6.5 Grendel vs .243 win

I own and use both 243 and 6.5 Grendel. In my opinion, it is splitting hairs comparing the 2. Both are equally capable within the range we hunt. For hogs, I prefer the Grendel in an AR platform. For deer, it's a tossup.
 
Grendle 123 bullet energy

6-5-123-gr.png


Our 245 85 gr bullet energy















85-gr-speer-3800-fps.png











85-gr-speer-3800-fps.png
 
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Something about kids and recoil. 12 yr old boy here in town loves to shoot. But all he ever had to shoot was his grandfather's 30-30. I asked him about it and he liked it fine, said it didn't bother him much at all. Well let him shoot my 6.5x55 and he found a new favorite rifle. So next up was a 243 and he's in love with it! There are kids that simply take the recoil and don't complain if it's all they have. Then there's those that the recoil might not really be the problem but rather the noise! Kids with dad's that reload are lucky as dad can load a round that will work fot them. I loaded up 180gr RN lead bullet's in my 30-06 and 308 and tell you what, about any kid could shoot it, they recoil about like a 22 RF, about the same report too! But for the most part I think people want to much to soon with kids!
 
223 with the right bullet (77 TMK), 6 ARC, 6.5 grendel would all be nice options. I'd not be interested in using a mono (I.E. narrow wound channels) with a 223 for big game. 243 case is quite a bit bigger than a grendel case, more powder, more recoil.
 
AramisMason said:
Are you kidding me?
The 6.5 Grendel is 26 caliber compared to 24 in the .243
The .243 has 100 ft lbs more energy at the muzzle, which honestly isn’t even measurable when it comes to what it does to the animal it hits, but the 6.5 Grendel passes the .243 in energy around 300+ yards so I’d love to hear how a “6.5 Grendel will never be a .243”?
Make it make sense
You people have to stop believing the bs you read in these forums and just go get some real life experience instead because this comment is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard. 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I’d bet money that you couldn’t give me a single area where the .243 is better than the 6.5 Grendel outside the little 100 ft lbs more energy at the muzzle but as I said the 6.5 Grendel passes the .243 around 300 yards.
Click to expand...
I almost get the feeling you aren't trolling...

Drop, drift, and impact velocity are the factors I look at first when bench racing loads, and they all come out dramatically in favor of the 243. I don't consider energy an important metric, but assuming appropriate bullets and loads, the 243 starts with a meaningful advantage there too that grows (percentage wise) the farther you get from the muzzle.
 
Carl said:
I almost get the feeling you aren't trolling...

Drop, drift, and impact velocity are the factors I look at first when bench racing loads, and they all come out dramatically in favor of the 243. I don't consider energy an important metric, but assuming appropriate bullets and loads, the 243 starts with a meaningful advantage there too that grows (percentage wise) the farther you get from the muzzle.
Click to expand...
You lost me at not considering energy an important metric. I don't think anyone can honestly say that a 6.5 grendel has better ballistics than a .243, but it's still a damn fine round for deer sized game, and easily found in an AR platform which, whether or not you like it, is desirable to many
 
JLS said:
Energy doesn’t kill. Bullets make wound channels.
Click to expand...
A bullet that expands a bit requires more energy to penetrate deeper, I like the thought of a large wound channel that exits the body. But if the rounds you use consistently kill animals, who TF cares
 
Bigjay73 said:
You lost me at not considering energy an important metric. I don't think anyone can honestly say that a 6.5 grendel has better ballistics than a .243, but it's still a damn fine round for deer sized game, and easily found in an AR platform which, whether or not you like it, is desirable to many
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I have no issue with the 6.5 Grendel, but the sole advantage I see over the 243 is fitting into a small frame AR. I think the Grendel would kill just fine, but I'd shoot game significantly farther with a 243 all other things equal.
 
Carl said:
I have no issue with the 6.5 Grendel, but the sole advantage I see over the 243 is fitting into a small frame AR. I think the Grendel would kill just fine, but I'd shoot game significantly farther with a 243 all other things equal.
Click to expand...
I would as well, but for me the difference would be 350 yds with the 6 5 vs 400 yds with a .243.
 
I killed a crap ton of deer and antelope and even a couple elk with a 243 when I had one. I rebarreled to a 260rem, shot a bunch of deer with it, didn't see any difference between the two. I bought a Grendel last year, for my kids. I haven't shot anything with it, but I doubt I will be able to tell terminal performance.

I wouldn't shoot/hunt elk with either on purpose. I've seen a number of elk shot with a 243 and was less than impressed each time. They died, but most took a number of shots.

I'm hoping to light up some kitties and coyotes this winter.
 
The Grendel has become one of my favorite deer rounds. We have done several necropsies on animals and have had tremendous success. We use it in the AR platform. Howa has the mini-action as well.

Here we hammer a big OK buck with the 6.5



Here is a necropsy of a doe;


We will have the necropsy of that buck up this week.
 
Bigjay73 said:
A bullet that expands a bit requires more energy to penetrate deeper, I like the thought of a large wound channel that exits the body. But if the rounds you use consistently kill animals, who TF cares
Click to expand...
It requires more velocity not energy. At least nobody has mentioned “knock down power” yet!😁
 
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