 
#23 ·
Yes a threaded barrel and milled receiver.It just seemed the easiest way to go with mostly store bought components.With the OAL and taper of the cartridge AK mags would be a shaky comprimise at best IMHO (I monkeyed around with many).
1 in 9"?I was thinking about 20" long.
 
#26 ·
I havent seen it. I a litttle sceptical that there are enough guns in 6.5 grendal to support it. I feel alaxander arms is limiting the future of this round because none of the major manufactures are allowed to chamber it. I would love to buy a CZ or Savage bolt action or maybe a Ruger mini in 6.5 grendal. but right now Im limited to a Alaxander AR or a expensive custom custom bolt that Alaxander allows tobe built.
On the other hand the 6.8SPC ammo is avaliable and with remington and others making it it seems to be taking off and a bunch of differant arms made for it.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top