My SKS is kind of flopping as my SHTF rifle so I'm going through my options, and one of them is an AR platform from Alexandria Arms chambered in 6.5 Grendel, does anyone here have any experience with the round?
Bear? You want to tell him what a shitty round it is and how infinitely superior the 6.8 SPC is? (Bear has a boner for the 6.5 Grendel. Truth be told it looks like a nice round, ballistically. I just don't know how easy it is to find ammo.)
It seems like an excellent round overall, but for SHTF? What exactly do you mean? TEOTWAWKI? Another Katrina? Zombies? As far as fighting cartridges go, I'd stick with more ubiquitous rounds. There's nothing wrong with a .223 or 7.62R. What's wrong with your SKS?
Yeah Bear is a huge fan of the 6.5 Grendel. Now for my thoughts. It is a damned good round from what I have heard about it (velocity, range, round weight, accuracy). It's major problems though is a lack of manufacturers and ammo producers. Its a very proprietary and niche round (I.e. Expensive). You'll be doing a lot of hand loading. Now compare it to the 6.8 SPC (which is damned close to a .270). The 6.8 has matured considerably. The industry has agreed on the chamber design (SPC II), commercial ammo is a lot more plentiful, and there are a lot more hardware manufacturers kicking out 6.8 components and rifles. The 6.8 is about at the point where it is making the transition between niche and mainstream status. IOW the firearms community is adopting this round a hell of a lot more than the 6.5 Grendel. Another benefit is that you can use the same lower receiver for 6.8 as you can for 5.56. If I had the money and could afford a 6.5 I would go for it. I say that because of its status it is a very very expensive caliber to be into. That's why I went with the 6.8. Cheaper (but not cheap), the ballistics in the 6.8 get the job done for me (hog and deer hunting in Florida), wider industry adoption and involvement. In the end go with what you can afford and what you like best. But if you are looking for a SHTF caliber, stick with 5.56/.223 or 7.62NATO / .308.
the SKS is having issues keeping the magazine "in", basically firing a round pops the mag out of place, I've tried a few different mags and it's all the same
That's the problem. Those magazines just don't work. An original fixed ten round magazine would work fine.
Oh and for a history of the 6.5 and how come it really hasnt gone anywhere, read the first few pages of this thread: http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=66077 There is even commentary by the rounds creator, Bill Alexander.
thanks, like I said, it was an option that came up through some looking around at a few local gun stores, and I hadn't heard much about the round so I figured I'd ask here, but seeing as how anal Alexander is in the round, I think I'm gonna skip it
Yeah Alexander does come across as a complete horses ass. The chickens are coming home to roost. He fucked with the license and the shooting community passed him by. He is just now trying to fix the errors that he created. But don't let that influence you. Seriously keep an open mind. The 6.5 is a better performing round in instances. Its just for me the 6.8 does the job (hunting hog and deer in the south east) quite nicely. If I lived somewhere out west with longer shooting distances I probably be inclined to change my mind and would look at the 6.5 more.
well, with the Grendel tabled for now, the other Rifles I'm looking at are a couple of makes of M1 carbine, the FNAR heavy barrel, the 7.62x39 Saiga, and one I haven't seen in any of the gun stores here but has piqued my interest, the Kel-Tek RFB
I would say ballistically 6.5 Grendel is marginally superior to 6.8 SPC. I would also say Betamax was significantly superior to VHS and the Whitney Wolverine was quite a nice .22 pistol. Make of that what you will.
I would love to own an M1 carbine, but definately not as a SHTF gun. First, .30 Carbine is a pistol caliber. Second, it's not nearly as common a pistol caliber as others. I've heard good things about the Saiga.
I always wondered why the Foreign Legion chose the M1 Carbine for their last weapon in Indochina? It seems to sort of beg for a hind-end-whooping.
I wish someone would make an M1 carbine in 9mm caliber...that seems like it would be a fun and useful gun...
Back in the mid-90s, I remember seeing an article in the old American Survival Guide magazine about an M1 carbine chambered for .50 AE.
I've got one of those 30-round magazines for my SKS. The fitment requires some "adjustment" by way of taking a metal file to the tab in the front that catches on that spring loaded release hook. I imagine if you file it down too far the hook won't hold it in place securely. The 10-rounder that came with the rifle jams less anyway, so I don't use the bigger one. Not that I've fired that SKS in probably 15 years, though. Don't have any easy place to go shooting.
Quick update, I decided against the Grendel & am now the proud owner of a FNAR heavy barrel (the line/wait for the RFB was extremely prohibitive), and Shoes, you were right about the SKS fixed mag
I thought I read something about how the 6.5 grendel loses a lot of it's impressive ballistics when fired from the shorter barrel of an M4. Anyone hear something similar or am I imagining things?
took the FNAR out today and put it through it's paces, ran 500 rounds through it and I am genuinely impressed with the results I got from just a pair of flip up sights
I like the extra control you get from a "Pistol Grip", I attached a fore grip, too, and I have a reflex sight on order
