Help a Newbie by some good ammo.

[WSAR15]

I am building my first 6.5 Grendel (20" Lilja barrel. Noreen billet U/L, LaRue 2-stage MBT-S)
I have ordered some Hornady 123gr SST - Is it better than the 123 ELD Match?
My shooting will mainly be to 300yds on targets, but also for some hunting and defense if needed.
Ay other rounds you'd recommend? What do you think of the 90gr Federal?
Thanks for your help and input.

[Kswhitetails]

Hornady Black is proving it's wares. Lots of the factory ammo folks have already been touting it's well mannered and predictable, repeatable performance. And it has been fairly inexpensive of late. Like in the 17-18 dollars a box range. With the added benefit of Hornady empties at the end you can refill or re-sell.

The ELD-M BLACK is fairly easy to drop some coin on. It has an excellent BC, SD, and the chrono numbers have been surprisingly consistent, even with lot-to-lot and environmental changes.

If it were me, and I was buying factory ammo to burn through to gain more brass, it would be (It is) the new Hornady Black.

[Bigs28]

The sst is proven to be a very reliable hunting bullet. I am finding the eld-m allot cheaper though so i shoot it at the range. Precision firearms has quite a few options of both lead free bullets to hunt with and match grade ammo. They are pricey but if your like me I only shoot 3-5 hunting bullets a year so they will last me a while.

[Sticks]

Depending on what your barrel likes.

I would buy a couple boxes of each flavor and see how it does.

Mine hates SST. Can not get groups smaller than 1"

ELD is scary accurate - I have a 5 shot .9 MOA with 4 shots in a single hole and a flyer. Over the weekend I was on my way to a 5 shot .5 group (.25 MOA) at 200 then shanked one out 2".

American Eagle 120gr also shoots in the .7 MOA range for me.

Amax shot great also, but discontinued - replaced by ELD.

Wolf Gold 120 gr (on hold pending PPU) shot like SST. Not so great.

Wolf steel is 2-3 MOA

[WSAR15]

So the ELD is higher accuracy?

[Bigs28]

Every barrel is different. The eld-m shoots tighter groups in my barrel then sst but sst is plenty accurate for hunting

[Kswhitetails]

Your original post was to have someone help point you toward good factory ammunition for targets out to 300, maybe some hunting.

For the price, and the overall performance many of us have seen so far, the ELD BLACK is perfect for what you're interested in. There are many, many others however. I would suggest the BLACK to start, it will give you good comparison of your gun, your skills, and your equipment and how they all interact with two popularly available factory rounds.

I will let more knowledgeable folks get more technical. For my money, and I am not too far ahead of you on our Grendel paths, BLACK is where it's at.