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6 Grendel

I use a redding 6.5 Grendel bushing die with a smaller bushing. If ya load hot enough, there are tricks to setting it up to prevent the small unsized portion from causing issues. Essentially though, because the shoulder becomes longer when necked down, the bushing can size the entire neck and be set to where it also kisses the very small unsized portion at the neck/shoulder area, bumping it back slightly. With moderate loads, you'll probably never even see the need for what I'm talking about.

Whidden makes a nice 22 ARC bushing die. I'll have to check and see if a 6mm will pass through the neck area or not. I have both. If not, it could be opened up with carbide tooling. FWIW, a 22 arc is exactly a necked down 6 or 6.5 Grendel. The 6 ARC, for whatever reason, is a little shorter.

The 6 Gendel will flat shoot in a good rifle. In a bolt gun, you can load it like a ppc or bump it up a tad from there.
 
gunsandgunsmithing said:
I use a redding 6.5 Grendel bushing die with a smaller bushing. If ya load hot enough, there are tricks to setting it up to prevent the small unsized portion from causing issues. Essentially though, because the shoulder becomes longer when necked down, the bushing can size the entire neck and be set to where it also kisses the very small unsized portion at the neck/shoulder area, bumping it back slightly. With moderate loads, you'll probably never even see the need for what I'm talking about.

Whidden makes a nice 22 ARC bushing die. I'll have to check and see if a 6mm will pass through the neck area or not. I have both. If not, it could be opened up with carbide tooling. FWIW, a 22 arc is exactly a necked down 6 or 6.5 Grendel. The 6 ARC, for whatever reason, is a little shorter.

The 6 Gendel will flat shoot in a good rifle. In a bolt gun, you can load it like a ppc or bump it up a tad from there.
Click to expand...
^^^^
 
I plan on loading to get the max out of it. So do you think 6.5 die or whiddens 22arc would be the way to go, I want to keep the extra length of grendel case. I will be nk turning which might help with nk shoulder junction.
I’d like to set it up for 90-95bt bullets, do you think 1-10 or 9 twist.
Thanks for the help, Tim
 
T Kop said:
Just ordered the 243lbc, that should work good for initial sizing so I can nk turn. Might also try 6.5 grendel f/l bushing die thereafter with right size bushing.
Thanks
Click to expand...
That too, should take care of the issue I was talking about. You may well be very happy with the dimensions of the lbc die too. Ideal die dimensions are based on chamber dimensions. When I started down the wildcatting road with a Grendel case, there was no such thing as a 243 LBC. I actually spec'd my chamber reamer dimensions around the dimensions of the redding Grendel die...fwiw. That was with a 30 cal version, the 30 Major...so the issue of the small area of shoulder that didn't get touched with a 6.5 die was no issue at all. It had to be opened to work so, I opened it myself. It was for a .330 nk chamber, so I just opened the std die to .332 and dropped in bigger bushings for the 30. When I started playing with a 6mm version, is when I found the issue with using the same die but 6mm bushings at really stiff loads and found the workaround I mentioned. It wasn't a deal breaker at all but when I started playing with a 22 version, the 22 ARC/Grendel, Whidden was making a die for it, so I just went with his. It works great and all of my bolt gun Grendel wildcat chamber reamers share the same body dimensions. I think you'll enjoy playing with the 6. Other than the obvious, I don't know why more people don't shoot it. Yes, it will absolutely shoot with the venerable PPC. They are so close that one can't be great and the other, not. It needs no fire forming and is very simple to work with. The Lapua brass is equal to 220R Lapua brass, including the small flash holes, fwiw. I've won a grand agg and multiple yardage aggs at the national championship level with it, against fields of mostly PPC's. Not knocking a PPC but just saying, I'm not good enough to shoot and win at that level with an inferior cartridge. I'll stop there but I have no plans of going back to a PPC. TIFWIW.
 
T Kop said:
Thanks you’ve been a big help. I have a Bat 3lug with Scarborough stock that I’d like to stretch its legs out past normal ppc range.
Tim
Click to expand...
You can give me a call if ya wanna discuss it more. I enjoy talking with other shooters and especially Grendel based stuff. Personally, I think it's best suited for short and mid range stuff but it's between a ppc and a br, so it might do well at 600ish. I've shot some really good groups at 600 with it but my experience is mostly sr stuff. Although, I do shoot a little faster twist bbls than most sr guys as well as a little heavier bullets, at times. I think even a br is a little too small to be optimal with the 105-109 class of bullets, so a Grendel, even more so, imho. But...look up the drift of a 95vld at 3100 vs a 105 at 2850. It's identical...fwiw. Pretty warm, but I've shot 95's at 3100 in a 6 Grendel and it'll shoot great.
 
Bodhisafa said:
I would like to do a 6 Grendel as well.

Which is the best sizing die?
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For the 6 Grendel, I have used both the Redding 6.5 Grendel die and the L.E. Wilson 6.5 Grendel die and the Wilson was a better fitting, and smoother operating die for the reamer my gunsmith used. Based on my experience with them, you can't go too wrong with either die.

I turned necks and used either a .260 to a .262 bushing depending on what the target showed it liked best. We used them for SR benchrest with 14 tw and 13.5 tw barrels shooting 65-68grain bullets. Also had a couple 12 tw in 6 Grendel to shoot 80gr bullets. Bullet selection and availability in 80gr drove us to shooting the lighter bullets. JME. WD
 
Thauglor said:
Done that way so people don't load a 6.5 grendel into a 6arc chamber and have a kaboom
Click to expand...
It won't fit that way. The 6.5g is both longer and the neck too big to enter even a very generous 6mm chamber.

I've been told it has more to do with Whitley claiming proprietary rights to the 6mmAR, which is a 6 Grendel...so Hornady changed it enough to work around him. His site was shut down before release of the 22 ARC...which could imply he settled or sold to Hornady. He also did a 30 version. I quized him and asked him directly how it was different from a 30 Major, on this site..but he refused to answer, publicly or privately. Same dies though? Hmmm. His claim to the 30 would be null if I or someone else held "prior art" to it. Since I shared it publicly, back in about 2007, it was not open to patent protection for either of us. Rightfully, anyone could use what they had seen or heard, regarding it. Patenting a cartridge can be a slippery slope with very little return, or even a loss.

He's a lawyer btw. Not a gunsmith.
 
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