While waiting on my 6.5 Grendel reloaing supplies.

[koger]

I found 2 boxes of Federal Fusion, while waiting on my reloading dies and brass. The ammo I had gotten with the gun was Hornady, and it shot that well. First 3 shots were touching at 100. The next 3 were 4 inches apart. The next 3 was worse. I see what you guys have been talking about the caliber being finicky. The first bullet I will be loading will be a 120 Sierra SP.

 

[triggerdog]

I use Hornady brass, cci br4 primers, 31.5g of Varget, and 85g sierra Varminteer. I am working on resizing 7.62 x 39 Lapua to 6.5 Grendel , still have to fireform 47 more, I am using Remington LR match primers , same bullet and 28.5g of H335

 

[2506]

I am shooting 28.5 grs IMR 8208, CCI 450, Hornady case, 120 Sierra PH. COAL 2.250 out of my 18" Oden Works barreled AR and averages 2550 fps with sub MOA accuracy. Kills deer really well. This is a MAX load in my rifle and it is more powder than Sierra data list but is safe in MY RIFLE. The 120 Speer Gold Dot with 28 grs IMR 8208 is also very accurate and is an awesome deer bullet.

Neither of my ARs in 6.5 Grendel would shoot Hornady 123 SST. Averaged between 2 and 3 inches at 100 yards. Then shoot sub MOA with my hand loads.

 

[stacy]

H-335 AND 90GR HP FOR ME PRINTS SOME SMALL GROUPS

 

[koger]

Thanks for the replies guys, The 85 Gr sierra is one of my favorite go to varming bullets in my 6.5SWede.

 

[South Paw Sammy]

100grn nosler bt laupa brass cci 450
8208 28gr very very accurate out of a bhw 20” barrel. And very good on hogs.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Sounds to me like something broke. Factory 3rd world surplus ammo doesnt shoot that bad

 

[Sniper338]

Its the most finicky round Ive ever loaded to date. Once you find what it likes, if good components. It shoots VERY well.

 

[Bamban]

I salvaged a Grendel bàrrel from 6.5x47 take off barrel. I did not have a Grendel bolt, so I just opened up an old GI bolt to the Grendel 2 bolt dimension. I actually made 2 so I have a spare just in case.

I used Lapua 120 and H4885 to get the rifle zeroed from bore sighting. I think I will settle for the 2KMR load. Plenty good for busting hogs.

 

[bobke]

To the contrary of a couple of comments above, have found Grendel a very forgiving round to load for. Have readily found loads from 100-129 grains that work well, load mostly AR Comp now, and have used 8208 and CFE223 successfully, as well. Have a broad selection of barrels/lengths I’m feeding, and am able to test as need be, and several of my most accurate guns are Grendel AR’s. Satern cut rifle barrels do shoot. 27ish of ARC with a 120-123gr bullet has been money in my experience. Maybe not the velocity king CFE is, but stable across temp range in Texas, low ES/SD and broader nodes to work with. Am an obvious Grendel fan, no doubt.

 

[Bamban]

?? Fat finger

 

[Bamban]

DT

 

[koger]

Well I think i have found part of the problem. I usually bed the action and float the barrel on any bolt rifle I buy or trade for, would have done well to do the same on this rifle. The tip of the stock was rubbing the barrel on the right side, and the left side was doing the same on halfway down the barrel. When I took it apart the action screws were not very tight, again bad on me for not checking this. You could see the action had been moving. This gun had no bedding, or v block like some of the CZ's do. Also it had a steel tube in the rear screw hold, ala Mauser, that was loose. I epoxided that in place,and glass bedded the action from the front of the mag well, to the end of the chamber, and floated the barrel the rest of the way. I will use blue locktite when assembling it. I should have my dies and brass in by Friday, and I have a ton of 6.5 bullets. I will post a update when I get to shoot it again. For the record, on the 6.5 Grendel forums, most folks have found them to be picky, and shoot 3-4 inch groups with one load, try a different bullet and it shoots 1/2 inch. But when you find a load it likes, they can be a hummer.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Leave out the blue loctite- not needed anywhere on a gun especially the action screws. I knew you had something broken

 

[ncageneral]

Sierra 120 PH work very well for deer. AR Comp is my fuel of choice for the Grrr. Wish I could find someone that wanted to trade me a bolt gun for my Frankenrifle. It shoots very well, but , it is still an AR.

 

[6.5grendel]

I haven't found the Grendel picky at all. Definitely haven't had one shoot anything 3-4 inch groups. Everything I have tried has probably been under 2 inches (factory and handloads). I used to frequent the Grendel forum and it seemed the ones that were having issues of it being picky with groups in the 3-4 inch range had certain brand barrels. One in particular being BCA ( Bear Creek Arsenal). There were a couple others. Seemed like everyone with a known quality barrel manufacturer found a 1 MOA load pretty easy. Those barrels including Bartlein, Krieger, Lilja, Criterion, Odin Works, JP, and anything from Alexander arms or Precision Firearms. I'm sure there are some others I am leaving out. I would have to agree that there is another issue going on with the rifle. The Sierra 120 MK seems to be a very universal, accurate, and forgiving bullet in the Grendel. It is often reccomended on the Grendel forum for those that are having accuracy issues. IMR 8208XBR is also common for accuracy loads in the Grendel. Good luck and hope you get it figured out.

 

[Sandstorm]

My X-Caliber barrel's 20 inch prints silly groups behind 27gr Tac...pushing the 123gr SST to .400 groups pretty consistently.
Good enough that I quit messing with any other loads.

 

[ncageneral]

My X-Caliber barrel's 20 inch prints silly groups behind 27gr Tac...pushing the 123gr SST to .400 groups pretty consistently.
Good enough that I quit messing with any other loads.

I've had the same sort of results with AR Comp under 120 Prohunters and Matchkings. I fired 50 rounds working up the Matchking load and nothing went over an inch. Thats 10 5 shot groups all under an inch, settled on the one closest to a half inch.

 

[koger]

Problem solved!!! I got it out today, after bedding the rear pillar, and bedding the action from in front of the mag to the end of the chamber. The same factory averaged 3/4", for 5 shots. I loaded some 85 gr Sierra HP's, with the base of the bullet at the base of the neck, shot 5 into a ragged hole about .375". The 120 Sierra SP's went into about the same exact group, for 3 shots, when cool, and after the barrel got hot, I shot a 3 shot into a fuzz over 1/2". I am a happy camper.

 

[bobke]

Koger-
Nice result. Glad you hung in and worked through the issues. Grendel’s do really shoot well once the gun and loads are dialed in. Nicely done.