New bullet from sierra for 6.5 grendel.

[john 800]

I got a couple boxes of a new 6.5mm 120 grain tipped gameking to try. It is a new bullet from sierra designed specifically for 6.5 grendel velocity for deer sized game. My daughter took her deer this year with a 120 nosler ballistic tip and it worked perfectly fine, with the exception that there was no blood, but I think I will load up a few of these and give them a try next season. Just thought I would share, because I know there are a fair amount of grendel shooters here. The sierra description of the bullet also mentions it would be a good varmint bullet in the faster 6.5s

 

[Zero333]

What powders do you have on hand ??? You could easily reach 2,800 fps with the 100 gr TTSX in a 20" barrel bolt rifle.

That 100 gr TTSX has good ballistics for the weight and at 2,800 fps out the muzzle will be just under 2,000 fps and 1000 Lb/ft of energy at 300 yards.

So if you daughter is only gonna shoot out to 250 yards you're better off with the 100 gr TTSX. It will expend good and go through the deer. Win / Win.

 

[john 800]

What powders do you have on hand ??? You could easily reach 2,800 fps with the 100 gr TTSX in a 20" barrel bolt rifle.

That 100 gr TTSX has good ballistics for the weight and at 2,800 fps out the muzzle will be just under 2,000 fps and 1000 Lb/ft of energy at 300 yards.

So if you daughter is only gonna shoot out to 250 yards you're better off with the 100 gr TTSX. It will expend good and go through the deer. Win / Win.

As far as powder here is a list: shooters world match rifle and tactical rifle, tac, h335, ar comp, h4895. I like the idea of a stout 90 or 100 but I have to be perfectly honest: I have a hard time going to a solid copper bullet. I had a bad experience with one years ago and I still cringe. It was a 150 grain in a 270 win and the deer was hit just behind the shoulder, just above theheart and still went a very, very long way. It was an all day tracking job to find a deer that was hit pretty darn well with a teeny tiny pencil hole through both lungs. If I would not have SEEN the deer I would not have believed it. I still question if I saw what I saw, might as well have been Sasquatch It’s probably not fair of me but I have never touched one since.

 

[C.E.Smith043]

The only problem I have with sierra lately is I just can't seem to find them in stock anywhere.

I don't understand why these companies think they need to come out with something new when they can't even provide what they are currently offering.

 

[DLT]

The only problem I have with sierra lately is I just can't seem to find them in stock anywhere.

I don't understand why these companies think they need to come out with something new when they can't even provide what they are currently offering.

Like the 22 arc. Amen

 

[john 800]

The only problem I have with sierra lately is I just can't seem to find them in stock anywhere.

I don't understand why these companies think they need to come out with something new when they can't even provide what they are currently offering.

Isn’t that the truth!

 

[Zero333]

As far as powder here is a list: shooters world match rifle and tactical rifle, tac, h335, ar comp, h4895. I like the idea of a stout 90 or 100 but I have to be perfectly honest: I have a hard time going to a solid copper bullet. I had a bad experience with one years ago and I still cringe. It was a 150 grain in a 270 win and the deer was hit just behind the shoulder, just above theheart and still went a very, very long way. It was an all day tracking job to find a deer that was hit pretty darn well with a teeny tiny pencil hole through both lungs. If I would not have SEEN the deer I would not have believed it. I still question if I saw what I saw, might as well have been Sasquatch It’s probably not fair of me but I have never touched one since.

The problem you had previously with the 270 and copper bullet is you used a heavy copper bullet.

You have to go very light for caliber for them to work as they should.

I wanted a very flat shooting deer load. So I loaded 130 TTSX in a 300winmag at 3,550 fps and had a PBR out to 350 yards... I zeroed it at 300 yards. Just point and shoot and with a good shot the bullet would go anywhere as high as from +3"or +3.5" at it's highest and - 3.5" at 350 yards at the range that's 600 ft above sea level. Where I hunted deer was 2 to 3 times higher above sea level than the range I'd sight it in at.

TSX / TTSX need to be as light as possible for caliber/cartridge...
They love long jumps to the lands...
and the faster you push them the more accurate they are.
That's at least the case with the rifles and cartridges I shot them with.

About powder you have on hand...

H-335 would be my 1st choice.. with a short COAL of 2.26" or less. In a bolt action rifle 30 or 31 gr should be no problem and still get around 2,800 fps from a 20" barrel.

