2 more deer hammers

TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
Wife made a passing comment that she wouldn’t mind another AR but wished they packed more punch for deer hunting. Now I’m the kinda guy that doesn’t require much encouragement to find an excuse for a new gun.... Now we have taken deer with 5.56 and there is nothing wrong with it but the wife said bigger (insert dirty joke here) and she gets what she wants. Got song on a 6.5grendel side charging AR15 minimalist build, thing weighs in at 4.3lbs and has a really great feel. I’ve heard all kinds of arguments on 6.8spc versus the 6.5 Grendel so to be fair I also picked up a package deal on a 6.8spc side charging AR as well so they both came home. After all, I can’t be sure which is really better if I can’t shoot both right?
6.5Grendel top
6.8spc bottom
044ce2b124f47b91f059067913523c0f.jpg



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TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
I like your thinking :D. Curious to see how the shoot...

I’ll let ya know, now comes the part that gets me in trouble with the wife..... optics, lol she just hates that a new rifle is only about half the total $$$. I’ve got one homeless Vortex Viper that I can use but I’m really leaning toward getting each a Vortex Strike Eagle 1-8, really like that optic for an AR.


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pinehunter

Eight Pointer
Very nice! They look good. I've never owned an ar that was not a good shooter. I hope yours are as well.
 
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Mr.Gadget

Old Mossy Horns
Who's side charger setup is that?

Still have not done my 6.5 creedmoor yet. Hope to get it done soon and see how it hunts in the fall.
 

sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
This might be a dumb question, but do you intend to keep both of them? I ask because I know you're not short on backup rifles.

Could you throw the Viper on one and then switch it over to the other once you're done evaluating?
 

appmtnhntr

Twelve Pointer
What you planning on running through them?

I tried a lot of different stuff in my 6.8 and finally settled on 110gr Accubonds from SSA. They've been devastating on everything so far, with 1-1.5" groups out of a 1:11 16" bbl and a 2/7/32 scope.
Hornady 120 SST's were terrible. 4-6". 90 and 100 gr. loads were meh. 110-115 seems to be the sweet spot. 115 FMJ whitebox shoots great.

Bro shoots 120gr Fusions out of his 6.5 now.
 

golfer

Four Pointer
Did you buy the complete rifle or just the upper? I am building a Grendel and have a lower assembled and ready, just trying to find the right upper or have one custom built.
 

TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
They’re both Bear Creek uppers/BCG’s, with Satern barrels. I’m gonna start with hornady black and branch out from there.
I picked them up as complete rifles.


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TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
This might be a dumb question, but do you intend to keep both of them? I ask because I know you're not short on backup rifles.

Could you throw the Viper on one and then switch it over to the other once you're done evaluating?

I’m not sure yet, deffinately not short on rifles but I do like having a healthy selection. Figured I’d play with em both for a while then if I find I heavily prefer one over the other I’ll put the other one up for sale/trade.


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TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
Who's side charger setup is that?

Still have not done my 6.5 creedmoor yet. Hope to get it done soon and see how it hunts in the fall.

Try Federal trophy copper 120gn if your gun likes em... getting under .4 Moa avg and the terminal ballistics is insane. Shot several deer and the furtherest track was 40 yards, recovered a bullet from a buck that was facing me and the advertised 99% weight retention was spot on, bullet opened up perfectly and created one hell of a wound channel.


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appmtnhntr

Twelve Pointer
From my admittedly limited knowledge on both calibers when I was deciding what I wanted to get.....

I basically understood that the 6.8 was designed with the intent to produce the most of it's performance out of 16" and under barrels for more oomph out of M-4 rifle platforms. So they used larger bore and lower BC bullets to pack as much into the case as feasible.

Bill Alexander designed the 6.5 to be a reliable 200-800 yard gun in AR platform with smaller bore and higher BC bullets to buck drag at distance. Also I guess the reason why most 6.5 uppers are 20" plus???

Cool article here if anyone wants to read. http://abesguncave.com/6-5-grendel-vs-6-8-spc-a-different-perspective/

I built my 6.8 since 98% of my hunting is under 100 yards in the mountains or tight woods, and I wanted a short, light, handy rifle that would get the most out of the cartridge. 16" bbl and compact optic for quick shooting.

My bro built a 6.5 for SC hunting with a 20" barrel and a 4/12 vortex since he's hunting a mix of pine lanes, food plots, etc. from stands and whatnot. It's a little heavy on the front end, but balance doesn't matter since he's shooting supported.

So Trav, I guess that means you'll have to keep BOTH! One for woods stands and one for bean fields!!!
 

Papa_Smurf

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
based on previous posts, i think Travis has the long range / bean field shots covered....not that its a problem to have another option...lol
 

TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
based on previous posts, i think Travis has the long range / bean field shots covered....not that its a problem to have another option...lol

Lol given our current political climate I can neither confirm nor deny.....all joking aside I find that I enjoy chasing gun deals almost as much as shooting, and generally I come out a lil better on deals.... but to your statement, bean fields are definitely covered!!!!
Main reasons I jumped when the wife gave the nod are our daughters, my youngest loves my AR but I do have reservations about her with a 5.56 because if she did pull a shot recovering the animal could get dicey really quick and a bigger bullet = bigger holes and better penetration.


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QBD2

Old Mossy Horns
I really like the Fusion 120gr out of the G. Mine hated the SST. The Black wasn't as bad as the sst, but not on par with the Fusion. But that's just my rifle, 18" SS bull.
 
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TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
I really like the Fusion 120gr out of the G. Mine hated the SST. The Black wasn't as bad as the sst, but not on par with the Fusion. But that's just my rifle, 18" SS bull.

Fusion was my next go to after the black, had really good luck with them in 308s


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