West central Indiana checking in

[Basher42]

Howdy, all! Long-time lurker turned recent member and 6.5G owner. I’ve toyed with the ideal of owning a Grendel for many years and for one reason or another I never made it happen. Well, recently a deal too good to pass up surfaced, and I pounced on a CZ527 Varmint MTR in 6.5G. I’ve been a big fan of the 527 for several years (I used to own a bunch of the full stock models in various calibers), so this one should be right at home.

That prompted me to start looking around for info on various factory ammo offerings, brass availability, projectiles, etc. Seems I’m a tad late to the party as Lapua no longer produces Grendel brass. Starline is the next best option, but they appear to produce in batches so I’ll keep me eyes peeled for the next one. As someone very new to reloading anyway, I may just shoot factory ammo for the first little bit as I collect components.

Anyway, glad to be here and hope to learn a ton.

[VASCAR2]

Welcome to the Forum Basher42! Watch Starline’s website for when they permit back orders on 6.5 Grendel brass. Once back ordered it usually ships within a couple weeks. Forum members will post if they see brass or bullets in stock so it helps to check the forum for updates.

https://www.starlinebrass.com/65-grendel


I live just across the state line from Vincennes and there are other members in central and southern Indiana.

[sundowner]

Welcome to the horde from Wisconsin .

[LRRPF52]

Welcome aboard!

[Basher42]

Thanks everyone!

I’ll keep checking Starline’s site for when it allows me to backorder. I snagged some mixed brass (predominantly Hornady) out of the classifieds here, which should be good enough to get me started. I wanted Lapua (and know where I can get some 1x fired), but the price difference between the Hornady and Lapua is significant. I realize the Lapua is better brass, but if I’m not hot-rodding/abusing the Hornady it should still last me for another 5-6 firings while I learn to load for the rifle and I’ll sink the difference into powder, primers, etc.

[just_john]

Welcome to the clan, B42, from the great nation of Texas! You did well with the CZ! Tell us a bit about your goals.

[Basher42]

Welcome to the clan, B42, from the great nation of Texas! You did well with the CZ! Tell us a bit about your goals.

Thanks! I spent a few years in Austin as a kid and enjoyed it. I’ve always lived in the city, but I gained a taste for the outdoors in Tejas through the Boy Scouts and working at a paintball field (man, that was so long ago haha). It’s beautiful country out there!

To be 100% honest, I think my goals are fairly broad at the moment: 1) to own an accurate rifle and 2) to have fun while learning to make goal #1 happen lol.

Ultimately, I’d like an accurate rifle for casual shooting, and something that will work for taking coyote to deer sized game. I’m leaning more towards deer for an end use as far as hunting goes, as I have another 527 in .223 that should suffice for coyote for the most part. My only other centerfire rifle capable of deer is an FN SPR in .308, which is much heavier than I’m interested in lugging around if it can be helped. The 527 in 6.5G should be several pounds lighter while still delivering enough energy for deer out to a few hundred yards.

I have a few hundred 107gr SMK seconds headed my way. No real reason why I went with those other than I got a good deal on them and they’re supposed to be exceptionally accurate. I haven’t chosen a projectile for hunting yet. The 527MTR has that long 25.6” barrel, so I’d imaging I can get some of the heavier bullets moving along quick enough to be viable, but I’ve always tended to stay in the middle range of bullet weights for what I shoot as I feel they offer the best combo of BC and velocity without having to overwork brass or generate excessive recoil. As such, I’m mostly looking at the 105-123gr range, but I’m still doing homework there.

As someone very nee to reloading, I’m also trying to figure the powder situation out. I suffer from “analysis paralysis” given how many options there are these days. Spotty availability isn’t helping me either, as most of the most popular options are out of stock, so I’m trying to figure out what the next best options are. Again, lots of homework left to do, but that’s all part of the fun!