Comparision Between 6.5 Grendel And 450 Bushmaster.

by William Castle Business And Sales

AR-15 rifle as we know is a very popular rifle for shooting and hunting and there are various reasons for it, it offers a lot of advantages to shooters in the united states and because of this, it is really popular. Because of the popularity of AR-15 rifles, many designers have designed cartridges which are designed specifically to suit the AR-15 platform.

In this article, we are going to compare two such cartridges which were designed for an AR-15 platform. Although both are not equally popular 450 Bushmaster Ammo is much more popular and widely used as compared to 6.5 Grendel Ammo as it is considered to be much more reliable.

Quick Look At Their History

6.5 Grendel was designed by Bill alexander in 2002 due to dissatisfaction of hunters and shooters with other cartridges like .223 Remington, it was a success as it had more power than .223 Remington and it performed pretty well in combination with AR-15 platforms.

Similarly, 450 Bushmaster was designed primarily because shooters were not happy with the performance of .223 Remington, they are not happy with its stopping power and wanted a more powerful cartridge.

Size Comparision

The overall length of both the cartridges is 2.26 inches however case length of 450 Bushmaster is more extensive than 6.5 Grendel ammo. The rim diameter of 450 Bushmaster is also more than 6.5 Grendel, the rim diameter of 450 bushmaster ammo is .473 whereas the rim diameter of 6.5 Grendel is .441. More diameter of 450 bushmaster ammo means it has more case capacity and it can accommodate heavier bullets. The range of weight of 450 bushmaster ammo is from 158 gr. To 300, 250 -grain bullet is mostly used with a 450 Bushmaster. 6.5 Grendel uses a 123-grain bullet. Bullets with different diameters are used in both cartridges.

450 bushmaster is loaded at a maximum pressure of 38500 psi and 6.5 Grendel at 52000 psi.

Ballistics Comparision

Talking about their ballistics, 450 Bushmaster ammo 250grain has a muzzle velocity of 2200 fps and muzzle energy of 2687 ft-lbs whereas 6.5 Grendel Ammo 123-grain has a muzzle velocity of 2580 fps and muzzle energy of 1818 ft-lbs. As far as the trajectory of both are concerned 6.5 Grendel has almost no drop till 200 yards whereas there is a drop of about 2 feet in 460 Bushmaster in the same range. 450 bushmaster throws heavier bullets with a larger diameter and it has more muzzle velocity in comparison to 6.5 Grendel but because of the higher velocity of 6.5, Grendel has a flatter trajectory and retains more kinetic energy. 450 bushmaster has better penetration because of its larger diameter, 6.5 Grendel has less power, and less recoil than 450 bushmasters but has better resistance to wind drift.

Recoil

450 bushmaster has more recoil than 6.5 Grendel, so if you are a new shooter then you should be using 6.5 Grendel Ammo for shooting.

Conclusion

Both are pretty good ammo, 6.5 Grendel ammo is better suited for medium-range deer hunting as well as personal protection whereas 450 Bushmaster is good for medium-sized games as well as target shooting.

So as per your use, you must choose which ammo to use.