Just Got My 6.5 Grendel Reloading Handbook ;- )

[wll]

Very informative, a must for Grendel shooters !

wll

[LRRPF52]

You didn't get charged extra by the Post Office by any chance, did you?

I'm still looking for the customer who was charged $0.69 more by his post office.

[wll]

You didn't get charged extra by the Post Office by any chance, did you?

I'm still looking for the customer who was charged $0.69 more by his post office.

No, I just found it on my desk when I got to the office :-)

Looking forward to volume II when it comes out. This handbook is very nicely done !


wll

[LRRPF52]

Thanks for your positive feedback. We're mostly happy with how it turned out, but aren't resting on past accomplishments. Some minor errors slipped past us, much to our chagrin, but overall it achieved what we set out to do.

There has been a lot of work put into these projects. You guys will see that in Volume II as well, especially with the terminal ballistics testing, and recommended bullets for game types/weights.

[lou400a]

When is the volume #2 coming out?

[JASmith]

What is the song "soon, soon, and very soon"???

We are in the next-to-final edit phase.

[Blacklab]

What is the song "soon, soon, and very soon"???

We are in the next-to-final edit phase.

Awesome! wink

[Steves2]

I am brand new to the Grendel myself. I bought the book too and I am very harpy with e the information it gives. Being a long time reloader I look forward to testing some loads. Thanks for making such an informative and well organized book.

[LRRPF52]

Thanks for your feedback. For those that might be just getting into reloading, or are fairly new to loading for the AR15, please take the time to find a mentor who knows what they are doing with gas guns. For those that are already experienced with loading for self-loaders, you already know about the nuances with them.

For the Grendel, I personally don't load in increments larger than .4gr, and usually do .3gr when working up my pressure ladders, since we're talking about a case with ~34.0-36.0gr of water capacity.

There is a lengthy discussion on loading for the Grendel in Volume II, to include:

* basics about die and shell-holder selection,
* initial die set-up,
* de-capping pin diameters and different Grendel brass flash hole size considerations,
* brass inspection, cleaning and prep,
* full-length re-sizing,
* shoulder set-back and die/shell-holder considerations,
* primer selection,
* primer seating depth,
* determining seating depth & dummy cartridges
* types of scales and considerations for RF interference with digital scales
* powder measuring methods and tools
* safety checkpoints throughout the reloading process
* charging your cases
* bullet-seating die tuning
* trouble-shooting for your chamber before producing a load

That's just one section of the Reloading Guidelines Chapter, in addition to the over 200 loads in the load tables. The chapters on Terminal Ballistics are very informative as to bullet performance on game as it compares to our ballistics testing.

Volume I and II complement each other in many ways, especially since Volume I has industry pressure data for some of the loads, acting as a great reference when using those powder/bullet combinations. We're looking forward to having Volume II in our hands shortly for final checks, then it's print time.

[waveslayer]

Any word on when Volume II will be available?

[JASmith]

Any word on when Volume II will be available?

The first proof-prints are on the way to key reviewers as we discuss this!

If all goes well, we should be able to announce availability in a few weeks.

[JASmith]

...For the Grendel, I personally don't load in increments larger than .4gr, and usually do .3gr when working up my pressure ladders, since we're talking about a case with ~34.0-36.0gr of water capacity...

LR speaks wise words. Here is what QuickLoad says about increments from a base charge of CFE223 behind the 123 gr SST:

Added PSI
Baseline 0
Baseline + 0.1 524
Baseline + 0.2 1055
Baseline + 0.3 1591
Baseline + 0.4 2584

Note that we added over 2500 psi with a 0.4 gr increment, making it easy to get into a higher than comfortable pressure environment. Also, note that the increments through Baseline +0.3 each add about 500 psi, but that the last one has a larger jump of about 1000 psi.

I am not listing the absolute pressure because I am not yet confident that QuickLoad gets that number close enough to be useable.

[LRRPF52]

Those PSI increases seem to fall right in line with what I was doing with CFE last trip out. If the assumptions are correct, I think my 2.275" COL 123gr A-MAX load at 2572fps is still under SAAMI MAOP, or very close. If I were to load at 2.250", the pressure would be increased outside of the MAOP.

I had already worked up to the 31.2gr load that is listed by Hornady as max for the 120gr GMX solid, as well as the 120gr and 123gr A-MAX's. They list 31.7gr as max for the 129gr SST, IB, and SP, which is what got me thinking about what the max really was for the 123gr A-MAX and other 123gr pills that swage like an A-MAX (120gr NBT, 123gr SMK, 123gr Scenar, 123gr SST, 123gr NCC).

[KentuckyBuddha]

I think you said you noticed a mistake or two in the first book in the first edition. If so could you include a page in the second volume with what those were so we can modify the books we have to reflect your best thinking in hindsight?

[JASmith]

An errata sheet is packaged with each book. PM me if it got misplaced and I'll send you a PDF of it.