Just saw these in an advert

anyone have any info on em?

in 6.5 grendel... and rather expensive... may come down in price AFTER the election???

Molot Vepr 6.5 Grendel Walnut Semi-Automatic Rifle

 

Why? Trying to compromise between two capabilities with one rifle is rarely successful! To each his own, if a person can find a purpose for said, good for them!

 

well... heard good things about this caliber over 5.56... say it will easily do damage out past 6-700 yards or so?

supposed to be better then 5.56???

and it's based on the 5.56 cartridge if I got it right?

 

6.5 Grendel is based on the 7;62x39. It's a nice round, far better than the 5.56 BUT... be careful with the bolt as a standard AR15 bolt will be a bit thin around the case head and extractors can break. My AR is a tack driver but HEAVY. My CZ bolt gun is much lighter and a lot of fun to shoot, both can be suppressed, I would say a nice gun for varmints, maybe deer, good gun for kids or those sensitive to recoil. Shooting steel at 600 yards is boring - 1000 is pushing things a bit with light weight bullets.

 

Not a attempt to hi jack the thread, but we keep reinventing the wheel. Went down the rabbit hole reading about Mr. Colt and Captain Walker designing a pistol in 1847 to fight in Mexico and Texas. Six shot, 44 caliber round ball, 60 grains of black powder and although it had a lot of problems, all in all it was a good first try. Modern tests have shown it will hold about a 2 to 3 in group at 50 feet, has a velocity of about 1100 fps and about 400 fp of energy when it hits.. Black Powder Ballistics

The Grendel in 123 grain hunting load is listed at about 2600 fps and about 2,000 fp and with the bigger bullet it makes a different wound than the 223. The 223 is listed with a 55 grain bullet at about 3200 fps and 1200 fp. In NH I don't think I will give up my old 30 30 as terminal ballistics and flat shooting out 800 or so yards doesn't mean much when your average shot is much less than 100 yards. All said less weight and recoil than a 308 and looks like it would get the job done on most game.

Since it is an AR platform, good compromise is an upper in that caliber. Have no idea why, but I chose a 300 Blackout upper instead and passed on the Grendel. Things are crazy now, but a few months ago a decent PSA upper was in $500 or so range, sometimes on special. less. My problem isn't the upper, it is paying for decent optics to use the capability of that round. Never have got around to getting one.

Buy one, never can have too many rifles and it fills a niche for light weight, long range, deer and such if you are in open country and is also a fairly decent light weight sniper rifle that won't set you back $6,000 or more like some of the dream team weapons and sights.

 

Whatever floats your boat. All these different versions are almost the same. I still wish I had bought a lever action 45/70.

 

6.5 Grendel was an attempt to "modernize" the AR platform by giving it a "better caliber". The problem was that you had to change out everything on your AR except the lower: new upper, new ammo, new mags, new reticule on optics for bullet drop. It was added to the "hunting caliber" category in an attempt to sell more rifles and keep the caliber alive.

I know of two guys who bought the 6.5 Grendel, one when it first came out (he had to be the first kid on the block to get one kinda guy) and the other was suckered into it years later. Ballistics are fine, but there are better, cheaper, and more common rifle calibers out there. I think we've had maybe three requests for 6.5 Grendel in the last seven years in either rifle or ammo. That also goes for 6.8SPC (which I prefer, but won't buy due to availability). We turn away those calibers and others like .458Socom, 450Bushmaster, and the like, unless we can get them dirt cheap (like $200 or less for a full AR with magazines in those calibers).

 

Looking at ballistic tables for .223 and that 6.5 it appears to offer little to no advantage at ranges closer than 300 yards.
It allows you get around hunting laws that prohibit using a "22" on certain species. By that metric 6.5 grendle beats .223 and takes its lunch money.

It's actually a pretty horrible fighting round. The mag that used to hold 30 now holds 24 and it's heavier, recoil is noticeably worse and the muzzel blast appears to be more intense. Oh and everything costs more.
The 6.5 appears to shoot through stuff better, but if you can't see your target and are guessing where it is by shooting through concealment wouldn't you rather have 30 rounds in the mag?

 

I think most people who weaponed up years ago either bought an AR15 IN 5.56 or a .308. I think these cover a lot of ground. I consider these mid-range weapons. They can reach out fairly far though. I think most people's deer rifle with a scope is better for long-range. Then again a .22 at less than a hundred yards can be very effective. Talking about gun calibers can go on forever with everyone having their opinion.

 

The Molov is 9.7 lbs unloaded without optics. I had to really dig to get the weight and when I found out how heavy it was I knew the reason why. That's damn near as heavy as a FAL or G3. My AR308 weighs over a pound less, I guarantee it's more accurate than any AK47 based platform. Loaded with optics the AR308 is about the same weight as the Molov, and that's 20 309's vs 5 6.5 Grendels.

A BAR would also be a good competitor weight wise and available in several long and short action cartridges and has a similar capacity. It would also blend in better with regular hunting rifles and is also proven to be very accurate as well.

I'll take the 308 over a 6.5 Grendel every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

The point of a 6.5 Grendel is longer effective ranges than a 5.56 in an AR-15 length action. Matching that up to an inherently less accurate design as used by the Molov is a mistake. If that's the round you want then IMO stick with an AR or bolt action. Now that you are talking bolt actions there are a ton of 6.5mm cartridges, let alone cartridges in other calibers, that are cheaper, easier to find and walk all over the top of the Grendel. If that's what you want, go ahead, but do so with your eyes open.