Old Bob Wrote:Bolt gun or gas gun?

colbyshoots Wrote:I'm looking to send some Barnes Match Burners (120gr) down range but need help picking a powder to play with. My brass is all once fired Hornady cases from factory ammo.
Powders I have:
Ramshot Tac and Silhouette
Accurate 2200/2230/2460
Hodgon Lil Gun, Retumbo, varget, H335, H322, H110, Tite Group
IMR 4198

I'm looking to shoot some PRS style matches and would like to work up a load using a powder that isn't very temperature sensitive as the Wisconsin weather has some pretty extreme swings. Let me know what you have worked with and where to start.

Thanks in advance!

LRRPF52 Wrote:Of those, TAC and H335 are going to be your best bets if you don’t have access to any other powder. H335 is a really good powder for most weights in 6.5 Grendel. TAC is also a good powder for it.

Scratch off Silhouette, Lil Gun, Retumbo, Varget, H110, and Tite Group.

There is data for AA2200, AA2230, and IMR4198, but they aren’t ideal for 120gr BTHP.

The pistol powders you have would be dangerous to load, and the slow-burners would not generate much velocity compared to the ideal ones I listed.

H335 might have some temp stability issues.

LRRPF52 Wrote:H335 or TAC

Someone can chime in that has researched temp stability between the two recently. I forgot which was preferable for temp stability.

8208XBR and AR Comp are hard to beat for temp stability and low ES.

I would normally recommend Varget if it was .223 Rem or .308 Win, but Varget is a bit bulky for Grendel and doesn’t generate higher speeds. Then again, you could try it and see what it does for you since you have a bolt gun.

I personally would load up the H335 and give it a go. That’s based on published data from Hodgdon’s, which I looked up in the Grendel Handbooks.

SCJim Wrote:here is the link for the Barnes load data, [URL="https://www.barnesbullets.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/6.5-Grendel.pdf"]Barnes Bullet Load Data
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I would choose either the TAC or H335. I use TAC in .223 both bolt and gas gun. Great little powder, easy to throw and gives good velocity

StoneHendge Wrote:I've used TAC in Grendel for a practice load from 60° into the mid 90s. It was well behaved with temps for the most part until I got into the mid 90s and accuracy crapped out. Pressure wasn't an issue since it was a mild load but accuracy got so bad I thought I had a scope or mount problem. I have found that every ball powder I've tried has a steepening temp/velocity curve once it hits the mid 90s. I have no experience with TAC at cooler temps, though.

I've never used it, but a Kestrel with the ballistics program does enable you to build a temp/velocity curve if you have one and want to get that deep.

Have you found a G7 BC for the 120 MB yet? I used it for practice for a while and the G1 didn't work very well past 500 yards. I searched for a G7 but couldn't find one. I stopped using it because the price differential between the 123 Scenar (my match bullet in both Grendel and Creedmoor) became less than a dime at the time.