6.5 Grendel

[S3silver]

Those speeds seems doable with the 90's. I used the 123 amax before we had to go non-lead. Shot two bucks with them and they were both bang flops, drt.

 

[S3silver]

I confess to have pretty much given up with the Grendel. Too busy with other projects/F-Class/FTR. However, a new member turned up at the range with a 6 ARC. A fairly well sorted rifle - Howa mini, Krieger barrel - and shot well for her first time at 500. I was impressed with the speed - clocked at a 2800+ average with a reasonable SD. It peaked my interest again with the 6.5. I still have 300+ 108 Lapuas in the cupboard and a couple of kilos of 8208 I may get the freebore lengthened a bit and play with adding powder -I hate compressed loads with low neck tensions. I suspect that 2600+ can be achieved in a bolt gun with Lapua brass. Maybe a 300m rifle with a new barrel?

You should be able to get more than that with 108's and 8208. Most folks from the grendel forum are getting 2550 with 123's and 28-28.5 gr of 8208. Depending on barrel length, you should be seeing 2700+ with the 108, if not 2800.

 

[NZ_Fclass]

You should be able to get more than that with 108's and 8208. Most folks from the grendel forum are getting 2550 with 123's and 30-31 gr of 8208. Depending on barrel length, you should be seeing 2700+ with the 108, if not 2800.

Now I'm even more interested....

 

[S3silver]

Yes, it's a great little round. You can push pressure a little bit with a bolt gun. I have a howa mini with a krieger barrel and love how it shoots.

I corrected my powder charge for 8208. It's more in the 28-28.5 gr range. 30-31 gr was for CFE223. If you're looking for speed then CFE223 and Leverevolution is the ticket with 50-100 fps more than the other powders. I tried CFE223 and saw higher velocity but it was temp sensitive so I went back to 8208, varget, and benchmark.

 

[284winner]

I'm using 28 grains of 8208 under a 123 ELDM. I killed a nice big bodies (187 dressed weight) buck with it this year at 118 yards. 2400 fps muzzle velocity. Hit the buck facing quartering me in his left front shoulder. Bullet went thru vitals destroying them and ending up under the hide in front of his rear hip. Lots of damage and 93 grains of bullet left. 75% retention. Bullet and exit wound from the bullet that remained under the hide where the damage is shown.

 

[S3silver]

That's pretty good penetration out of the grendel speed and match bullet. Before our non-lead mandate, I was using the 123 amax. Have taken 3 bucks and a black bear them. The 3 bucks were all shot at about 50 yards, 2 broadside and one frontal. All three dropped in their tracks. The bear was broadside, same distance, and ran about 20 yards. I think the 123 amax/eldm is a great bullet for hunting out of the grendel. If we didn't have that non-lead rule, I would still be using them. The plus side is you can use them for both hunting and range play, no other load needed.

 

[misser]

I am not sure I would use the CX bullets in the Grendel. In my experience mono-metal bullets don't expand well in the slower rounds unless they are pre-skived, which I don't think the CX bullets are.

which CX ? there is a 90 gr CX

 

[284winner]

which CX ? there is a 90 gr CX

90 CX just released. I think it was designed for the 6.5 Grendel in their loaded ammunition.

 

[misser]

90 CX just released. I think it was designed for the 6.5 Grendel in their loaded ammunition.

ya but that's not going to keep me from trying it in the CM. so far its not horrible using 42.5 gr varget .which was maybe a bit to hot . next loading of varget will be 5/10's lighter and i'll go from there ,down a bit more. not like its going to be my go-to bullet .first two in same hole

 

[284winner]

ya but that's not going to keep me from trying it in the CM. so far its not horrible using 42.5 gr varget .which was maybe a bit to hot . next loading of varget will be 5/10's lighter and i'll go from there ,down a bit more. not like its going to be my go-to bullet .first two in same hole

Nice. Of course, why not ? It was nice to see Hornady offering a 90 grain mono for the Grendel tho. An 85 would be nice to see also.

 

[S3silver]

Those 90’s are smoking at 3300+. If no usual high pressure signs then play with seating depth to see if they tighten up.

 

[DLT]

I'm using 28 grains of 8208 under a 123 ELDM. I killed a nice big bodies (187 dressed weight) buck with it this year at 118 yards. 2400 fps muzzle velocity. Hit the buck facing quartering me in his left front shoulder. Bullet went thru vitals destroying them and ending up under the hide in front of his rear hip. Lots of damage and 93 grains of bullet left. 75% retention. Bullet and exit wound from the bullet that remained under the hide where the damage is shown.

