Updated Selection of Projectiles for the Grendel

[Zeneffect]

I didn't see a pic of blitzkings compared to other common projectiles.... so here is one for posterity.



105gr sierra blitzking
120gr sierra matchking
120gr hornady eldm
123gr hornady eldm

[Former Cav]

I've had a tough time finding a good load with 3 different uppers. One of them having a 400 dollar krieger match barrel installed by a gunsmith.
6.5 Grendel Load work up
I did these in .2 grain increments. Posted the best (numbers 1 through 8)

120 Gr ELD Hornady
8208 XBR Small Winchester Primer New Hornady Br trimmed to 1.515 COA is 2.235 except for GOLT DOT 120’s 2.215
6th 27.4 Grains 2500 FPS APPROX. (book NOT chronographed)
5th 26.9 Grains 2450 “
3rd 26.3 Grains 2400 “

Varget, same bullet as above, same primers, same brass
4th 28.0 Grains 2450 FPS APPROX (book……..
2nd 27.4 Grians 2400 “
1st 26.4 Grains 2350 “ 1.25 INCH best of these 8 loads

BLC-2, same bullet as above, same primers, same brass
8th 31.7 Grains 2570 (FPS APPROX.(book………….) COMPRESSED LOAD, too much BS to load powder comes out on index
7th 31.5 Grains 2540 “ “ “ “

123 Gr SST Hornady
AR COMP Small Winchester Primer New Hornady Brass trimmed to 1.515
1st 28.0 grains 2580 FPS APPROX . (book NOT chronographed) BEST of these 5 loads about 1.5 inch
27.8, 27.6,
2nd 27.4,
27.2
123 Gr Sierra HPBT & 120 Hornady Match
Small Winchester Primer New Hornady Brass trimmed to 1.515
1st 27.8 Grains Varget 123 Gr Sierra HPBT A nickel covers center to center 5 shot group 13/16 inch BEST
2nd 27.2 Grains Varget 123 Gr Sierra HPBT
27.8 Grains Varget 120 Hornaday Match
30.2 Grains BLC-2 120 Hornady Match. Too much BS. COMPRESSED LOAD
30.2 Grains BLC-2 123 Sierra HPBT
**************************************************************************************************123 Sierra HPBT, 120 Speer Gold Dot, & 100 Gr Hornady ELD Match
Small Winchester Primer New Hornady Brass trimmed to 1.515
1st 27.8 Grains Varget 123 Sierra HPBT
2nd 27.2 Grains Varget 123 Sierra HPBT
27.8 Grains Varget 120 Speer Gold Dot 2 inch groups ho hum discouraged on the gold dots they are “LE” bullets
27.2 Grains Varget 120 Speer Gold Dot
31.5 Grains BLC-2 123 Sierra HPBT
31.5 Grains BLC-2 120 Speer Gold Dots samo samo 2 inch plus groups
31.0 Grains 8208 XBR 100 Hornady ELD Match
30.0 Grains Varget 100 Hornady ELD Match

123 Gr Sierra HPBT & 120 Hornady Match
Small Winchester Primer New Hornady Brass trimmed to 1.515 COA on Sierra’s is 2.200 and on Hornadys 2.200 all in these groups below
1st 27.8 Grains Varget 123 Sierra HPBT
27.2 Grains Varget 123 Sierra HPBT
2nd 27.8 Varget 120 Hornady Match
30.0 BLC-2 120 Hornady match
30.0 BLC-2 123 Sierra match
THIRTY LOADS to this point!!
%$#@*****************************************************************************************
Nov 7, 2019 groups .
120 Gr Hornady ELD & 120 GOLD dot
Small Winchester Primer New Hornady Brass trimmed to 1.515 COA on Sierra’s is 2.200 and on Hornadys 2.200 all in these groups below
32.0 Grains of CFE for both 120 Hornady’s and 120 Gold dot’s
31.0 Grains of CFE “
30.0 Grains of CFE “
The 30.0 load was “best” if you can call 4 MOA “best. 31 was WORSE, and 32.0 was HORRIBLE.
Had two of the weeks previous loads which have been consistent around 1 inch or less, they are
1st 27.8 Grains Varget 123 Sierra HPBT
27.2 Grains Varget 123 Sierra HPBT

With NEW Krieger Barrell and tom’s highpower scope.
27.5 GR H4895 120 Gold dot’s Tom’s Loads 3 rounds good, then rounds 4 and 5 open group up to 1.5 inch

29.0 GR Alliant PP Varmint 120 Gold Dot’s Toms loads. As above, 3 rounds good then open up.

started working on 110 grain Lehigh solid copper bullets
and 108 grain Lupua Scenar.
Will keep you posted.

