Is it practical to convert 6.5 Grendel to 6 MM ARC? I was at the range and a fellow gave me two Grendel cases that had been fired through his AR so that I could convert them to 6 MM ARC as test of the practicality of converting. I ran them through the Lee 6 MM ARC full size die and the results were disappointing. The re-sized cases would not fit in the Hornady cartridge gauge nor would the cases chamber. It appeared to me that the should was higher than the shoulder on Hornady Black ammo that I bought. What went wrong, any thoughts among the learned reloaders here?
6.5 Grendel to 6 MM ARC
- Thread starter Pindon
- Start date
I bought a box of Hornady 6.5 Grendel ammo. Pulled the bullets and ran them through my sizing die then trimmed to length. Had to trim about .025 to get to length. This morning I loaded them for the third time. Seams to be working. Still working on load development.
Paul H
Paul H
Yes, I have 1200 plus 6.5 Grendel cases converted to 6mm ARC, it's easy!...spray em with lube...run through FL 6mm ARC die trim to length...deburr..
I Load with full power, (max Hornady manual) powder charge load of Leverevolution and Hornady 108 gr ELD-M , and shoot em....also used 6.5 Starline Basic, but ya gotta anneal, and step down anneal, step down 4 times...trim, deburr...but it makes great 6mm ARC cases. I Shoot a bunch of 6mm ARC never owned a factory 6 mm ARC case.
I Load with full power, (max Hornady manual) powder charge load of Leverevolution and Hornady 108 gr ELD-M , and shoot em....also used 6.5 Starline Basic, but ya gotta anneal, and step down anneal, step down 4 times...trim, deburr...but it makes great 6mm ARC cases. I Shoot a bunch of 6mm ARC never owned a factory 6 mm ARC case.
Do you know if the fellow reloads, or if that was factory ammo the brass came from? My thinking is that his AR could have a large sloppy chamber and that brass could be already too work hardened to easily form to 6 ARC. Did you anneal it before running it through the die? Is the shoulder to base dimension too long, or did the die not size the 0.200 line far enough? There are a lot of ways that a piece of brass can't fit in a chamber. You can cover it in sharpie, try to chamber it a few times and see where the sharpie is worn off to inform what needs to happen next.
Several people mentioned trimming to length, did the OP do that? If the shoulder isn't back far enough you can try adjusting the die if it will go any farther.
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