Description

INFORMATION ABOUT 6.5 Grendel

With the addition of the 6.5 Grendel to the product line-up at Alexander Arms® in 2004, the history of no compromise design, engineering, and innovation continues. The 6.5 Grendel provides an extreme range capability for hunting, competition and tactical applications. These ranges are far beyond those previously achievable with the AR-15 style weapon. The 6.5 Grendel has the flexibility to move from lightweight varmint bullets in the 90-grain class, which offer superb accuracy for competition and small game shooting, to mid-weight, 108- to 120-grain competition bullets, and then on to 130- and 140-grain bullets, ideal for longer range, tactical shooting.

The origin of the 6.5 Grendel may be traced back to the Soviet 7.62×39. This was modified for European competition, being necked down to form the 220 Russian. From here, Dr. Lou Palmisano and Ferris Pindel took the case and blew out the shoulder to create the 22 PPC and the 6mm PPC, which currently dominate bench rest competitions. In designing the 6.5 Grendel, the starting position was the PPC design, but it quickly became apparent that the caliber of the PPC was not as flexible as was needed. Early research with a wildcat 6.5 PPC also showed that the case lacked powder capacity, which, in turn, created pressure problems. The final 6.5 Grendel design draws on the PPC, but it is very much its own cartridge. The internal capacity was expanded by shifting the shoulder forward and the wall thicknesses in the neck and shoulder were increased to provide a more robust case capable of being fed within a semi-automatic rifle. Finally, the external taper of the case was adjusted for reliable feed in the magazine.

The 6.5 Grendel is challenging the status quo in military and law enforcement units around the world. First unveiled in May 2003 at the Blackwater Training facility in North Carolina, the 6.5 Grendel out-shot the 7.62 NATO at range with half the recoil. Still supersonic at 1,200 yards, the 6.5 Grendel delivered superior external ballistics to the 7.62 NATO. Utter reliability, superior external and terminal ballistics than the current state of the art, outstanding accuracy in a lightweight M16/AR-15 platform it is what appears to be the pinnacle for what may be achieved in the M16/AR-15 chassis. The 6.5 Grendel is not a series of compromises, but rather the perfect marriage of mechanical function, internal, external and terminal ballistics all working in harmony.

Shooting a 123-grain Lapua Scenar with a ballistic coefficient of .547 and a muzzle velocity of 2,600 FPS delivers outstanding accuracy out to 1,200 yards. At 600 yards, tennis ball size targets are no match for this flat-shooting round. For extreme accuracy, formidable terminal ballistics and long range applications, the 6.5 Grendel from Alexander Arms is unbeatable.

Compared to the 5.56 NATO, the 6.5 Grendel, with roughly twice the lead mass, gives you the potential for twice the mass of fragments. If maximum fragmentation is coincident with maximum temporary cavity, the terminal ballistics are quite convincing, all in a package that shoots flatter with 50% less felt recoil than 7.62 NATO M80 ball.

External ballistics  ON 6.5 Grendel

Army and police uses[edit]

Serbia is in process of adopting a rifle made by Zastava Arms in 6.5 mm Grendel caliber as main armament for its armed forces. The rifle, designated M17, is a derivative of the previous-issue M70 rifle. An American-manufactured rifle in 6.5mm Grendel caliber may also be adopted in armament for special forces units after it passes testing in Technical Testing Center. Three types of 6.5 Grendel ammunition produced by Prvi Partizan Užice Serbia will be tested for use with these rifles