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To learn more about popular hunting calibers like the 6.5 Grendel, .223 Remington, and 5.56x45mm NATO, visit: https://huntingguns101.com/optin1615146914565?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=HG101&utm_term=YT&utm_content=6.5vs223/556
In this video I talk about how the 6.5 Grendel, .223 Remington, and 5.56x45mm NATO compare to each other.
I think most shooters and hunters, but especially those who like using Modern Sporting Rifles, probably agree that the .223 Remington/5.56x45mm NATO are effective cartridges in certain situations. At the same time, the shortcomings of those cartridges are also very apparent to many people. This has led to the development of cartridges like the 6.5 Grendel that are designed to improve upon the performance of the .223/5.56, but still function in an AR-platform.
The 6.5 Grendel is currently one of the most widely used of those cartridges. As good as it is though, the 6.5 Grendel is not perfect and there are some downsides to using it.
So in this video, I'm going to do a detailed comparison of the 6.5 Grendel vs 5.56/223 where I discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each one so you can decide which cartridge is best for your particular hunting situation.
To read a more detailed comparison of the 6.5 Grendel vs 5.56/223 Remington, visit: https://thebiggamehuntingblog.com/6-5-grendel-vs-5-56-223/
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0:00
Hi there, I'm John McAdams, founder of the Big Game Hunting blog, and in this video I'm
0:05
going to do a detailed comparison of the 6.5 Grendel to the .223 Remington
0:10
slash 5.56 NATO cartridges. Now I think that most shooters and hunters, but
0:15
especially those who like using modern sporting rifles, probably agree that the
0:19
.223 Remington and the 5.56 by 45mm NATO are effective cartridges in certain situations. At the same time, the shortcomings of those
0:28
cartridges are also very apparent to many people. This has led to the
0:33
development of cartridges like the 6.5 Grendel that are designed to improve
0:37
upon the performance of the .223 and 5.56, but still function in an AR platform
0:42
Now the AR platform is currently one of the most popular firearms in the United
0:47
States and is widely used by gun owners. That is not surprising because the AR
0:52
platform offers many inherent advantages for hunters and shooters, and this has
0:57
helped spur continued improvements to the AR-15 platform itself. Now the popularity of the AR-15 has also resulted in the development of
1:06
additional cartridges that offer distinct advantages over the .223 slash 5.56 cartridge, while also still functioning in an AR-15. Now the 6.5
1:16
Grendel is currently one of the most widely used of those cartridges. As good
1:20
as it is though, the 6.5 Grendel is not perfect and there are some downsides to
1:25
using it. So for that reason, this episode is a detailed comparison of the
1:30
6.5 Grendel versus the 5.56 and .223, where I discuss the strengths and
1:35
weaknesses of each one, so you can decide which cartridge is best for your
1:39
particular hunting situation. So first we'll talk a little bit about the
1:43
history of these cartridges. The US military began searching for a replacement for the relatively new M14 rifle and 7.62x51mm
1:52
cartridge during the 1950s. They eventually settled on the M16 rifle and
1:56
the high-velocity 5.56x45mm cartridge, which was derived from the .222 Remington. Remington saw the potential for a tremendous commercial
2:07
opportunity and developed a civilian version of the new cartridge that was extremely similar, but not quite identical to the 5.56 NATO cartridge
2:16
Formerly standardized with SAMI as the .223 Remington in the early 1960s, the
2:21
new cartridge was capable of firing a 55 grain bullet at muzzle velocities
2:26
approaching 3,300 feet per second. Now the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge had very similar ballistics and the original 5.56 M193 ball load fired a
2:38
.224 caliber 55 grain full metal jacket at 3,250 feet per second. Now
2:44
unfortunately the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge and M16 rifle got off to a very rough start in service with the US Army and Marine Corps in
2:54
