The 6.5mm Grendel (6.5×39mm) is an intermediate cartridge jointly designed by British-American armorer Bill Alexander, competitive shooter Arne Brennan (of Houston, Texas ) and Lapua ballistician Janne Pohjoispää, as a low-recoil, high-precision rifle cartridge specifically for the AR-15 platform at medium/long range (200–800 yard). It is an improved variation of the 6.5mm PPC.
The 6.5mm Grendel cartridge was first unveiled in May 2003 at the Blackwater Training Facility in North Carolina, where it remained supersonic at 1,200 yd (1,100 m) range and out-shot the 7.62mm NATO with only half the recoil. Since its introduction, it has proven to be a versatile cartridge and is now expanding out into other firearm design platforms including bolt-action rifles and the Kalashnikov system.
The name "Grendel" is inspired by the mythical monster antagonist from the Old English epic poem Beowulf. It was a trademark owned by Alexander Arms (Bill Alexander's company in Radford, Virginia) and manufactured at Radford Arsenal,[8] until legally released in 2010 for SAAMI standardization with collaboration from Hornady.
Experience what shooters around the world are calling the ultimate varmint hunting platform when you transform your standard AR into a 22 Nosler. Approaching 22-250 velocities in a significantly smaller package the 22 Nosler yields 25% more case capacity than the 223 Rem/ 5.56 NATO, resulting in 14% more velocity and 30% more energy at the muzzle. The effortless two-step conversion allows shooters to achieve lightning fast, hard-hitting performance with popular varmint bullets, pushing a 55gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip at supercharged speeds of 3,350 fps and a 77gr. Custom Competition bullet at 2,950 fps.
The 22 Nosler case holds 34.2gr H2O at overflow, and 31.2gr H2O with a 55gr Ballistic Tip® seated to 2.260” OAL. For comparison, a 223 Remington case holds 27.4gr H2O with a 55gr BT seated at 2.260” OAL. The 22 Nosler has almost 25% more case capacity than the 223 Remington.
Developed by Nosler engineers, the .22 Nosler is the fastest .22 caliber cartridge for the AR platform that utilizes a standard 5.56 bolt. With 30% more energy than a 5.56 and almost 300 fps more velocity, the 22 Nosler approaches .22-250 ballistics in an AR platform. With outstanding down range performance and high-quality ammunition available, the .22 Nosler is a top choice for varmint and medium game hunting and long-range shooting. This cartridge uses a commonly available 6.8 SPC magazine.
