Who made the barrel for your AR? Some of the barrels have shorter throats than others and you will run into pressure much quicker with a short throat. The SAMMI chamber for the 6.5 Grendel has a compound throat, look up a diagram and you will see what I am talking about. When you use a bullet comparator or other method to see where you bullet is hitting the lands like in a bolt rifle etc. you may be toughing the compound throat area and actually not the lands. Also like I stated in my previous post "Don't try to hot rod the Grendel in an AR". By the time you start seeing flattening primers and ejector swipes on the case rim you are already WAY over pressure. You can brake a bolt or will just beat your AR up with the higher pressure loads. If you have a Bear Creek Arsenal (BCA) barrel good luck in getting it to shoot. Most are crap, it is a hit or miss with them. My first Grendel was a BCA 20 inch complete upper and I had to send it back for replacement because it shot an average of 5 inch groups, and that was an ordeal just to get someone on the phone that knew what they were talking about. The crown looked like it was done with a side grinder. It took about 100 rounds down the bore of the replacement before it started to settle down and shoot consistently without flinging fliers. It is picky about what it want's to shoot but I did get it shooting sub moa. In the ordeal I probably could have bought a high quality barrel that would shoot from the get go and saved money counting all the components and gas to the range etc. I built another 6.5 Grendel using an 18" Oden Works barrel that shot great from the get go.
6.5 Grendel powder n bullet?
- Thread starter Rilow
- Start date
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My best load AA2520 and 120 GR Nosler BT Spitzer, Hog or Whitetail DRT,3 shots makes 1 hole at 100 yds.
RT it is a BCA barrel n so far with factory ammo is like buck shot. I have another bca in 223 which shoots much better. ILL work with it a little and if no luck I'll have get get another barrel. As of right now only have maybe 20-30 rounds through it. Thanks
The CZ527 bolt and 20"BCA barreled AR both like XBR8208 with 100 elds and have dropped 4 antelope in their tracks at 400+ yards.
ARcomp and 123elds have proven better on paper at 100 yards but have yet to kill anything yet but they are slower and drop more inside 600 yards.
Tac, Benchmark, 2230-c and R15 get me a little more speed but accuracy suffers
ARcomp and 123elds have proven better on paper at 100 yards but have yet to kill anything yet but they are slower and drop more inside 600 yards.
Tac, Benchmark, 2230-c and R15 get me a little more speed but accuracy suffers
RIlow if you are shooting Hornady 123 SST ammo or that bullet in a hand load many rifles just don't like that bullet no matter what you try. Neither of my rifles do. My Oden works barrel rifle would not shoot the factory ammo under 2 inches and it is a tack driver with other bullets and loads. My BCA barrel rifle shoots the 120 Speer Gold Dot and the 120 Sierra Pro Hunter in hand loads the best and both are good deer bullets that I have killed deer with. The Gold Dot is the best. Just a heads up on the BCA barrel. Don't spend a bunch of money on ammo and components and gas to range and back if almost every shot seems to be a flier. It will not get better. Call BCA tell them your problem and get a shipping label and send it for a replacement. Usually from mine and others experience the barrel that you get will at least have been inspected a little closer and will be better. If you have a complete BCA upper and don't want to fool with a replacement barrel you can just get a good quality barrel and use the rest of the parts to make up a rifle. The barrel nut is usually really tight but you can put the upper into the freezer for a while and it will help in getting it loose. Good luck.
Tex_Hunter
Well-Known Member
Just my .02 but the 123gr SST was specifically made for the Grendel. Other bullets will undoubtedly work but my experience with loading AR15 round like this or the 6.8 SPC is that the bullets specifically designed for the performance of the cartridge will work WAY better. I haven't reloaded my Grendel yet, but if you are after outright velocity I have heard good things about CFE223.
I run a 16" Wilson Combat 6.5G and at around 2450fps MV for Hornady factory ammo the 123SST is an absolute hammer on whitetail/hogs. It doesn't zap the lights out like some of the faster rounds, but the carnage on the inside is still significant, they are dead on their feet even if they run.
I run a 16" Wilson Combat 6.5G and at around 2450fps MV for Hornady factory ammo the 123SST is an absolute hammer on whitetail/hogs. It doesn't zap the lights out like some of the faster rounds, but the carnage on the inside is still significant, they are dead on their feet even if they run.
Russell Sonner
Active Member
Radical Firearms upper, 20" barrel, 1/9 twist. This is what I found shoots well in my Grendel.
| Hornady 123 SST (G7 .255) | |||
| LeveRevolution 30.6 gr./ Velocity 2515 fps/ 3 shot group @ 100yds 0.59" | |||
| Case trim 1.514" | |||
| Chamber OAL 2.304" | |||
| Chamber BTO 1.717" | |||
| COAL 2.260" | |||
| CBTO 1.673" | |||
| Jump = 0.044" |
Last edited:
Junkysavage
Active Member
- Joined
- May 21, 2016
- Messages
- 43
My Odin works barrel won't shoot Hornady sst either.
Factory federal fusion shot well
Imr 8208 and 100gr BT handloads shoot under an inch and have killed whitetail, pigs large and small and several coyotes.
Factory federal fusion shot well
Imr 8208 and 100gr BT handloads shoot under an inch and have killed whitetail, pigs large and small and several coyotes.
I have been using BL C2 but due to it being a very "dirty" powder I am switching over to IMR 8208. A friend who uses TAC in his Grendel says it is also much cleaner than BL C2. We both use 120 grain bullets.
Thanks for info on LR powder.
Barnes now makes a TAC-TX bullet specific to the Grendel. According to Barnes it will expand down to 1500fps. It has a black tip like the 300 blackout specific version.
As to powders, 8208XBR, AR Comp, H335 and CFE223 have all provided good results for me. CFE has produced the highest velocities.
As to powders, 8208XBR, AR Comp, H335 and CFE223 have all provided good results for me. CFE has produced the highest velocities.