Vietnam. Modifications to the rifle and ammunition solved most of the reliability problems that plagued the system during the war. Large numbers of
3:03
people in the US military still had very serious concerns regarding the stopping
3:07
power of the little cartridge though, especially with the new M855 load
3:13
adopted with the M16A2 rifle. Now incorporating a new bullet design with a
3:18
steel penetrator, the M855 load fired a 62 grain full metal jacket bullet at
3:24
3,025 feet per second. Now the M855 penetrates much better than the M193
3:32
but complaints about terminal performance of the new 5.56 cartridge from soldiers grew even louder after the new ball load saw use in combat in the
3:42
1990s and early 2000s. Now civilian hunters who adopted the AR-15 and the
3:48
.223 Remington cartridge during the last couple of decades of the 20th century
3:52
shared many of those concerns. Now that rifle and cartridge worked extremely
3:56
well for predator and varmint hunting and target shooting but the .223
4:00
Remington also developed a reputation for unsatisfactory performance on bigger game like deer. However the AR-15 platform did offer a number of
4:10
advantages to shooters and eventually became very popular in the United States
4:14
So with this in mind, gun designers with their finger on the pulse of the American
4:19
hunting and shooting communities understood they were looking at a potentially massive opportunity. Realizing that many people love the AR-15
4:26
as well as the fact that the .223 Remington cartridge was not the best
4:30
choice for hunting big game, designers set about developing a number of larger
4:34
bore cartridges that were more powerful than the .223 Remington but would still
4:38
function in AR-15 rifles. Among others this list includes cartridges like the
4:44
.300 Blackout, the 6.8 Remington SPC, the .450 Bushmaster, the .458 SOCOM and the
4:50
.50 Beowulf. Now Bill Alexander developed the .50 Beowulf as a big bore
4:55
alternative to the .223 Remington in 2001. He also designed the 6.5 Grindle as a
5:02
medium bore option in the same market niche in 2002. By modifying a 6.5 PPC
5:10
case, which is itself descended from the .220 Russian and the 7.62x39mm
5:16
cartridges, Alexander was very successful in building an efficient, accurate and sweet shooting cartridge that functioned very well in the AR platform. Capable of
5:25
firing a 120 grain bullet at 2,600 feet per second, the 6.5 Grindle cartridge is
5:30
also significantly more powerful than the .223 Remington. The 6.5 Grindle cartridge is also extremely versatile and works extremely well for long-range
5:39
shooting, tactical, law enforcement, varmint hunting and big game hunting application. Now the cartridge did initially struggle to gain widespread
5:49
acceptance in the shooting and hunting communities for a variety of reasons, one
5:53
of which was the fact that Bill Alexander trademarked the name of the cartridge. However he relinquished that trademark in 2011 when the cartridge
6:01
gained SAMI approval, thus allowing other companies to manufacture ammo, barrels, etc. bearing the name 6.5 Grindle. Since then the 6.5 Grindle has gained
6:11
traction as an effective hunting round with more and more hunters who appreciate the improved performance it offers over the .223 and 5.56 NATO and
6:19
have adopted the new 6.5 cartridge accordingly. So let's talk about why
6:25
that is the case and we will start with the relative sizes of the .223, 5.56 and
6:30
6.5 Grindle. As you can imagine there are some big differences in the sizes of
6:34
those cartridges. So first they use different diameter bullets .224 caliber for the .223 Remington and 5.56 NATO and .264 caliber for the 6.5 Grindle
6:45
Most 6.5 Grindle ammo typically has bullet weights in the 90 to 130 grain
6:50
range with 100 grain, 110 grain, 120 grain and 123 grain bullets being the most
6:56
popular. On the other hand the majority of .223-5.56 factory loads shoot bullets in the 35 to 77 grain range and of these 55 and 62 grain
7:07
bullet weights are by far the most common. Both cartridges are designed for
7:12
use in an AR-15 which can only accommodate cartridges up to 2.26 inches
7:16
long. So the .223 and 6.5 Grindle each have the same overall length of 2.26
7:22
