CUSTOM™ 6.5 GRENDEL SST® POLYMER TIPPED RIFLE AMMO Reviews & Ratings

HORNADY CUSTOM™ 6.5 GRENDEL SST® POLYMER TIPPED RIFLE AMMO

Millions of successful hunts have proven the accuracy and deadly effect of the famous Hornady® InterLock,® SST,® InterBond® and CX™ bullets they load into Hornady® Custom™ rifle ammunition.

Every round of Hornady® Custom™ ammunition is hand inspected before packaging to ensure the highest levels of quality control. At Hornady,® they manufacture Custom™ ammunition to give shooters and hunters the advantage of handloaded accuracy in a factory load.

FEATURES

HORNADY® BULLETS - Custom™ ammunition is loaded with InterLock,® SST,® InterBond,® FTX® and GMX® bullets, providing an all‑around line of hunting ammunition for your preferred shooting experience.
EXPANSION AND PENETRATION - An industry leader and customer favorite, Custom™ ammunition balances expansion and penetration and is well‑suited to medium and large sized game.
BALLISTIC EFFICIENCY - Most Custom™ loads feature bullets with a secant ogive design. This pioneering profile, developed by Hornady,® creates the optimum blend of ballistic efficiency and bearing surface for flatter shooting and less drag.

SPECS

CARTRIDGE: 6.5 Grendel
BULLET: SST®
PRODUCT LINE: Custom™
APPLICATION: Medium Game 50-300 lbs

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5 Stars

67%

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Stars

33%

Reviews Summary

Customers have mixed reviews about the CUSTOM AMMO 6.5MM GRENDEL 123GR SST. While many praise its accuracy and effectiveness on game, particularly at ranges under 100 yards, others report issues with inconsistent performance and bullet expansion. Overall, it seems to perform well in optimal conditions but can be unreliable at times.

What Reviewers Are Saying

Accuracy

67%

Many users highlight the accuracy of the 123 GR SST, with several reports of sub-MOA performance. It consistently delivers tight groupings, especially in well-tuned rifles, indicating high precision in ideal scenarios.

Inconsistency

50%

Several reviewers express concerns about inconsistent performance across different lots. Issues such as erratic accuracy and varying expansion results have been noted, suggesting potential quality control problems.

Terminal Performance

40%

While many users report successful hunts and effective knockdown power, there's an ongoing concern about bullet expansion, with some encountering full pass-throughs without adequate expansion on game.

Versatility

50%

The ammunition seems to perform adequately across various platforms, as evidenced by users with different AR builds reporting satisfactory results in both target shooting and hunting applications.

Reliability

33%

Some reviews mention reliability issues such as erratic performance or no misfeeds, with a notable disparity in experiences between users. While some report flawless operation, others struggle with consistency.

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Absolutely the best Grendel ammo

This is the most accurate,and most reliable 6.5 Grendel Ammo you can buy. I've shot this ammo out to 300 yards consistently IMO it's the best shelf ammo you can buy for the Grendel rifle I shoot a 20" Faxon barrel. In an AR platform.

Would you recommend this? Yes, I would recommend to a friend

Good stuff

Shoots around an inch in a Tactical Kinetics 20" AR build.

by Richard H. on March 28, 2024

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Good ammo

I have a 13 and an 18 inch Sanders Armory uppers, also a 20 inch upper I put a 20 inch Faxon fluted match barrel in. All three shoot great with this ammo. Only the Black shoots as good or better. All three uppers are very capable of less than an inch @ 100 yds. with the 123 Gr SST. Saw the two one star reviews and wonder what if any ammo shoots good out of your rifles? My hand loads may be a slight improvement but not by much. I know one thing, I took a Pa. whitetail buck at around 150 yards in a utility path, and the deer hopped forward a few feet and did a nose dive into the dirt. Was using the SST 123 grain.

Excellent Ammunition

This as well as the Hornady ELDM are both very accurate cartridges. My worst average 100yd group size is .6 moa. out of a 18" Larue. My standard average group size out of a 20" Howa mini action is .75 moa. Terminal performance is pretty good, but I haven't observed as much expansion as I expected. 100% pass throughs, but also 100% kill rate on deer. All in all I've been very impressed with the 6.5 Grendel and also specifically with this Hornady ammunition.

Great Ammo

Sub min group all day long

I love this stuff.

This stuff was recommended by the gunsmith who built my AR and I've had very good results with it. At the range it shoots less than 1/2 in. groups at 100 yrds. Hunting whitetail I've shot two through the heart, one 100 lb. doe at @110 yrd.s & one 85 lb. doe at @ 90 yrd.s. Great bullet performance. One nine pt. buck shot much less neatly but I did hit him on the run three times at @65 yrds, and that works. My AR is new and I've had no miss feeds after the first 20 rounds.

Inconsistent, overpressure

We've used hundreds of rounds of this for target, deer and hogs. It's good when it works. We've seen bullets fail to expand on game. We've had erratic accuracy due to overpressure rounds in the last few boxes. These last few boxes, being from different lots, convinced me to stop using it.

Garbage

Very inconsistent. At 100yards shot around 2MOA. Seems the powder charges were inconsistent. Normally reload but needed the brass. Hopefully the problem wasnt inconsistent case volume.

Exspensive and low accuracy

Shot all the brands out there factory loaded for 6.5 Grendel, only 1 weight offered from Hornady and it couldn't hold a 4" group @ 100 yards. Used a 18" Alexander Arms bull barrel.