6.5 grendal

[Pootyng]

The 65 Grendel forum has a lot of good information. One thing that is noted over and over is 120 grain Sierra match kings with the powders known to work in the Grendel such as cfe

to eliminate the barrel or shooter is the fault. It's also been noted that some barrels don't shoot certain bullets well

 

[Grendal]

I haven't had the SST's shoot well in any 6.5 GR i have tried them in. The ELD's shoot much better. Load at mag length with cci 450's. If cfe 223 doesn't work then 8208 would be my next powder.
Hornady Black ammo will shoot pretty good in most AR 6.5 Grendel's might be worth a try to give you a benchmark.
The 6.5 Grendel forum is a good resource for all things Grendel.

Thank you great info

 

[BallisticsGuy]

AA2520 (there are lots of 2520's, AA is specific), CCI magnum primers and 123 A-Max's were my jam when I shot a Grendel. Have to be careful with it. It did not like touching the lands and would build pressure really quickly so not forgiving of sloppy charging.

 

[Grendal]

Thanks again everybody for good info. There are so many variables in reloading and i know each gun likes somethin different. I was tryin to force mine to like what i wanted i think LOL. Will post what i find to work.

 

[dougduey]

Try 8208 with the 123 SST's. It works very well in my AR. Also, the Hornady 123 SST ammo is so accurate in my rifle that I really haven't hand loaded much for it any more. The ammo is cheap, too.

 

[Brad Pierce]

Factory SST's wouldn't shoot in my Odin works barrel.
Always been a fan of Nosler so I'm loading a 100 gr bt with IMR 8208, with excellent results on paper and game.

 

[Michael Souther]

Palmetto warns about matchup between their uppers and other manufacturers uppers. I have 2 Grendels. I built one and bought one from Delta both shoot so good I have had no problems with any load so far. Amax bullets and BlC-2. W748 both work great. I have lots of both. Some Bergers as well and Hornady 130s. Both rifles seem to eat anything i give them, Factory or hand loads. Look at Delta on the internet they have great sales.

 

[Old Rooster]

My Grendel shot well with factory so I suggest a box of factory Hornady BLACK (as some else mentioned)123 ELD Match.
You can get good deals now at Natchezz or Midwayusa and the brass can be re-used.
I tried and could not get CFE to work for me so I knew mine shot well with factory so I switched to AA2460 and found where my lands and goove's are located in that barrel and loaded .020 off lands and grooves and with 100 gr Amax 100 yard groups are so small.
I too wanted CFE to work as now I have a container that was used to load only 20 rounds.
So I have a lot left to try on something else.
Also worked up a load for a friend with TAC powder and his shoots well under 1/2 inch at 100.
Just my 2 cents
Old Rooster

 

[Rudolph Ferdinand]

Hey everybody. Trying to work up a load for the 6.5 grendal AR-15 and have become frustrated. I have palmetto upper with 18 in barrel and have been using cfe223 and 123 gr sst bullets and have now almost used a whole box trying to get something to work. So many other posts in forems on this combo doing well with the grendal. Im not new to shooting or reloading. Im now skeptical of maybe lemon barrel or bore issues. I shot one good group 1/2 moa at 100 yd with 31.5 gr thought i had the load went and made some more up and now its all over the place. Tried diff grains and seating depths. Any help would be appreciated.

Built my 6.5 Grendel about two years ago and I started reloading for it using Sierra's 120 grains bullet, and I got .266" groups at 100 yards. I use 2520 and CFE 223 powders, I like 2520 better of the two powders charge weight 31.5/32.0 24" barrel. There is a 6.5 Grendel Reloading Handbook volume 1/2, it contains everything you need to know about reloading the 6.5 Grendel, the handbook is published in the USA by Las Positas Group, LLC P.O. Box 284, Livermore, California. Right now, I'm waiting for winter and inline school to be over with so I can go and do some shooting. Also, I installed a 24" barrel match grade from Deadshot Barrels out of Oregon ($380). Brass cases are Hornady and Starline Brass. I do hope that this helps. Take care.

 

[John Klingenberg]

I never had luck with cfe in the grendel. I've tried a bunch of combinations. My brother in law and I really tried to wring out the 6.5. Its his only rifle and he went all out quality. Almost 5grand in his AR. The only combo that was worth it seemed to be the SST with 8208. Another quirk seemed to be that 4 round groups were it. That 5th round consistently opened up. Let it cool considerably and then shoot the next 4 round group. 3 different rifles acted the same way. No other combination performed better.

 

[Frog4aday]

<SNIPPED STUFF> I shot one good group 1/2 moa at 100 yd with 31.5 gr thought i had the load went and made some more up and now its all over the place. Tried diff grains and seating depths. Any help would be appreciated.

I saw someone suggest making sure scope rings and mount hadn't come loose and you confirmed you did that. But I don't think I've seen anyone suggest cleaning the barrel to remove ALL the copper and fouling. New barrels take some break-in and the fact that you did shot a 1/2 MOA group at one point but can't duplicate it now might just mean there is too much copper fouling built up.

Try cleaning the barrel THOROUGHLY with Hoppe's Elite Copper Terminator or Hoppe's Bench Rest Copper Solvent (or whatever copper removing cleaner makes you happy) and then go back to your 31.5 grain load and try again. I think your powder choice is fine (CFE223). If accuracy doesn't come back, time to try a different projectile. Go with a flat base bullet first to see if you can get the rifle to shoot. They are more forgiving, accuracy-wise, than boat-tails. Once you have a CLEAN barrel that is shooting flat-base bullets to your satisfaction, then start chasing a boat-tail load that might work. Good luck. Keep us posted.

 

[Johnslam]

I've had good luck with cfe223 with Nosler BT 100 or 120 grains. My sweet spot is 31.4 grains with an overal length of 2.25.

Leverevolution works well also and so does AR comp.

 

[mtwarych]

OP,

I have not had any luck with CFE223 or Power Pro Varmint.

What I have had very good results with is H4895 under the 129/130 class of 6.5 bullets.

I have read that 8208 is a very good powder to use and H4895 mirrors 8202s performance almost exactly.

I have been informed by people who know more than I that H4895 won't perform well under lighter weight bullets. It may be correct but I haven't loaded any slugs lighter than 129gns.

Good luck!

 

[Grendal]

Great info everybody thanks for your time. Back to the range will try to post what i find from all the info.