I've been a fan of the 6.8 SPC for several years and use both 16" carbine and 10.5" pistol configurations. It does a good job, is low recoil, and easily suppressed. Right out of the gate, I found my AR's functioned well and were adequately accurate with white box 90 grain bonded soft points(contract over runs[?] from Federal) and these performed great on deer. Son's AR seemed to like the 120 grain Nosler Interbond so he's been using that. It's a controlled expansion bullet that has limited expansion(especially at short barrel velocities).
The Grendel has been a bit more problematic and I sort of gave up due to the erratic function of my AR. Now that I have the Ruger bolt action, things have changed a bit and I feel more confident with the Grendel. I've been using Hornady 123 SST bullets but the only on game performance I'd seen was at such close range that anything would have worked. Yesterday I had the opportunity to give it a better evaluation at more typical hunting range. Large bodied doe @ 150-175 yards downhill almost broadside. Bullet struck a bit lower than expected (I'm not used to shooting a 2400 fps cartridge) striking left lung, top of heart, a bit of right lung, and exiting just above the sternum. Deer ran in a 50' diameter circle and fell. Everything in front of diaphragm was mush. Quite acceptable performance within it's range restrictions.
The evening prior, Granddaughter shot a mature buck of similar body size at 188 yards striking in the sweet spot just at the back of the shoulder. Full penetration and they found the bullet embedded in a tree beyond. Internal damage and blood trail were adequate with significant damage to both lungs and the deer ran less than 50 yards.
This is a bit of 'apples vs oranges' due to bullet construction and design so I dug out some Grendel MSR (bonded bullet) ammo for more testing. We'll see how this compares as we harvest more meat deer later in the season.
I'm still leaning toward the 6.8 but the Grendel is possibly an option since I'm not aware of any bolt action 6.8. One noticeable difference is the Grendel doesn't respond as well to suppressing as the 6.8 but I really don't know the cause.
The Grendel has been a bit more problematic and I sort of gave up due to the erratic function of my AR. Now that I have the Ruger bolt action, things have changed a bit and I feel more confident with the Grendel. I've been using Hornady 123 SST bullets but the only on game performance I'd seen was at such close range that anything would have worked. Yesterday I had the opportunity to give it a better evaluation at more typical hunting range. Large bodied doe @ 150-175 yards downhill almost broadside. Bullet struck a bit lower than expected (I'm not used to shooting a 2400 fps cartridge) striking left lung, top of heart, a bit of right lung, and exiting just above the sternum. Deer ran in a 50' diameter circle and fell. Everything in front of diaphragm was mush. Quite acceptable performance within it's range restrictions.
The evening prior, Granddaughter shot a mature buck of similar body size at 188 yards striking in the sweet spot just at the back of the shoulder. Full penetration and they found the bullet embedded in a tree beyond. Internal damage and blood trail were adequate with significant damage to both lungs and the deer ran less than 50 yards.
This is a bit of 'apples vs oranges' due to bullet construction and design so I dug out some Grendel MSR (bonded bullet) ammo for more testing. We'll see how this compares as we harvest more meat deer later in the season.
I'm still leaning toward the 6.8 but the Grendel is possibly an option since I'm not aware of any bolt action 6.8. One noticeable difference is the Grendel doesn't respond as well to suppressing as the 6.8 but I really don't know the cause.