If you decide to go with the 120 TGK. H-335 is still a good choice but whatever load you used with the 120 BalTip should be the same with the 120 TGK.

 

[3Ackleys]

Like the 22 arc. Amen

I agree that companies should fill their supply chain before introducing new items. But Hornady (the 22 Arc) is light years ahead of Sierra.
Right now on Midway:
Hornady lists 202 bullets, with 33 out of stock.
Sierra lists 190 bullets with 99 out of stock

 

[nakneker]

I got a couple boxes of a new 6.5mm 120 grain tipped gameking to try. It is a new bullet from sierra designed specifically for 6.5 grendel velocity for deer sized game. My daughter took her deer this year with a 120 nosler ballistic tip and it worked perfectly fine, with the exception that there was no blood, but I think I will load up a few of these and give them a try next season. Just thought I would share, because I know there are a fair amount of grendel shooters here. The sierra description of the bullet also mentions it would be a good varmint bullet in the faster 6.5s

I’d like to try that. I have a 6.5 Grendel in the works, shorter barrel, surpressed. I’ve been having good results with the TGKs, thanks for the heads up.

 

[603Country]

I use the 120 gr Nosler BT in my 260 and the 123 gr SST in the 6.5 Grendel. Both work great. I really don’t see the need for a new Sierra 120 gr TGK, at least not for me. What I want is a semi-tough 100 gr cup and core bullet, specifically the 100 gr Nosler BT. I used that bullet in my 260 for a couple of years on hogs, coyotes and deer, and it worked every bit as well as the 120 gr BT. If only Nosler would make more of them. I have it on reliable info from a friend that the 100 gr TTSX works great, but it is expensive.

 

[msalm]

For a hunting bullet in the Grendel I bought a bunch of the Nosler 120gr E-Tip and nipped off the base on the lathe. I used an ER collet chuck dialed in and made a stop that registered on the ogive. Using a ground hss bit with a narrow cutoff blade and a chamfer that would add a small boattail I’ve gotten a +- .5 gr per 50 bullets. Put a bullet in point first to the stop, tighten chuck and part off the base of the bullet stopping at a determined’zero’ on the crosslide.

Bullets ended up at 87gr and get the velocity up to 2930fps which gets it into a great expansion window. With the solid copper construction it still offers the penetration too. My son is 2 for 2 on deer so far and the performance seems to be excellent with complete pass throughs and impressive internal damage. The buck he shot last month didn’t offer anything for a blood trail, but he fell within site (50 yard dash?). He took all the plumbing off the top of the heart and the blood just pooled in the chest cavity.

If you look at the different mono bullets, the E-Tips have a larger plastic tip and I think a softer copper that seems to expand more reliably/consistent. Just my impression anyway, but I’ll likely stick with these til I see performance contrary to what we’ve experienced so far.

 

[SteveOak]

The only problem I have with sierra lately is I just can't seem to find them in stock anywhere.

I don't understand why these companies think they need to come out with something new when they can't even provide what they are currently offering.

So they can obsolete the ones that are not selling enough to justify tying up the production line.

Bullet technology has progressed enormously in the last 20 years, even in the last 10.

 

[C.E.Smith043]

So they can obsolete the ones that are not selling enough to justify tying up the production line.

Bullet technology has progressed enormously in the last 20 years, even in the last 10.

You can't tell me the 6mm 85gr gameking is a non-seller. Or the 6mm 70gr Blitzking.

 

[bobke]

Not enough time to focus on accuracy, just grabbing data for the record. All in Federal brass, 205M primer, 2.280 OAL, 20” Proof CF barrel. All 6 shot samples. 60d, 75+ RH.
27.0 AR Comp 2547/6.4 SD
31.2 CFE223 2540/26.8 SD
31.2 Lever. 2576/11.6 SD
29.0 PPV. 2532/12.5 SD
Somewhat predictably, ARC, Lever and PPV showed some promise at 100yds. More testing required before a definitive result with my platforms.
And a footnote, this bullet is quite long for its weight. If in an AR platform, might be wise to work up data rather than just using Nosler BT data. I see more powder compression with TGK than either 120 BT or 123SST, even at 2.280 OAL. Based on my first pass above, dropping Lever back to 31.0gr and OAL to 2.275 in Lapua brass to see if I can tighten up SD. Tossed the Federal brass as primer pockets were too loose to continue use-not from these loads, as they’d had several firings on them and are soft by nature.

