CZ finally offers the 527 in 6.5 Grendel

Horsey pretty much called it.
Ive shot some game now with the Gren, and I think its a fine deer cartridge within reasonable limits. Probably works great on anything in that class of game. Penetration and bullet performance are excellent for its size, BUT it lacks the velocity of its bigger cousins.
It is not an end all be all cartridge, but it deserves a look when considering a rifle such as the Minis (527, Minimausers, Howa minis).

One thing ill say is that id chose a 20-24" barrel over a carbine length barrel every time when considering it as a hunting rifle.
velocity loss isnt huge, from my experience its about 25ft/inch, but when were talking about a cartridge that launches light to middling weight bullets (for caliber), at 2500-2800fps every little bit can make a difference.

I'd get one if I didn't already own a bolt action 7.62x39. Thought of every reason I could to justify one, but just couldn't.

I could see an intermediate cartridge for deer if I lived in a state with exceptionally high hunter success rates and terrain was such that distances wouldn't be too great.

If I was in a state that allowed shooting deer over bait or salt lick, why not use a rifle that's actually fun to shoot?

Unfortunately, I always seem to end up in places where deer populations aren't that high, hunter success rates are abysmal, there are a ton of restrictions on what kind of deer you can shoot, and it's debatable that the endeavor is even worth the cost of a tag. In places like this, it makes sense to have a little bit of an "overkill" cartridge. You may get one chance at a legal deer per 10 or more seasons, so it would be extra disappointing to have an intermediate round and have to pass on a shot you could have made with an '06 class round or more powerful.

Corn-Picker said:

Where do you live? No offense, but I don't want to live there.

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From Vermont to Maine and now (sighs) California.

All of these states have more or less a one buck per season limit and that buck has to be a 3 pointer or better.

Jason_W said:

I could see an intermediate cartridge for deer if I lived in a state with exceptionally high hunter success rates and terrain was such that distances wouldn't be too great.

If I was in a state that allowed shooting deer over bait or salt lick, why not use a rifle that's actually fun to shoot?

Unfortunately, I always seem to end up in places where deer populations aren't that high, hunter success rates are abysmal, there are a ton of restrictions on what kind of deer you can shoot, and it's debatable that the endeavor is even worth the cost of a tag. In places like this, it makes sense to have a little bit of an "overkill" cartridge. You may get one chance at a legal deer per 10 or more seasons, so it would be extra disappointing to have an intermediate round and have to pass on a shot you could have made with an '06 class round or more powerful.

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Interesting! I'll admit that I never really thought of that. I grew up in west river South Dakota; most of my life the deer have been thick as flies. We owned land and with landowner preference and the deer reduction tags we usually had two tags each for every family member and most of our friends. We routinely took two dozen legal deer off our 100 acre patch of land. Only once did I ever take a shot over 100 yards even on the prairie, and I wouldn't have needed too (just was young and excited). The 6.5 G would be the perfect mule deer round here. In point of fact the 30-30 seemed to be the most common deer rifle I saw growing up. My preferred mulie medicine was a sporterized (basterdized?) 6.5 Swedish Mauser. It was ugly but it planted quite a few deer right in their tracks.

I'm always going to look at the price of ammo when I buy a rifle. I reload but I'm still going to look at bullet and case prices. I don't hunt anymore so that isn't an issue, I just shoot a lot. I'm not impressed by marketing hype or a 2% advantage in velocity or energy down range. One of the reasons so many people shoot 7.62 x 39 and .223 is ammo is cheap. I know people who reload that won't even bother with reloading those two cartridges. Range rats go thru a ton of ammo and most of it isn't exactly match grade. Hunters want better ammo but it's my experience they don't actually shoot that much. When they do they want premium ammo. When you get down to it, there are military cartridges, game cartridges and BR cartridges, all with a different objective. Some will overlap and do double duty. 7.62 x 39, 7.62 x 51 and 30-06 are three examples. All good military and game cartridges.

The race for mfg's right now is to guess which cartridge is going to be the next official military cartridge. Having an AR in production with that cartridge will afford them an opportunity to compete for a military contract. The Grendel or 6.8 SPC could easily be that next cartridge. When that happens we will have more rifles and cheap ammo for hunters and range rats. BR shooters will probably be pretty ho hum about either one.

