New to me 6.5 Grendel

[mac86951]

I have a new to me 6.5 Grendel upper and 50 pieces of 7.62x39 brass that's been converted. It's and Alexander built upper.

The story behind it is that my family member couldn't get the upper to cycle, and went through troubles trying to get it working. I found that it was sizing die not bumping shoulder back, which was causing potential problems. I'll let you know more after I try it as there is more to it, but my post is to request what is current Grendel.brass recommendations? I'd hate to ding up a bunch of lapua in an AR, and I see 7.62x39 is getting harder to find.

-Mac

 

[jimbo88mm]

I am relatively new to the Grendel myself, put one together early spring.

Lapua Brass:
Flash hole is pretty small. My forster die works fine but I've heard of others having problems with different brand dies. The flash hole is also too small for the lee case gauge/cutter. I opened the flash holes up on mine using a tiny file.

I have about 6 reloads through my Lapua cases, primer pockets are still nice and tight but I've lost a few cases to split necks. I have heard of people getting over 15 loads due to the grendel being a low pressure case. Will be interesting to see if my necks last that long.

Hornady Brass:
No issues with the flash holes but the primer pockets are defiantly looser after a few reloads. I haven't tossed any yet but I'll be surprised if I get more than 7 out of them.

PPU Brass:
Have a bunch but have not tried reloading it yet. I've read on the internet that it doesn't last long. PPU brass uses large primers vs the other two which use small primers.

 

[MrMajestic]

Install an adjustable gas block so it doesn't throw them into the next county. I block the ejection with cardboard, cardboard box or range bag to keep cases close. If standing or in the dirt, shoot on a tarp to recover them. With these precautions Lapua is great brass in your Grendel!

 

[mac86951]

Thank you, more to the story I'm using Winchester 7.62 brass that was formed and then fire formed in a Thomson contender. I'm guessing the contender was the problem, as resized/trimmed brass would get stuck in the AR chamber. I'm guessing someone had the sizing die set-up all wrong so that was the rest of the story. I'm cleaning what looks to be original packing grease out of my Redding dies, which was probably producing dents,
compounding the sizing die set-up... Good news is that I can feed aa sized case inand out of the chamber now without any sticking.

I've got some test rounds loaded to try tonight. 130vlds (leftovers) with 26.0-up BLC(2). Adjustable gas block is starting closed and I'll bring the previous owner recommended hammer just incase... Only thing I'm not looking forward to is buying more 6.5 bullets...

I've got a creedmoor that loves 142smk, a 6.5x55 that likes the 130s, and I'm guessing I'll use the Grendel for 107-123 and maybe try more 130s. Anyone got a line on a good plinking/varmint bullet?

-Mac

 

[RonS]

Mac, as far as brass, another one to try is Les Bear's 264 LBC brass (same as Grendel brass), I used it in my bolt gun. Small primer and lasted through over 15 firings so far. Bullets, for plinking & varmints l used Sierra 120grSP #1720 in front of H4895 or VV n133 worked great for me in an 8 twist 24" barrel. My Grendel doesn't like anything over 128gr Nosler Partition. Good luck and be safe!!

 

[DHD]

Yes the AR platform dings up the brass, but it still lasts a long time for me. I've never used anything but Lapua/AA brass and frankly, never would use anything else. I've started to lose pieces from enlarged flash holes and very few to small splits (even though they are annealed), but this batch has 10 loads on them.

Forster dies are what I use FWIW.

This is just my experience with PPU Grendel brass, but I won't waste my time using it. I had a couple boxes of factory ammo from years back and after measuring it noticed my FL dies would not size the neck enough (too thin).