 

[flatlander]

Since Sierra sold, the new owners don't seem to have the same priorities when it comes to which bullets to make on a regular basis. I've been looking for 7mm 160 TMK bullets for use in my 7-08 Improved 30* for about 3yrs without finding them anywhere. When I called to talk with a tech at Sierra, he told me they haven't made a run of them for quite some time, and couldn't offer any info on when they would make a run of them. Don't you just love it when someone new buys out one of the best & longest established bullet makers and doesn't want to listen to what their customers would like to buy?

 

[Oso]

At present, the top powders for heavy bullets (120Gr - 130gr) out of the 6.5 Grendel are:
ARComp / H4895 (these 2 powders perform identically even though not the same powder)
CFE 223
LeverEvolution

There are any number of powders that can be used, but pushing the heavier weight bullets starts creating a pressure spike with most of these powders. This pressure spike is only a concern for those using a AR15 (to avoid excess strain on the bolt lugs), but otherwise a non-issue for those loading for a bolt rifle. Many of powders that work great in .223 / 5.56 also work in the Grendel with lighter pullets (90gr - 110gr).


If you are willing to load more conservative powder charges ammunition to be used in AR15, then the concerns around pressure spikes diminishes. Bolt rifle can handle much greater charge weights and pressures, with the limiting factor being case capacity / load length.

 

[ncageneral]

I had asked Paul Box about a Gameking 6.5 120 several years ago for the Grendel. He said Sierra had no plans for one at the time. Lo and behold, except in a tipped version. I dont have much use for tipped bullets. For the Grendel I'll just keep using the Prohunter 120 gr. Its worked exceptionally well for my Baby Girls Grendel, and my oldest daughters reduced recoil 260 loads.

 

[flatlander]

I've got a Howa Mini that was purchased as a 6.5 Grendel, and which I replaced the factory bbl with a Bartlein 6.5mm blank that I found on their online inventory list. It's contoured in the Rem factory magnum sporter profile, and has 1-8tw. I finished that bbl at 24", and put the bbl'd action into a B&C M40-style stock, with DIP aluminum DBM. Threaded the muzzle 9/16-24 and installed a TBAC flash suppressor. Currently using either a Ultra 7 or Gen 2 Ultra 7 on it, but am waiting on a tax stamp for a Gen 2 Ultra 5 with 6.5 aperture, which I bought mainly for use on several custom barreled Mini-based rifles.

I'm thinking of shortening the Bartlein 6.5 Grendel bbl back to 18" or 20", and loading some sub-sonic rounds with 107-123gr bullets for coyote calling. Anyone done any sub-sonic loads for the Grendel?

 

[Turpentine]

I love Sierra bullets. And I do believe they should meet demand before trying to introduce all kinds of new stuff. But, I really wish they would introduce a TMK in 6.5 in 140 and /or somewhere between 140-150 with a good BC. That bullet is proving to be a pretty good bullet on game and would be a good all around for us 6.5-06, 6.5-284, and PRC guys as well as the Sweede and the 6.5 Needmore And various other 6.5s. They would probably fly off the shelves

 

[Bill K]

I would say that experience with

As far as powder here is a list: shooters world match rifle and tactical rifle, tac, h335, ar comp, h4895. I like the idea of a stout 90 or 100 but I have to be perfectly honest: I have a hard time going to a solid copper bullet. I had a bad experience with one years ago and I still cringe. It was a 150 grain in a 270 win and the deer was hit just behind the shoulder, just above theheart and still went a very, very long way. It was an all day tracking job to find a deer that was hit pretty darn well with a teeny tiny pencil hole through both lungs. If I would not have SEEN the deer I would not have believed it. I still question if I saw what I saw, might as well have been Sasquatch It’s probably not fair of me but I have never touched one since.

your deer and the 150 grain bullet was the fact that a 150 grn in the 270 was to heavy a bullet for a deer. It was designed for bigger game, a lighter 90-130 solid copper bullet would have been much better for deer, in your case and 270 Win.
A good copper bullet in a lighter weight to match the size of the animal hunted is a very fine bullet and will do a good job of putting a animal down, with in a very reasonable distance, plus leave a good blood trail to follow, if necessary. Just my thought.