I'm probably going to buy a Grendel or 6.8 SPC bolt gun when I get a better indication what the military is going to do. My guess is the military will adopt the SPC as they developed it. Any bets?

One of the reasons so many people shoot 7.62 x 39 and .223 is ammo is cheap. I know people who reload that won't even bother with reloading those two cartridges. Range rats go thru a ton of ammo and most of it isn't exactly match grade. Hunters want better ammo but it's my experience they don't actually shoot that much. When they do they want premium ammo. When you get down to it, there are military cartridges, game cartridges and BR cartridges, all with a different objective. Some will overlap and do double duty. 7.62 x 39, 7.72 x 51 and 30-06 are three examples. All good military and game cartridges.

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Great points. I have a bolt action 7.62x39 and I cannot reload for what I can buy the steel case Monarch (Academy) ammo for. Plus in my gun it's a solid 1" round and I can easily hit steel with it at 300 all day. For $5.99/box, you cannot beat that. I do reload for the round for my deer loads, and can easily get 30-30 performance with premium FTX bullets, but for just shooting, nothing can come close to that Monarch ammo, which is why I bought that caliber to begin with. If I didn't have plans to hunt with that rifle, ever, I would have gotten a .223 for many of the same reasons.

I'm probably going to buy a Grendel or 6.8 SPC bolt gun when I get a better indication what the military is going to do. My guess is the military will adopt the SPC as they developed it. Any bets?

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ditto. Will be waiting to see as well...

Sounds like a fun cartridge for a micro-mauser action. Way to go CZ. I wish I could afford to have one of everything. I certainly can imagine a "system" built around the 6.5. You could have a CZ 527 and an AR in Grendel, you could have a Bergara and an AR-10 in 6.5 Creedmoor, and then you could have a 26 Nosler or similar magnum. Sounds fun.

I have a 527 in .223, my reason behind it is partially due to the other 5.56 / .223 rifles I have (well, only two other), and that when we are out and about we can take those three rifles and use the same ammo. I like that kind of thing. I guess I am into "systems" and hadn't really recognized that I am. In semi-auto pistols I got rid of the .40 S&W and now everything is 9mm and all of those 9mm handguns are makes and models that I shoot as well as I can (which is pretty average).

So, I can see a fun system around several 6.5 cartridges. Wish I had one of everything!

.223 and 9mm has to be the least expensive shooting on the planet. I sort of downsized myself to 45 ACP in pistols. I have a 9mm but don't shoot it much. My real rifle is a .223. If I live long enough maybe the military will get off their mule and let a contract for a new battle rifle. Just about anything would be fine with me except 300 BLK.

I had placed an order with deposit with a local offfical CZ dealer back in March. He was told by CZ that 300 were coming and that I was number 293 on the list. About 3 weeks ago I saw them popping up on online dealers lists, so had my dealer call, and he was told it could be another 3 months before he received one. I asked if he could cancel the order and refund my deposit without any penalty, which he did. I placed an order last week with a dealer in Utah with whom I had previously purchased from. He was actually helpful, only had one left in stock and agreed to hold it for the day until I could get my refund confirmed. It shipped last Wednesday, and according to tracking is spending the weekend in a UPS terminal in Fort Worth, to be delivered here tomorrow. I have been waiting and hoping for this one for about 5 years now.

jkingrph said:

I had placed an order with deposit with a local offfical CZ dealer back in March. He was told by CZ that 300 were coming and that I was number 293 on the list. About 3 weeks ago I saw them popping up on online dealers lists, so had my dealer call, and he was told it could be another 3 months before he received one. I asked if he could cancel the order and refund my deposit without any penalty, which he did. I placed an order last week with a dealer in Utah with whom I had previously purchased from. He was actually helpful, only had one left in stock and agreed to hold it for the day until I could get my refund confirmed. It shipped last Wednesday, and according to tracking is spending the weekend in a UPS terminal in Fort Worth, to be delivered here tomorrow. I have been waiting and hoping for this one for about 5 years now.

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Awsome,.be great to get some pictures and a review after you get some rounds down range

The thread lives.

The Grendel lives.

Best thing since toilet paper.