.22 grendel test run

[PrecisionFirearms]

We are making 22 Grendels starting this week. 1-6.5 Twist. Rock Creek Cut Rifled Blanks.

[hill37]

OT; Mark are you going to do any 6mm Grendel barrels any time soon?

[Popeye212]

What hill37 ^^ said

[flatland1]

Got a call back from Dave Kiff at PTG a couple of weeks ago, after I'd spoken with one of his sales gals about what 22 Grendel reamers they typically grind. The one that Dave sent a reamer print for has a .256" neck dia, and .110" freebore, which I'm thinking would work well for use with the new 88gr Hornady & the Berger & JLK 90 VLDs & LRBTs I have on hand. Not interested in doing this on an AR15; still have a nice 22 PDK on a 24" Krieger 1-8tw AR15 bbl. If I do it at all, it'll be for a Howa Mini, and probably with a 1-7tw bbl. I've had very good 1000yd accuracy out of a couple of 26" Krieger 1-7tw sendero contour bbls in 223AI with Berger 90VLDs running 2850fps; with the velocity potential of a 22 Grendel, I'm confident that a 7-tw bbl would give the stability needed for any of the bullets mentioned above. I used a Bartlein #2B sporter on a Mini in 20 Tactical, with a muzzle dia of .630" at 24" and have another Bartlein #3B which is .707" an inch back from the muzzle. A #3B would be about a half-pound lighter than a Rem sendero when finished at 24" - don't really want to hang anything heavier than that on a Mini action, as I'm after something considerably lighter than all the 13-14lb comp rifles sitting in the safe. The #2B's .630" muzzle is plenty big enough to turn down for a TBAC 1/2-28 brake or flash suppressor/mount for my Ultra 7 suppressor; going with a 22" finished length would make the rifle a little more maneuverable & easy to carry, but I don't want to give up too much velocity. The more I think about this project, the more I want to get a bbl blank coming from Bartlein or Krieger. Can probably get the reamer from PTG in a couple of weeks, but unless I can find a blank in the correct contour somewhere, it'll probably be 6 months before I'll get a bbl from either Bartlein or Krieger.

[Westex]

I orded a barrel, gas tube and some brass from him and recieved brass in about 4 days , I tried emailing him and asking about barrel and gas tube and can not get a word back from him for the last three days . no phone number , no return emails, nothing ! no tracking number ! All was in stock ! Tactical Cannon ?????? Just got word from Jim Cannon and good old postal service seems to have lost my barrel . Not the first time !!!!!

[flatland1]

Well, bit the bullet, took the plunge, or whatever phrase trips your trigger - I placed an order for the custom ground 22 Grendel reamer mentioned above & a go gauge for it with PTG, along with an order for a .224", 1-7tw #4 sporter blank from Krieger today. Now it's just forget about it & get on with other projects (hopefully ones for customers that will actually bring money in, as opposed to spending it) while both these companies get these parts made so I can re-barrel a 7.62x39 Mini for the 22 Grendel. Might accidentally get reamer & blank in time to have the finished barreled action ready for spring shooting....fingers crossed.

[ricsmall]

Flatland

Great to hear u ordered that stuff. U beat me to it!! Now to see if I can wait for your results or go ahead and order me a reamer and blank. That neck diameter should be spot on as my loaded rounds are .252” neck diameter. Keep us posted.

[Javman]

Another great source for the .22G barrel is from Baldwin gun works. ( baldwingunworks@gmail.com ). Bart is a pleasure to deal with and does very nice work. I got a 24" 1/7 twist barrel that is threaded and has a +2 rifle gas tube. Takes a type 2 bolt. Here’s the specs
Wilson arms button rifles blank in either 7 or 8 twist , +2” gas system
.875 under the hand guard, .750 block then .730 in front up to 24” threaded muzzle also available .
They are $325 shipped with the gas tube
Got the barrel in, in less than 4 weeks and I am in the process of making brass. I feel it will shoot as well as my 6mm Grendel and 6.5 Grendel. Looking forward to working with this one.
Thanks,
Trapper

My bud ordered a Wilson 224 Valkyrie barrel with a 1-6.5 twist. Seems you could order a blank and rechamber it!

[flatland1]

Good to hear some confirmation on the neck diameter - I was trusting Dave's knowledge. It does make me wonder though, how well it'll work with Starline Grendel brass - have been thinking about ordering a few hundred from them, if their pricing is reasonable. Otherwise, I'll just stick with Lapua, as all the brass I have is from Alexander Arms.