inches which is the maximum size that you can use in an AR-15. However even
7:27
though the .223 Remington has a longer case the 6.5 Grindle has a slightly
7:32
larger case capacity that can hold more powder since it is a larger in diameter
7:36
Now on the other hand the .223 Remington has a slightly higher maximum
7:41
semi-authorized pressure of 55,000 psi versus 52,000 psi for the 6.5 Grindle
7:46
Those differences in the external dimensions of those cartridges do translate into some very interesting differences in their ballistic
7:53
performance. This is illustrated when you compare Federal and Nosler factory ammunition. The 6.5 Grindle loads in this case use a 120 grain soft point with a
8:03
.340 BC and 120 grain Nosler ballistic tip bullets with a .458 BC
8:10
Now Federal produce both of the 5.56x45mm factory loads that we're going to talk about here to roughly mirror the performance of the 55 grain
8:21
M193 ball load with a .246 BC and the 62 grain M855 ball load with a .349 BC
8:30
Both of those like I said mirror what was and is used by the military. Now the
8:36
.223 Remington factory loads use a 62 grain soft point with a .310 BC
8:42
and 55 grain Nosler ballistic tip with a .267 BC. Now not surprisingly there's a
8:49
significant difference in the bullet trajectories of these cartridges. As you would probably expect the 6.5 Grindle has a significant edge in terms of
8:57
kinetic energy at all ranges. Now with the exception of that 62 grain FMJ bullet
9:02
used by the M855 5.56 load, both of the 6.5 Grindle loads use bullets with a
9:08
higher ballistic coefficient and the 6.5 Grindle also uses bullets that are about
9:12
twice as heavy. So the 6.5 Grindle starts off with significantly more energy at the
9:17
muzzle between 22 and 73 percent more depending on the exact load and this
9:23
advantage in retained energy grows as the range increases to between 30 and
9:28
139 percent more all the way out at 500 yards. Now on the other hand the .223
9:34
and the .556 loads do have a flatter trajectory with less bullet drop at all
9:38
ranges. However with the exception of that 62 grain M855 load, the 6.5
9:43
Grindle outperforms the .223 Remington and .556 NATO in terms of wind deflection
9:49
at all ranges. Now that difference is relatively small with the federal 6.5
9:53
Grindle load but the 6.5 Grindle has a much bigger advantage with that Nosler
9:58
load which has 9 to 12 inches less wind deflection than the other three .223
10:04
slash .556 loads all the way out at 500 yards. Now let's talk about recoil
10:09
Specifically I compared the recoil produced by hand loads that are very
10:13
similar to the Nosler .223 Remington and 6.5 Grindle loads when fired from
10:17
identical rifles. Well the .223 Remington has significantly less recoil than the
10:22
Grindle and depending on the exact load the 6.5 Grindle has approximately twice
10:26
as much recoil and that's really saying something too because the 6.5 Grindle is
10:29
a very relatively mild recoiling cartridge itself. Now all things considered most hunters should be able to handle 6.5 Grindle recoil without much
10:38
trouble. That said the .223 Remington just has an extremely mild almost
10:43
non-existent recoil so the .223 slash .556 does have a big advantage in this
10:47
respect especially for smaller or more recoil shy hunters. What about accuracy
10:53
though? Now the .223 Remington in particular has seen extensive use in the
10:58
hands of competition shooters and has a outstanding reputation in that area
11:02
However the 6.5 Grindle also exceeds in that area as well and if we're being
11:07
honest both cartridges are capable of tack driving accuracy in the right
11:11
hands. Though the exceptionally mild recoil of the .223 Remington does give
11:15
that cartridge an advantage at shorter range like 150 yards or less the 6.5
11:20
Grindle has a longer effective range and a big advantage at ranges past 200 yards
11:25
because those heavier and more aerodynamic bullets retain more energy and are less susceptible to wind deflection. So where do we stand with
11:33
each cartridge? Well the 6.5 Grindle fires larger diameter, heavier and more
11:37
aerodynamic bullets than the .556 NATO. The 6.5 Grindle has significantly more
11:42
retained kinetic energy than the .223 slash .556 at typical hunting ranges
11:47
