ABLR the only game in town?

[trubulator]

I took the first two deer with Grendel using SST-based handloads doing 2400FPS out of the muzzle. No complaints on terminal performance - even at 325 yards the big doe went down immediately with a chest cavity hit. However, the bullet is clearly on the soft side. I found a piece or two, but it definitely came apart on the longer shot. The shorter shot was a spine shot followed with a head shot as a finisher, so no surprise at explosive terminal performance.

What I would like to look into is whether there is something better out there. In bigger calibers, I either use a cast projectile (can generally eat right up to the hole(s)), or something relatively hard like a partition in 30-06. These won't work well for my application in Grendel as I need high BC bullets to get the 350+ yard range I might need. A bonded bullet that will open well down to lower velocities would seem to be ideal. Is the mythical Nosler ABLR the only game in town? Can't find them anywhere, but as components come back on the shelf it would be one to look for. Is there such a thing as a bonded 123 grain high BC bullet made for the Grendel?

Hey, if there is nothing much better, SSTs do great. It would just be nice to see if I can do better.

[BluntForceTrauma]

Speer had a 120gr Gold Dot.

Which, I think, was the same as Federal's Fusion.

Swift has a 130gr Scirocco that Alexander Arms used to load as a factory round, and a 120gr A-Frame.

Everything's out of stock!

[trubulator]

Are the gold dots bonded?

[tdbru]

trubulator,
are you considering boutique monometals? Maker lists an 85gr. all copper bullet made for the Grendel. In fact if you go to their 6.5 listings there's a sub listing for the Grendel.

https://makerbullets.com/products.php?cat=3&scri=133,43

these 6 bullets are supposedly designed for the Grendel velocities. I've been shooting the 85gr. tipped T-Rex, fine on targets. my calling skills are not so good so no coyote reports yet.

However, what weight do you expect the 123 SST to end up at? Or if you've recovered one, what did it weigh? Obviously the SST is designed to have a lot of fragmentation and loose quite a bit of mass as it penetrates.

If the SST retains 69% of it's initial mass (which sounds like it looses more than that) you're down to 85gr. anyway. These mono's are not supposed to loose mass. So they have very good penetration for the weight. But they need speed to open up. But with a lighter bullet, you can get there.

my 20" AR gives ~2850 fps with 31gr. of Benchmark, RP7.5, 85gr. T-Rex.

out of the 22" mini Howa tube with same load averages 3006 fps.

I haven't run the numbers out to 350 yards since I wasn't planning on hunting that far out with the Grendel, but Maker claims a G1 of 0.37

Depending upon what impact velocity you guesstimate that these monometals will really open up at (claimed vs Gel tests vs dead deer, etc) and the MV you get from your rig, you might have enough impact velocity left at 350 yards.

Maker also lists 95gr. 110gr. and 120gr. if you think you need or want more mass for your bullets. All are listed as Grendel appropriate.

Another option that comes to my mind is the 100gr. Nosler Partition. The nose section of the Partition is pretty soft, it should expand at the distance you're interested in, and yet with the partition there, they have enough weight left to penetrate well too.

Yes the ABLR is supposed to be the cats' meow for low impact velocity performance with regards to expansion/penetration. But as you know, finding them is not easy. north

another boutique maker that has a good reputation that comes to mind, though I've not tried them is North Fork bullets. https://www.northforkbullets.com/nor...-bullet-design

they list a 120gr. 6.5mm bullet. Probably not a high BC as it's listed as a Semi Spitzer, so you might want to call them and see if they think it'll still open up at Grendel impact velocities at 350 yards.

best of luck to you!
-tdbru

[Eye_guy]

[Fess]

Cavity Back has both 105 and 118gr monometal bullets in stock. They supposedly open down to about 1500fpm which would give about 400 yards of effective range.
The .277 and 300 Blackout bullets seem have have good reports from the field, so I suspect the 6.5's would do well too. It is important to clean out copper fouling before trying them. A lot of copper alloy bullets don't play well with fouling from other bullets.

[Bigs28]

I use the 110g maker trex out of my 12" and I'm comfortable taking Florida game out to 225 yards. Not sure if your running a bolt gun or semi or your barrel length or the size of your deer but everytime i call maker bullets the owner is very helpful on ballistic information as well as load development.

[trubulator]

I need a high BC to make this work at Grendel velocities. A G1 that starts with a 3 won't cut it. That rules out stuff like the 100 grain partition.

Anyone have real world experience with Maker bullets hitting deer size game at 300 yards? The shenanigans with Barnes claimed opening velocities make me a little leery. I've seen barnes bullets perform very well out of 30-06, but we simply don't have that much mustard on the velocity sandwich with the Grendel. I've also seen the barnes 127 grain LRX and wondered if that might work.

I am mostly looking to take deer with the Grendel, although an opportunistic shot at elk is a possibility. The mulie Does range 150+ pounds. White tails are a mixed bag, but one of the two I bagged in December was easily 150 pounds on the hoof.

[TedBrewer5]

https://www.shootersproshop.com/6-5mm-129gr-accubond-long-range-100ct-blem.html

Keep an eye out on the shooters pro shop website. Regular and blend show up and you can put in for notification when they come in stock

[tdbru]

Trubulator,
give Maker a call and talk to the owner. ask him what he tests in for expansion (water, gel, ??) He may also have some game reports for the Grendel too.

on those 85gr. T-REX that I've been loading, the split line on the nose of the bullet is quite long. with bullet seated so COL just fits in an AR mag, the split line runs all the way back to the case mouth.

-tdbru