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My 6.5 nothing fancy - jambuster - 06-10-2020
Been lurking for a while and just thought I would tell you about my Grendel.The wife gave me a night vision scope Christmas of 2018. It needed a gun so in September of 2019 I bought a Palmetto upper , 20" barrel , 1 in 8" barrel . I have been swapping it on and off my 556. Just a basic gun but good enough for my purposes. When I got it the only ammo I could find was some 120gr Federal Fusion and only 1 box. I made due last fall and only shot 10 rounds at paper used the rest hog hunting. By the way it is very good ammo. Since then I have picked up 5 boxes of Hornaday 123 SST.
I've been a handloader since 1974 and I ordered some Lee dies and 120gr Speer Gold Dots this week. Getting ready for fall.
My 6.5 nothing fancy - Kswhitetails - 06-10-2020
Welcome aboard.
You'll like the 120 GDs. I'm impressed with them, even at 4 and 500 steel. They're better - much - than I thought they'd be.
Good luck!
My 6.5 nothing fancy - Rosecrans1 - 06-10-2020
Welcome to the light of the hoard!
My 6.5 nothing fancy - FLshooter - 06-10-2020
Welcome from Floridas Spacecoast
My 6.5 nothing fancy - 1Shot - 06-10-2020
Welcome to the madness. The 120 Gold Dot and the Sierra 120 Pro Hunter are two bullets that I have easily gotten to shoot sub MOA in two different rifles. I am using IMR 8208 and a bit more than Speer list in their load data but is safe in my rifles. 20" barrel runs 2550 fps and 18" 2500 fps. I have only shot one deer with each bullet out of the 6.5 Grendel. Both were bang flop. I have shot a bunch of deer with the Sierra 120 PH in a 6.5x55. It is a bit softer bullet than the Gold Dot. The Gold Dot I am sure you know is a bonded bullet. From the one deer I shot it exhibited what I have seen in ballistic jell test. It looked to expand within about 1 to 2" with a HUGE hydrostatic wave doing considerable damage. The bullet held together because there was no evidence otherwise and penetrated about 21". I was shooting from a short shooting house on a logging road between two cut overs that put me 10' off the ground. Impact was at 111 yards to the center of the chest as the deer faced me. I waited for this profile because I was wanting to capture the bullet. With the shot being on a slight downward angle the bullet exited the belly after penetrating about 21" with a thumb size hole and was not recovered. Muzzle velocity was 2550 fps. Hornady case, CCI 450 primers and IMR 8208 is what I use.
Have you shot any of the Hornady 123 SST ammo? Neither of my rifles like the 123 SST bullet in factory ammo or in numerous different hand loads. Could not get it to shoot much under 2" at best. With the 120 Sierra PH and Speer Gold Dot they shoot sub MOA all day. Good luck in your quest.
My 6.5 nothing fancy - jambuster - 06-10-2020
1Shot - I have shot about 10 rounds of the Hornaday 123 SST . This was a quick check at 100 yards and all 10 were in an 1.5" circle. This was not off the most solid rest but they are fine for the pigs on the farm that are seldom over 60 yards. I went with Speer because they were reasonably priced and in other calibers they shoot well. I am hoping somebody has some experience with RAMSHOT Xrterminator because I have 10 pounds of that I bought on a close out . It works well in all my 223's (bolt guns and AR). The guys at Ramshot told me the burn rate is essentially the same as TAC . The 6.5 load data they publish suggests this is true.
I ordered 100 new Hornaday cases which is a new thing for me . I have never used their brass. I am not a reloading snob and I can get excellet ammo with standard American brass in all my guns. Maybe this is because I am just a pricticle handloader not a match shooter.
Also my brother is building me a lower as we speak with a Anderson Mil Spec lower , Lerue 2 stage trigger , and Magpul MOE furniture. Really looking forward to not having to change out the lower.
Long term plans are for a thermal scope to replace the night vision scope , say something in the 1x6 range. I am hoping the price for a basic one with decent resolution will drop to about $1200 in the next few years.
My 6.5 nothing fancy - lazyengineer - 06-10-2020
Welcome!
Small joke: I have to say, with a title like that, I was expecting a 6 page wall-of-text posting! (inside joke on the youtube personality with that name
)
My 6.5 nothing fancy - grayfox - 06-10-2020
Welcome jb, you're in reloading since about the same time as I started...
All those bullets should do you well.
For the 120 class in addition to the 8208xbr of 1shot I use AR-comp a lot in them, they load and shoot well for me in 16" and 20", and my 22" ruger presator.
If by chance you run into problems with Lee dies (several on here have run into that), you might think about the Hornady dies, again, nice price point and very practical. Rcbs may have some by now (I use a lot of rcbs but the Grendel's are hornady).