[Caleb]

You guys still playing with these?

I had bart build me a 22" upper with +2, shioting the 75 eld around 3030fps or so, still playing since i added a suppressor, also running a string of 69 tmk over cfe 223 next time i go to the range.

I think one of the howa mini actioned 22 grendels would make for a hell of a predator/ varmint gun. Are you guys all buying the rifle and tearing apart or can you buy the action and go from there?

[ricsmall]

Haven’t played in a while but plan to after quail season is out. Great results with the 75’s. I have a pile of the 69 sierras from my .223 play days. They should fly well in the 22 G. As far as the Howa, either a rifle or just a barreled action on sale from Brownells is the only route. No standalone actions will be available

[flatland1]

I need to make notes when I order bbl blanks so I can look up what I've got coming. Not long after ordering a 1-7tw .224" #4 sporter blank from Krieger, I got a notice from Bartlein that a 1-6.8tw .224" blank in their #3 sporter contour had shipped. To top it off, I'd found another #4 .224" 1-7tw blank on Krieger's inventory list & bought it. I wound up using the PTG 22 Grendel reamer on the Bartlein right after the go gauge finally arrived, and it turned out nicely.

I'd bought a Redding 6.5 Grendel Type S FL bushing die, and already having various bushings suitable for necking down to 6mm, just needed a few that would get me down to 22 cal, so called Grafs & got them coming. I didn't go small enough, since the smallest one (.254") left necks too large, and bullets just dropped in. I needed some other things from Brownells, so ordered .251, .250, & .249 dia bushings. That order arrived at the post office in town, but the guy working on Saturday put a yellow package slip notification in my box instead of putting my package out in one of the parcel lockers in the lobby & a key to the locker in my box - on a Saturday when they're only open until 11:45, and with today being Presidents Day & the PO being closed. No big deal I guess, but I could've been forming 6.5 Grendel Starline brass down to the final neck dia to work with the 22 Grendel bbl on the Mini action over the weekend while the weather was too crappy to do any shooting outdoors anyway. Small wonder that our postal service is losing money hand-over-fist...

[Msalm]

I've made quite a few neck bushings out of O1 tool steel. Pretty simple process to turn and bore them all in one setup, part off, chamfer backside and heat/quench in oil. Polish up and temper to a straw color (high 50's Rockwell C). If you have a lathe (sounds like you do), just make what you want, takes maybe 20 minutes.

[Caleb]

I have been busy since my last post shooting, working, hunting and life, but wanted to jump on here and report and ask.

I am shooting a bgw 20" 22 grendel(22bgw) with alexander brass, cci s.r. mag primer, cfe 223 30.6 grain under a 69 tmk at about 3300 fps and they are shooting great, as well as the tmk does a good job on coyotes.

I finally picked up a thermal and have been knocking these dogs down from 50 to 260 yards so far, i have stretched the 69 tmk to 550 is all during the day with a scope, not further, though i think it would still shoot just as well further.

Is there any substitutes for cfe223? This stuff is soo dirty, live the speed and not having issues with temp, but hate cleaning this.

[ricsmall]

Caleb you may double check but I think leverevoltion is in the same neighborhood as cfe. I can’t say if it’s any cleaner as it’s been several years since I shot any. Worth a look though.


ETA: looks like BLC2 and H 380 are right there as well.

[flatland1]

I haven't shot a lot with my 22 Grendel, mostly played with Sierra 80MKs & some JLK 80VLDs, with IMR4320. No chrono data either. Like the way it feeds & ejects - the bbl'd action is in a Boyds Prairie Hunter stock in royal jacaranda, which looks good to me with the sniper grey CeraKote on the bbl'd action. Sooner or later this winter, I'm going to get it out and do more load development. Recently bought 500pcs of Starline 6.5 G brass, so now I've got plenty to use for this rifle.

[Caleb]

I will take a look on some powder butn charts and see. Live the groups i get just hate cleaning the dam ar

[FLshooter]

I’d like to know what kind of velocity you can get with a 22 Grendel barrel w/6.5 twist shooting 90 grain SMK. Want to compare to my Valkyrie

[ricsmall]

I did a quick search and found only 88 eld-m data and the guy was getting around 2850+. He got as high as 2900ish but had pressure signs

[FLshooter]

I don’t have my notebook with me. But I remember 90 grain SMK out of my .224 Valkyrie being in the 2600s w/RL15.I do not load hot.