Deer I killed last year with a sst didn’t come out either it got caught on other side like yours

 

[Turpentine]

I know this is an old thread but I see Hornady is making a 90CX bullet for the 6.5. I shot a buck with the 123 ELDM(6.5 Grendel) today and it did a great job anchoring him. Wondering if those 90 solids would exit shot from a Grendel with an impact velocity over 2500 fps. The 123 ELDs don't exit but they do destroy everything in its path.

I shoot depredation for farmers in my area using a Grendel with thermal. I killed around 80 deer this summer with my Grendel shooting 123 eldm's with AR Comp. Also shot some with 123 SSTs using the same powder. Both bullets kill deer very well and most drop in their tracks. I usually shoot center shoulder shots if I get time. Also some head and neck shots when necessary. Ranges from 50-450 yards. The Eldm's kill better at 200 yards than they do up close in my experience. But I have no issues at all with them.

 

[284winner]

I shoot depredation for farmers in my area using a Grendel with thermal. I killed around 80 deer this summer with my Grendel shooting 123 eldm's with AR Comp. Also shot some with 123 SSTs using the same powder. Both bullets kill deer very well and most drop in their tracks. I usually shoot center shoulder shots if I get time. Also some head and neck shots when necessary. Ranges from 50-450 yards. The Eldm's kill better at 200 yards than they do up close in my experience. But I have no issues at all with them.

Yep I use ELDMs in most of my deer rifles. I killed this year's bucks with a 123 ELDM. Bullet acts like a bonded type bullet. 2500 fps muzzle and shot at 120 yards. Impressive for a match bullet.

 

[Turpentine]

Yep I use ELDMs in most of my deer rifles. I killed this year's bucks with a 123 ELDM. Bullet acts like a bonded type bullet. 2500 fps muzzle and shot at 120 yards. Impressive for a match bullet.

I actually shoot the 123 in Grendel and in an AR 10 in 6.5 Creedmore running 2800fps.. Alot depends on how big the fields are that I happen to be shooting that night. The Creedmore gives me a little more point blank range so I can hold on hair On the longer shots. The eldm's kill just fine out of the CM too. As a matter of fact I use them in all of my rifles but one. 147s in the 6.5-06 and 168s in the 308 bolt gun. They kill very well in those sizes too. I killed 12 deer over 500 yards this summer with the 6.5-06. 4 of those were from 600 to 680. The longest was at 895. My AR10 in 308 is the odd duck. It only shoots 168 Amax well. I will say though that most of the deer shot are does between 85 and 115 pounds. So I'm not shooting heavyweight big bodied animals. But I wouldn't hesitate to shoot bigger animals with the proper shot placement.

 

[Mark611]

I got to ask about TAC! for the Grendel, not to hijack the thread, but I run an 18'' 1&8 with 123gn pills and a 24'' 1&8, using 27.2gn of ARCOMP the 18'' runs 2495fps and my 24'' runs 2575fps same load, my question is does TAC outperform ARCOMP? these loads are very accurate!

 

[S3silver]

If you’re looking for speed then you’ll want to try Leverolution, CFE223, and 8208XBR. Pretty much in that order. Lever and CFE223 are pretty much neck to neck. 8208 is a little slower than the two but will probably be like ARcomp.

 

[284winner]

If you’re looking for speed then you’ll want to try Leverolution, CFE223, and 8208XBR. Pretty much in that order. Lever and CFE223 are pretty much neck to neck. 8208 is a little slower than the two but will probably be like ARcomp.

I found 8208 to be the fastest and most accurate at the same time. I could get more speed from LE but not accuracy at the higher velocities.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

I'm using 28 grains of 8208 under a 123 ELDM. I killed a nice big bodies (187 dressed weight) buck with it this year at 118 yards. 2400 fps muzzle velocity. Hit the buck facing quartering me in his left front shoulder. Bullet went thru vitals destroying them and ending up under the hide in front of his rear hip. Lots of damage and 93 grains of bullet left. 75% retention. Bullet and exit wound from the bullet that remained under the hide where the damage is shown.

That must be the perfect speed for that eldm bullet then. Impressive!

 

[284winner]

That must be the perfect speed for that eldm bullet then. Impressive!

I had as good as accuracy at 2540. My shots are all usually a hundred yards or closer so I didn't figure I needed to push it to the higher velocity. That 2540 might have been good on 200 yard shots though.