And hornady brass is fine to use, watch your shoulder setbacks - don't go any farther than you need to, around 0.004 or so. I say this b/c some chambers leave the brass a bit stretched after the shot (they are longer than other, shorter ones) so be mindful of whatever your specific chamber is; you won't need to go back to "factory" lengths, just stay around the ~0.004 shorter than your chamber, the brass will last longer that way.
My 6.5 nothing fancy - A5BLASTER - 06-10-2020
jambuster Wrote:Been lurking for a while and just thought I would tell you about my Grendel.The wife gave me a night vision scope Christmas of 2018. It needed a gun so in September of 2019 I bought a Palmetto upper , 20" barrel , 1 in 8" barrel . I have been swapping it on and off my 556. Just a basic gun but good enough for my purposes. When I got it the only ammo I could find was some 120gr Federal Fusion and only 1 box. I made due last fall and only shot 10 rounds at paper used the rest hog hunting. By the way it is very good ammo. Since then I have picked up 5 boxes of Hornaday 123 SST.
I've been a handloader since 1974 and I ordered some Lee dies and 120gr Speer Gold Dots this week. Getting ready for fall.
Welcome to the horde and congrats on the grendel.
120 gold dot and 28.6 grains of arcomp over a cci450 is the hotness in several ar grendels I have had and still have.
Work up to it in 2 or 3 tenths increase, gold dot is a great lil bullet for both hunting and target. I have taken both my 12.5 and 12 inch to 600 yards on steel with that load.
My 6.5 nothing fancy - jambuster - 06-10-2020
grayfox Wrote:Welcome jb, you're in reloading since about the same time as I started...
All those bullets should do you well.
For the 120 class in addition to the 8208xbr of 1shot I use AR-comp a lot in them, they load and shoot well for me in 16" and 20", and my 22" ruger presator.
If by chance you run into problems with Lee dies (several on here have run into that), you might think about the Hornady dies, again, nice price point and very practical. Rcbs may have some by now (I use a lot of rcbs but the Grendel's are hornady).
And hornady brass is fine to use, watch your shoulder setbacks - don't go any farther than you need to, around 0.004 or so. I say this b/c some chambers leave the brass a bit stretched after the shot (they are longer than other, shorter ones) so be mindful of whatever your specific chamber is; you won't need to go back to "factory" lengths, just stay around the ~0.004 shorter than your chamber, the brass will last longer that way.
I read the bad press on Lee dies on this site. I have about 10 sets and never have had any problems. I find them to produce rounds with very minimal run out as compared to some others I have tried . My goto has always been RCBS but I have found Lee's to be very good value. I read countless reviews about Lee Grendel dies on this site and other sites , most were positive on other sites. They weren't that expensive and they are warranted if I have a problem. I am sure a bad set get's out from all the manufacturers from time to time . As I mentioned earlier I load for hunting and beer can extermination not bench rest matches . I think a lot of people blame equipment for poor technique . If I have a problem or good luck I will update this site when I have had a chance to load a few. Just so you know I have loaded Thousands of 223/556 rounds with 2 sets of Lee dies with zero problems.
Magazines - I forgot to mention I am using a D&H 10 round and I just got an E-lander 10 round. The D&H works very well and the E-lander is still in the bag
My 6.5 nothing fancy - sbowhuntr - 06-10-2020
Welcome, I have many sets of lee dies all with zero problems. Not into bench rest competition so lee works for me, some of my bolt guns in 223 will put 10 rnds loaded with lee dies into 1/2 moa all day with good shooting technique. I bump my shoulder 0.003 in two different grendel uppers with good results.
My 6.5 nothing fancy - grayfox - 06-10-2020
No worries jb, just an fyi if it comes up for you. As long as you're h appy with your gear, go to it.
My 6.5 nothing fancy - jambuster - 06-10-2020
grayfox Wrote:No worries jb, just an fyi if it comes up for you. As long as you're h appy with your gear, go to it.
Hey "grayfox" I appricate the heads up
My 6.5 nothing fancy - 1Shot - 06-11-2020
I have been using Lee Dies to load my 6.5 Grendel and I have a number of their dies. I have been hand loading for 40 years and have used about everybody's dies and I can load ammo just as accurate with Lee dies as any other. I did pick up a set of Hornady 6.5 Grendel dies that were on sale a while back to see if there will be any difference between them and the Lee but have not had the time to do this yet.
About magazines: The Elander are good magazines but you can load to a longer COAL with other magazines. I have some AR-Stoner and ASC magazines and I am sure the AR-Stoner, from Midway, are made by ASC and they cost much less than the Elander. I have had zero problems with them.
I am glad your rifle seems to like the 123 SST. You might also check out the 90 gr Speer TNT and they are much less expensive than other bullets. DNS on this site has killed a bunch of hogs with it and it does great for him.
There is nothing wrong with Anderson frames. I have 4 ARs with Anderson uppers and lowers and they run like a Swiss watch.
My 6.5 nothing fancy - jambuster - 06-13-2020
My D&H 10 round mag has worked well so far.