However the .556 NATO and .223 Remington have higher velocities, much less recoil
11:53
and a flatter trajectory. When comparing these cartridges it's important to remember that the 6.5 Grindle was designed to offer better performance out
12:01
of an AR-15 ballistically than the .223 Remington and as you can see Bill
12:05
Alexander was very successful in accomplishing that goal. All told the 6.5
12:10
Grindle is a moderately powerful, mild recoiling and relatively flat shooting cartridge that's also pretty resistant to wind deflection. This is especially
12:18
remarkable considering that the cartridge packs that level of performance into a very small package that can still fit into the relatively
12:24
tight constraints of the AR-15 platform. The 6.5 Grindle is a very good
12:29
all-around cartridge for those who want to use an AR-15 for deer hunting at
12:33
short to moderate range and in addition to hunting the 6.5 Grindle is also a
12:37
really nice choice for self-defense or personal protection for people who like
12:41
the AR-15 platform and it also has a very good barrel life. The 6.5 millimeter
12:46
bore diameter is also in something of a sweet spot where it's easier to manufacture very high BC bullets that aren't especially heavy like the Hornady
12:54
ELD Match and those aerodynamic bullets don't slow down as fast and are more
12:59
resistant to wind drift. At the same time the 6.5 Grindle also has a big edge over
13:04
the .223 Remington and 5.56 NATO cartridges in terms of bullet sectional
13:09
density. Sectional density is a measure of the ratio of the diameter of a
13:14
projectile to its mass. All other things equal a heavier projectile of a given
13:19
caliber will be longer and have a higher sectional density and consequently
13:23
penetrate deeper than projectiles with a lower mass and lower sectional density
13:27
As an example 120 grain, 123 grain, and 129 grain .264 caliber bullets have
13:34
sectional densities of .246, .252, and .264 respectively. This does compare favorably to 55 grain, 62 grain, and 77 grain .224 caliber bullets with
13:47
sectional densities of .157, .177, and .219 respectively. Now all things considered the 6.5 Grindle is simply a significantly more powerful
13:58
cartridge. It's not a heavy hitter even on the level of cartridges like the .308
14:02
Winchester, but it is still completely in a different league from the .223
14:06
Remington and 5.56 NATO. Now in addition to the advantages in bullet
14:11
sectional density and kinetic energy that we have already discussed, the 6.5
14:14
Grindle also uses larger diameter bullets. Consequently it has about 39% more frontal surface area than the .223 slash 5.56. Now all other things being
14:25
equal a bigger bullet will make a bigger hole, cause more tissue damage, and result
14:29
in more blood loss. Now the 6.5 Grindle is also designed to use significantly
14:33
heavier bullets which along with the fact that it generally uses more
14:37
aerodynamic bullets helps the 6.5 Grindle carry more energy downrange. Combined with the larger diameter and a more frontal surface area of the bullets
14:46
used by the cartridge, hunters have a tiny bit more room for error in shot
14:50
placement when compared to the .223 and the 5.56 and those characteristics are
14:55
especially helpful when hunting larger game. Make no mistake the .223 Remington
15:01
is an outstanding varmint hunting cartridge. Advances in bullet technology in recent years have also made those cartridges much more effective on deer
15:08
size game than they used to be. Lots of people successfully harvest deer with
15:13
the .223 Remington each year and the mild recoil of the cartridge makes it a
15:17
nice option for small framed or recoil shy hunters. However it's also just a
15:22
plain fact that the 6.5 Grindle is better for deer hunting if that hunter
15:25
can place his or her shots appropriately. In my humble opinion the 6.5 Grindle is
15:30
not a good choice for hunting any game bigger than deer though. Now even though
15:34
it is significantly more powerful than the .223 Remington I don't recommend
15:38
using the 6.5 Grindle for hunting elk, moose, black bear or other game like that
15:42
But like I said for deer, hogs, etc. it's a great cartridge. Now let's talk about
15:48
