Thread: 6.5 Grendel advice for young shooter

Hi Team, I am looking for real-world advice around 6.5 Grendel for a smaller, young shooter. My son is almost 12 but he is small framed - just a wee tacker lol. He goes well on the .223 and shot a few goats, has a good eye and is comfortable banging over targets out to 225m.

I'm looking at getting a rifle that affords a bit more 'margin for error' than the .223 - just to allow for those misses where the shot isnt perfect on an animal. I don't want him to have a bad experience on wounding an animal and we have a goal of him getting his first deer this year.

My 7mm08 (suppressed) just pushes him around too much and the few shots he has had I can see he is flinching already, so I put him straight back on the .223. He's shot a friends .243 (suppressed) and that was alright for him.

But, I am thinking the 6.5 Grendel might just be the sweet spot for him.

Does anyone on here have some good intel for me on this calibre please, especially with younger shooters. Thanks in advance

Turn your 7mm-08 into a defacto 243 by dropping down projectiles weight right down... Good firm hold and they will be away. Or go light powder charge for again less recoil and noise. We went 7.62x39 in same scenario. Same 123isg projectiles weights killed well in close but 223 better past hundy as so much more accurate. Give it twelve months and it will be moot point as they will be happy with bigger bang.

The wounding thing..... Yes I hear you loud n clear.... But if they cleanly killing goats ,so know where to hit animal...deer is no different or harder to kill. Learning to pick shot when it's on and more importantly when it's not on,is good skill to learn. More gun gives wiggle room but understanding basics is better...well I think so anyway.

The 6.5 Grendel is best served by a bit of speed, 100gr Nosler BTs are a great killer at 2900fps from a 20 inch barrel, the Yanks get caught up and tend to going heavy which makes little sense I reckon.

My 6.5g is my go to rifle now. Handles goats fine and cant see why it wouldnt handle deer within its limitations. Do you handload? When we do a target day the grendel is the rifle the young ones prefer

Cant go wrong with a 65 Grendel, it would work perfectly for the young fella. Im pushing 95gr Vmax's at 2900+fps. Works great for hunting and I can hit a dinner plate out to 500m.

My, then 13YO, used it during the NZDS Hunts course. Low recoil, easy to handle rifle.

I dont like shooting heavy for calibre projectiles, personal preferance.

that or a 243. i shoot both much easier to find factory ammo for the 243. if you hand load go the grendel if you dont the 243.

Indeed. Look at both loads for Grendel that are recommended above ..... Hundy grain by at 2900 and a 95 VMAX at 2900. You can pretty well duplicate them both with ease using .243. and arguably do similar with off the shelf ammunition too.

I recently built up a howa mini Grendel, stockys carbon stock. Jefferson hinged floor plate. Overbarrel DPT and a 2-7 leupold(sub 6lb loaded.) Something that wouldn't make the dog go deaf, and something my kids could use. Originally, I was shooting 123grain bullets, but my then 8 year old boy wasn't super keen to shoot it due to the recoil. it felt 243esk being so short and light. I dropped down in bullet weight to the 100 grain ELD-VT(factory loading avaliable in the V-match range) going a modest 2600, and it really cut down on the recoil (I've shot deer at 300m with this load) My boys now 9 years old and aprox 26kg he now shoots milo tins confidently @150m. It feels very much like a 223 to shoot now.. The goal is to practice a little bit more on wallaby and then get him his first deer by the end of the year.




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Im a Grendel fanboy
Like some posts above i also think its best with lighter 100gn bullets (really like the 100gn hp Sierra )
although I have shot a few goats with 120’s and they go well
Here’s a 120 speer gold dot i recovered from s front on shot
Found it down towards the rear end


The other caliber to consider is the 6 mm arc
Same case as the Grendel just 6mm so a 100 gn bullet is “normal “ rather than light
I have zero knowledge of 6 mm arc but i reckon in some ways that it would be better than the Grendel just because i know what a Grendel can do with a 100gn bullet but you have to remember that all the “light” 6.5 bullets are varmint bullets
Where as 100gn 6mm bullets are “hunting” bullets
Something like a 85 or 100gn game king at somewhere in the 2750-2900 fps range (assuming)
Would be extremely useful for goats and deer with almost zero recoil for the young falla

Which IS again a down loaded 243 lol.

hey Micky, yeah i had thought of the 120gr pills in my 708 as I do have a box of TTSX. Sounds weird when i say it out loud but I don't want to psych the boy out and have him develop a mental block with my 708 - he's already been 'scoped' once lol. And on the wounding thing, I acknowledge the repitition is the key and just get him being reliable with the .223, but we have all missed animals and know we've wounded them and it sucks. At his age I'd rather have just that extra margin of error while he is learning

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Which IS again a down loaded 243 lol.

Yep agreed
However he doesn’t have a 243 so that’s not an argument worth making
Definitely if he already had a 243 you would suggest loading it down and saving him $1000 for a new rifle

I would not buy 243 with the intention of loading it down
I would buy something actually suited to the job at hand like 6.5 Grendel or 6mm arc

I certainly think the op is on the right track with his original thoughts with the Grendel “or similar “

Brilliant - cheers. My boy is similar in size to your fella but he's 11, so your comments around recoil etc are really helpful. Thanks

Originally Posted by rambo-6mmrem

Yep agreed
However he doesn’t have a 243 so that’s not an argument worth making
Definitely if he already had a 243 you would suggest loading it down and saving him $1000 for a new rifle

I would not buy 243 with the intention of loading it down
I would buy something actually suited to the job at hand like 6.5 Grendel or 6mm arc

I certainly think the op is on the right track with his original thoughts with the Grendel “or similar “

Yes indeed,I can agree with that to a degree. That $1000 rifle,if downloaded now can go back to full noise later lol saving a further $1000 down the track. By same token the 7mm/08 down loaded with lightest projectiles will be just as gentle on young fella.... But don't tell Mum cause the " excuse" to buy new rifle for lad is great reason to get gentle stalking rifle for Dad when boy decides to move up to 7mm-08 later...I cannot disagree with that logic at all.