6mm Grendel.243 LBC

[rickt300]

Well I bought one as a complete rifle used. Aero upper and lower, mid gas and A2 stock, Giselle trigger. What I wanted in the first place was a rifle with a bit more on the heavy end for deer and hogs than the 223 and still have a varmint round comparable to the 223. First loads with this rifle are the 58 gr. VMax, 32.0 grains of BLC2, starline case popped with Federal 205 primers. The rifle has a 7.62x39 bolt and a 1-8 twist. For load testing I topped it with a 6x SS SWFA. From the start it was shooting under an inch with my load workup segments. Didn't expect the somewhat fast twist to take to light bullets so well. I have some raccoon killing that needed and still needs done. Went out and hunted them the old fashioned way with a spotlight shining up into the trees. I make an effort to shoot only when there is tree behind the coon and was successful twice last night. Both head shots were ugly. Expansion at less than 40 yards from bullets started at more than 3200 fps was very adequate. The water jug test with the 58 VMax showed the bullet will just barely make it into a second gallon jug at 100 yards and what is left is a flattened core and jacket. A phone call saved the lives of other coons, dang it if I had left the dang thing in the truck I could have hunted all night. I'll be back. Going to change scopes, the SS is nice on the bench but a bit bulky for hunting.

 

[rickt300]

Yesterday went out just before daylight to beat the heat. By 7am the dogs had chased two coons into the same shallow hole. Shot them both in the body twice and not one bullet exited the slightly over 20 pound coons. Shot angle sucked and I had to pull them out by the tail, not taking any chances. Durn it lost all four cases in the leafy and cracked ground.

 

[ALK]

Great write up Thanks for sharing.

 

[rickt300]

Went out again with a different scope (old Nikon Prostaff 3-9) on it. This time I left a blood trail made from blood meal and water starting around the end of a finger of timber centered with a creek to a point I can see from a picnic table. Hoping for a coyote but none showed up. However just after dark a couple of coons jumped out of the brush and started fighting over the canned dog food I had dumped out at the end of the blood trail. Two shots from about 175 yards out and two coons. Neither bullet exited but both coons as dead as coons get.

 

[Bowhunter-tw]

3200fps seems a little slow out of the 6grendel, what barrel length is that? Or are you loading them light?

 

[rickt300]

3200fps seems a little slow out of the 6grendel, what barrel length is that? Or are you loading them light?

Late answer but I used 6 PPC data and was happy with the accuracy, felt no need to change.