ammo selection. Now the .223 Remington is currently one of the most popular
15:53
cartridges in the US. When .223 and 5.56 sales numbers are combined they are far
15:59
and away the most popular centerfire rifle cartridges in terms of total number of rounds sold. Now even though the 6.5 Grindle is a reasonably
16:06
popular cartridge it cannot compare to the .223 in terms of popularity. Even so
16:12
there is a decent selection of factory ammo choices for the cartridges. Now just
16:16
about every ammo manufacturer produces several different loads of .223 Remington and 5.56 NATO ammo. This ammo ranges from match grade and surplus
16:26
full metal jacket ammo best suited for work at the range on one end of the
16:31
spectrum to hollow point, soft point and ballistic tip ammo designed for hunting
16:35
and personal protection on the other end. Now note that full metal jacket ammo is
16:40
generally not legal for hunting in most states so while that military surplus
16:44
5.56 by 45 millimeter ammo is good for use at the range I don't recommend
16:49
taking it a field in search of game. Now most of the .223 and 5.56 NATO
16:55
ammo is designed for target shooting or plinking but companies like Barnes
16:59
Federal, Hornady, Nosler, Remington and Winchester all produce ammo in those chamberings suitable for hunting. Most of this is varmint hunting ammo like
17:08
Hornady's Varmint Express and Superformance Varmint lines, Nosler's Varmageddon line and Winchester's Varmint X line. However there are a
17:17
handful of .223 Remington ammo options specifically designed and marketed for big game hunting. For instance there are both .223 and 5.56 loads in the Barnes
17:27
Vortex line, Federal offers .223 Remington ammo in their Fusion line and
17:31
Winchester produces .223 Remington ammo in their Deer Season XP, Power Max Bond
17:37
and Super X lines. At the same time 6.5 Grindle ammo is available from Hornady
17:43
with their American Gunner, Black and Custom lines, from Federal with their
17:48
Fusion MSR and American Eagle lines and Nosler with their Ballistic Tip and
17:53
Trophy Grade Long Range lines. In particular Hornady's factory load using a .123 grain SST bullet as part of their Custom line is a very popular and
18:03
effective deer hunting option with the 6.5 Grindle. Alexander Arms still produces 6.5 Grindle ammo and Wolf also offers a pretty good low priced
18:13
full metal jacket option for the cartridge. Now during normal times it is
18:17
usually very easy to find .223 and 5.56 ammo and almost any gun or
18:22
sporting goods store will have a really big variety of .223 and 5.56 ammo in
18:27
stock. Now while I wouldn't say it is rare, not every sporting goods store
18:31
keeps 6.5 Grindle ammo in stock so just keep that in mind. Usually you can find
18:37
6.5 Grindle ammo online though without a lot of difficulty but like I said that's
18:41
during normal times. Okay now let's talk about rifles. Once again the .223 and 5.56
18:47
NATO are much more common than the 6.5 Grindle but there is a good selection of
18:51
rifles in all three cartridges. Now remember a rifle with a 5.56 NATO
18:56
chamber can usually safely and accurately fire .223 Remington ammo but the reverse is not always true. So many but not all gun manufacturers chamber
19:06
their rifles in 5.56 NATO so their customers have more flexibility with
19:10
ammo. Now the .223 tends to be more common in bolt-action rifles like the
19:14
Browning X-Bolt, Ruger American, Remington 700 and Winchester XPR. The 5.56 NATO is an extremely popular chambering in AR-15 style rifles like those made by
19:25
Bushmaster, Noveske, Smith & Wesson, SIG Sauer, Wilson Combat. It's also available
19:31
in other semi-automatic sporting rifles like the Ruger Mini 14. Now that's not a
19:36
hard and fast rule though and it's not unusual to find bolt-action 5.56 rifles
19:41
For instance the lightweight CZ 527 and the Ruger American Ranch bolt-action
19:46
rifles are both available in 5.56 NATO. Alexander Arms manufactured the first
19:52
rifles in 6.5 Grendel and continues to do so. Since then Wilson Combat and a
19:57
couple of other companies like Radical Firearms and Brinton USA have also
20:01
started producing modern sporting rifles chambered in 6.5 Grendel. It is also
20:05
possible to purchase a 6.5 Grendel upper receiver and convert an existing
