NEW 6.5mm Prototype: A Tale of Two Bullets

[BluntForceTrauma]

Some of you guys might remember our discussions last summer about designing the ideal 6.5 Grendel bullet. See here and hereSneaky's monster buck

[customcutter]

I don't know how or why I missed it, but I've recently become interested in "Sneaky's" bullets. I looked at his albums several months ago and even bought some GMX's to do a little work on myself. I'm glad I finally found the original threads that were involved in some of the work that you guys have been doing. Thanks for posting those links BFT. I've got some reading to do.

That is a great looking bullet, I'm headed out to the garage now to see what might happen to a 120gr GMX.

[Joseph5]

Are you talking about setting up a bullet manufacturing company? The bullet looks great and I think it would be a great, all around/do it all hunting bullet! If you get past the testing phase and into the production phase I would be interested in purchasing some to shoot. Have you given any thought to or is this bullet a bore rider design so you can get even higher velocities out of it? It would be a good match with the 100gr AMAX to use as a practice bullet and then this for hunting. I think they would give very similar results with any given powder charge. Kind of the Winchester practice/defend ammunition line. Make your more expensive premium bullet a ballistic match to a less expensive conventional bullet for practice use.

[BluntForceTrauma]

Joseph5, am planning to sell these just like I sell other stuff here now and then. (You in line for your group buy 6.5 Grendel Faxon barrel yet? )

I'm also thinking the same as you regarding a premium for hunting / less-expensive analog for practice. More to come!

P.S. The Hornady 6.5 100 A-Max has a 0.390 BC and this bullet is sleeker yet, with an estimated 0.410 BC. Gonna be hella good. . . .

[LRRPF52]

Nice design. Maybe deepen the cavity some more to increase expansion diameter, with thicker nose walls to prevent breaking.

[BluntForceTrauma]

Thanks, Paul! The nose expansion cavity and cavity-wall thickness are an interesting design feature; think Duncan MacPherson. More to come on that. . . . Dang day job interferes with forum discussion!

[Joseph5]

BFT,
my thinking with the 100gr AMAX was that BC's are close enough together, and with the AMAX being a cup and core design, a slight and totally doable increase in velocity would mitigate the difference. As it turns out, according to the Hornady Ballistics calculator if the AMAX is shot 50 fps faster than your design their trajectories are within an inch or less of each other out to 900 yards. At 1000 yards there is a 2 inch difference. I can live with that and I really like Hornady bullets. I would love to be in line for the group buy but 2 years of paying a mortgage and renting a house at the same time has all of my income tied up. I dream of the day when I am down to one mortgage payment and only working one job and having the time and money to shoot and reload more. I think I might have shot 15 rounds through my Grendel this year and less than 1 box through my 45. When you have these ready to go I will be getting some because like I said, it looks like the perfect hunting bullet for 0-500 yards for anything up to and including elk. I can already shoot the AMAX to 2950 fps out of a 22 inch barrel and if I could get these up to 2900 fps I would use them on anything walking out to 500 yards. Even at 2800 fps they would work quite handily.

[sneaky one]

BFT, remember why I brought along the purple string? === So you could re think the depth of the cavity. We need to have dinner again next week! !!!!!

Good design you started with- yet, I have the cure here. Eagle calling Raven!

No, I did not talk to L 52, before I mentioned this to you last nite- hee.

[am4966]

I like this idea! These would be great in my 12.5" Grendel and my 18" when it's built. I love the creativity and the atmosphere here. The Horde is great, thanks BFT for having the forum.

[BluntForceTrauma]

The attached PDF has external ballistics charts illustrating the potential of the upcoming 6.5mm 95-grain Cerberus bullet, relative to one 6.5 Grendel loading with the 123 Sierra MatchKing and one 6.8 SPC loading with the 95 Barnes TTSX.

All loading data is taken from the latest Western Powders reloading guide. The 95 Cerberus data is extrapolated from Western's loading of the 6.5mm Hornady 95 V-Max. The ballistic coefficient of the 95 Cerberus is calculated by entering the bullet specifications into an online Bullet Drag Calculator. Ballistics were calculated using JBM Ballistics

[BluntForceTrauma]

Aluminum tips are being machined first. We'll weigh one. Then the copper body will be machined to the drawing, but if the drawing is overweight, we'll start shaving the dimensions in places (most likely the boat tail) to get the total bullet weight to exactly 95 grains.

The 6.5mm 95-grain Cerberus bullet is moving forward!

[cory]

Why does it need to be exactly 95grs? Personally I'd hate to see a weight requirement deduct from a good shape and length.

[BluntForceTrauma]

Cory, weight can also be reduced by deepening the nose cavity without affecting the form factor. At any rate, there is PLENTY of boattail, so shaving a few thousandths of an inch won't appreciably affect performance, and more powder room never hurts.

Why does it HAVE to be exactly 95? Heh. Heh. I'm just that way (think of your former drill sergeant!). . . . When someone like GS Custom puts out a bullet that's, oh, 87.3 grains, I just get . . . nervous. Just doesn't sit right. OCD?

Seriously, I think sticking to a known weight class (think 6.5 95gr Hornady V-Max or 6.8 95gr Barnes TTSX) is useful in marketing, as well.

[sneaky one]

Yes, plus I'm involved too. We --- a few of us have similar projects going here at same time. Enjoy the ride- nothing is carved in titanium yet- yet...

Lighter in mono is better than the lead smearers of the past. Time for change- nothing too extreme---- just change for the better.

[BluntForceTrauma]

Aluminum tips now machined. Each weighs 3.6 grains. See attached photo below.

Next is to machine copper bodies.

Target weight is 95 grains, so 95 - 3.6 tip = 91.4 copper body.

Sneaky's help, along with others, will be absolutely invaluable for load development for this, since I'm a novice. Once we work up the best load recipe we can think of, we'll need accuracy testers to see how the bloody thing actually shoots!

Yes, this is much, much worse than waiting for Christmas!