6.5 grendel or 6.5 creedmoor

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Bgolladay

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I am debating on which of the two calibers to use as my main rifle. I do not reload right now and i do not care about fur. I just purchased a foxpro fusion and I am going to start calling some coyotes pretty soon. I will be hunting wide open farm ground with thick tree lines and anywhere from 10 acre to 150 acre patches of woods surrounded by flat farm ground in NE Arkansas. I will do some hunting in the hills occasionally as well but mainly flat open country. I have an Athlon Ares BTR 2.5-15 on my tikka T3X Lite 6.5 creedmoor right now, the Tikka is a sweet gun but shooting 143 ELD-X I find it pretty hard to try and stay on target during the shot. I have a Howa mini action 223 that is super smooth and is a great shooter, I can watch my shots hit the target all day with this little gun. But with all of my research I am thinking I will want the knockdown power of the 6.5. So here we are. I am considering getting rid of the creedmoor as I am not a competition shooter and wont be anytime soon. I have no where to practice out to 1000 like the caliber is capable of. So I am considering the 6.5 grendel in the howa mini action from brownells and putting it in a boyds thumbhole varmint stock. I love how short and compact the mini action is with the heavy barrel. So lets hear the opinions from more experienced coyote hunters. It gets windy at times in this flat open country and I want to be able to knock one down at 500 yards if I need to because I can practice to that far and get comfortable with that range.
 

So you're main concern is staying on target after the shot with the Creedmoor? Now I'm no shooting expert, on the interwebs or otherwise, but from what I'm understanding, it sounds like a recoil problem. The 6.5 Creedmoor, although not known for having high recoil, does generate some recoil in a lightweight rifle like a T3X lite. This is similar to the 7mm-08 I got for my daughter. The 7mm-08 doesn't recoil much either, but in a Savage lightweight hunter, the felt recoil is noticeable.
I think the light weight of the rifle is the problem.
In my opinion, which ain't worth much, the 6.5 Creedmoor would be ideal for your 500 yard shots. Maybe keep the Creedmoor and put the Tikka action in a Boyds laminated stock. That would add some weight and reduce the felt recoil possibly enabling you to stay on target after the shot a bit better. Maybe add a Harris bipod too. This would be the most cost effective route, as you only need to buy the stock and bipod.
I wouldn't consider the 6.5 Grendel unless I was putting it an AR platform. That's a whole different thread.
Good luck and let us know what you decide.
 
First check the Ballistics of the Grendel and see if it will work for you if most of your shots are beyond where you can hold on fur it will slow you down having to deal with range fining and dialing in or holding over. Re-think the thumbhole on a hunting rifle I find it awkward to operate the safety with a thumbhole stock

That said, like this?



I put this together right after the convention but have just done a little load developement. 85gr Sierra's and 100gr NBT's I've since changed out the scope to a 6.5-20x44 as I think this will remain a bench gun or long ranger, I save fur.
 
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Creed will give you more knockdown at any range.Restocking the tikka is the route I would try first, getting a little more weight in the gun with a laminate stock may cure the problem
 
I have a Grendel in AR, which is perfect for my hunting area. But sounds like you already have the best cal for your needs. I vote re-stocking the Tikka, but I'm not a fan of a thumb hole stock.
 
I’m thinking about getting a 6.5 x 55 ‘Swede’, kinda a more old school 6.5. I already reload for the 6.5 Jap, have the bullets.

The Son likes mil-surps, wants another 6.5, so I may just get my own, don’t really need one. The 6.5 Swede has very favorable ballistics, ammo not to hard to find.
 
Im not a heavy bullet fan. I like fast and flat. I think hold over causes way more misses than windage. I think a 10 twist .243 would be the ticket unless the 6mm rem was an option.
 
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I'd put the Tikka in a new stock and look at other ammo. The added weight and lighter bullets should make a difference. There's numerous 120gr ammo offerings for the Creedmoor commercially available that will probably reduce the recoil. Won't be as reduced as a 223 or Grendel but should make it more manageable.
 
Originally Posted By: varminter .223Im not a heavy bullet fan. I like fast and flat. I think hold over causes way more misses than windage. I think a 10 twist .243 would be the ticket unless the 6mm rem was an option.

"Fast and flat" is a misnomer, but I am sure you knew that.
 
6.5 Grendel - out to 700yds with 123 grain bullet
6.5 Creedmoor - out to 1300yds+ with 143-147 grain bullet

at 1300yds+ you need to calculate spin drift, Coriolis, etc. Any coyote worth that?

I just put together a Grendel upper for $365 complete. Barrel alone for a 6.5 Creedmoor is about that and on the .308 platform MSR as well.
 


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