20:10
AR-15 to shoot the Grendel cartridge. Now the 6.5 Grendel can use regular M16
20:15
rifles slash M4 carbine magazines with a slight decrease in magazine capacity and
20:20
sometimes in reliability. A typical 30-round magazine will hold 26 6.5 Grendel rounds. Now the Ruger American Predator and the Ruger American Ranch
20:32
bolt-action rifles are both available in 6.5 Grendel. The same goes for the Howa
20:36
Mini and the CZ 527 for hunters who prefer to use a bolt gun. Alright so
20:43
which one is best for you? Do you primarily hunt medium-sized game like
20:47
white-tailed deer or feral hogs at ranges within 200 yards? They will all
20:52
get the job done if you do your part but the 6.5 Grendel is significantly more
20:56
powerful and I strongly recommend using it for hunting deer and you know in game
21:01
like feral hogs and whatnot instead of the .223 or the 5.56. Now are you looking
21:06
for a cartridge to hunt predators and small game animals with? Now the 6.5
21:10
Grendel will work in this role and lots of people use it for predator hunting. However I think the .223 Remington is the best choice here because it has a
21:17
flatter trajectory, ammo is cheaper and there are just many types of .223 ammo
21:22
specifically designed for predator environment hunting. Now do you want a hunting cartridge that's well suited for bigger game like caribou, moose, elk
21:29
elan, kudu or red stag hunting? I consider all of these cartridges to be
21:34
on the light side and I strongly recommend against using them but
21:38
especially the .223 Remington and the 5.56 NATO for elk hunting as well as
21:43
bigger game than deer in general. If you had to choose one though I would
21:48
definitely go with the 6.5 Grendel over the other two because it does shoot
21:51
heavier and larger diameter bullets that carry much more kinetic energy down
21:55
range but like I said I think even the 6.5 Grendel is too light for that sort
22:00
of hunting even though some people do use it for that. Now do you want a cartridge suitable for self or home defense? All three will certainly work in
22:09
this regard but personally I think the 6.5 Grendel likely also has the
22:13
edge here as well. Even though it has more recoil than the .223 and the 5.56 it
22:19
still has a pretty mild recoil that facilitates follow-up shots and once
22:22
again it also just shoots that larger and heavier bullet with more energy. Are
22:27
you looking for a perfect cartridge to use in a short barreled rifle? All of
22:31
these cartridges will lose a certain amount of velocity with the shorter barrel lengths but I still lean towards the 6.5 Grendel here. It does perform
22:38
closer to its full potential with a shorter 16 to 18 inch barrel and it
22:42
loses less velocity than the .223 and the 5.56. What about if you are sensitive
22:48
to recoil and you need a serious low recoil cartridge? The .223 Remington and
22:54
5.56 NATO do have significantly less recoil than the 6.5 Grendel, especially in
22:58
a lighter rifle. Do you want a round that is better suited for target shooting or
23:03
so out past 400 yards or so in a precision rifle? All will work and all
23:08
have excellent reputations for precision shooting but once again I do lean
23:12
towards the 6.5 Grendel for work at longer ranges since they're just much
23:16
better prospects for high BC match grade 6.5 millimeter bullets. Now if you
23:21
enjoyed this video then please make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel right now. Just click that red subscribe button below to make sure you don't miss
23:29
out on any of my new videos on hunting gear reviews, cartridge comparisons and
23:33
more. Now for more detailed information on popular hunting cartridges and what
23:38
they're best suited for, click on the link in the description below or go to
23:41
HuntingGuns101.com to get a free e-book I have written on the best
23:47
hunting calibers. Now I'm going to turn it over to you guys. Which cartridge do
23:52
you prefer? The 6.5 Grendel or the .223 Remington? What game have you
23:58
successfully taken with them? Let me know by leaving a comment on this video right
24:02
now. Thanks for watching, have a great day and good hunting
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