Howa 1500 Mini 6.5 Grendel

Natebonebusta

Eight Pointer
Well I bought one. Wasn’t planned, wasn’t on my radar. It’s such a neat little cartridge. I wanted something with a little more thump for coyotes than the 223, but the more I tinker with powder and bullet combos I think it will work great as an eastern NC whitetail cartridge.

So far I’ve tested H335, Benchmark, and Xterminator. H335 was the surprise in both 95gr vmax and 123gr sst. Benchmark probably needs a little fine tuning, but it’s hard to deny the h335.

I didn’t have as good luck with the 120gr Nosler BT, but I just picked up some Ramshot Tac to try with them. It’s been fun to work with.

I’ve already cut the factory barrel down from 22” to 18.5” because velocity loss is 20ish fps. That was solely for easier handling with a suppressor.

Interested in hearing if any other members have used the 6.5 Grendel with great success. D8BAF8F2-7D19-4F51-B9A7-667E0E3834F2.jpeg08119D13-B483-4534-A665-AFD4A5AEDD6C.jpegC8DC7B1E-9976-4C6A-AFF4-C95E34FB4B7F.jpegC0081F63-BCF9-49D3-89DA-5ACED7FEC41B.jpeg
 

timekiller13

Old Mossy Horns
First year using the 6.5 grendel. Mine is AR-15 platform. I bought it for my daughter to hunt with but she’s not quite ready so I took it out this year. Shot this doe at 70yds. 123 grain hornady. Pass thru, she ran 50 yds and dead. Blood trail excellent, exit wound was about half dollar size, so good expansion but not much meat damage. I think it’s a great round for medium sized critters out to 250-300 yds. 9F16597D-2925-4FC2-96F6-49154C913705.jpeg
 

Lee

Six Pointer
I didn't realize these rifles had models with detachable magazines and M16 extractors. The extractor modification on a Remington 700 is half the price of these rifles. Nice
 

Wirehead

Eight Pointer
I have a 6.5 G in a bear creek arsenal AR-15 upper. Love it. Somewhere between 0.5 to 1 MOA with black box Hornady black 123 gr ELD-M. Same with 110 gr controlled chaos on top of Ramshot TAC. Absolutely love this round/rifle. My 9 year old daughter handles it no problem. Next on my to-do list is work up a hand load for 123 gr ELD-M for fun plinking and 95 vmax for critter work.
 

Cootmeurer

Six Pointer
Bought one in an AR platform and killed several deer with it. Let my CO brother use it for coyotes and mule deer and antelope. Works great out there as well
 

JW1987

Button Buck
I use a good bit of ramshot tac in .223 with heavy bullets. I bet it would work good with the heavier 6.5s. I love a mini action almost bought one in 7.62x39.
 
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