[grayfox]

So... let me get this straight.
You're doing load workups, with no chrono, and no measuring to see where the bullets hit lands?
And these are saami chambers, reputable barrels (granted the krieger sure ought to be as long as the GS did his job right, but the others...)
And did you get the Grendel Handbooks, vol 1 and 2? (AR 15 build box section in the industry partners on this forum).
Sounds like, what with all the different powders, loads, bullets, uppers... you're shooting, well, blind?
Not trying to sound harsh here, but --
And has there been any double checking of fit-ups, what is tight, torqued, etc? Or loose?
What triggers and what optics are being used?
Something is off with the whole process, IMO.
How do factory loads shoot? I don't particularly like the prices nowadays but, some of those would be known, pretty good loads, at least 1-2 boxes would be worth it -- my Lilja will shoot the 123 sst factory to < 1moa, would be better but for me, but the barrel checks out. As does my howa, more like a decent but rack grade barrel.
120 SMK's? with xbr IIRC, see elsewhere on the forum, that load is very forgiving. the 120 smk's have come back into stock a couple places.

[Former Cav]

I mentioned the group sizes and this was over a period of about 6 months time. I actually did a DOUBLE ladder loads. I had a friend there who bought the same rifle and I did two sets of loads in .2 grain increments. in a box of 50 rounds, I had TWO groups of 5 rounds each that were identical. I shoot through the 5 shot group on the left side of the box (color coded them in case of a tip over etc) and then the next five (groups of 5) on the right side of the box.
My friend did the same. We had very close to identical results.
I did the same techinique when laoding prairie dog rounds in .243 and of course 223. I've been loading for forty years. I do have a Oehler 35 P chrongraph.
The wind blew that and my 82 mm spotting scope over at the Ben Avery Range!! Tough luck. I had to buy a few sky screens from Oehler. (want to buy it so I can get a lab radar??)
Anyhow, the best group always seems to come back to the Varget group. That is consistent from one week to the next.
If you want me to describe the work up more thoroughly let me know and I will post it.
OH, BTW.... I did squeeze out a really good group with H 4895 and lab radar (a friends). Good luck on finding H 4895!!!

[LRRPF52]

Added:

80gr Hammer Hunter
85gr Hammer Hunter
92gr Power Hammer
97gr Absolute Hammer
99gr Hammer Hunter

100gr Hornady ELD-VT
105gr Sierra Blitzking
109gr Absolute Hammer

120gr Sierra Tipped Game King

[Konocti's Wigwam]

I notice you don't have any Hornady CX bullets on any of the lists.

My plans are to use mostly Barnes bullets for hunting, but I want to try the CX bullets as well.

Do you plan to test CX bullets?

[LRRPF52]

I notice you don't have any Hornady CX bullets on any of the lists.

My plans are to use mostly Barnes bullets for hunting, but I want to try the CX bullets as well.

Do you plan to test CX bullets?

Sorry I overlooked that one. Didn’t see any data for it in the 11th Edition, but I think it’s interchangeable with 120gr GMX data.

I updated the list with the 120gr Hornady CMX.

[Parabellum55]

I see the 80 gr hammer is on the new list. After 2 years of asking the bullet gods at hammer made the most amazing bullet that just changed the 6.5 mm community forever the 80 gr wasp. I just spent the last year testing them for hammer. In my ruger ranch carbine with a 16 inch barrel I was able to load the 80s to 3050 fps and they shoot under a half inch at 100 yds. Like all other hammers I have used on animals the terminal performance was spectacular with one shot kills on 170 to 200 lbs boars easy shooting, anyone who has shot hogs knows they are not easy to kill. This bullet is a game changer for me with the Grendel as it offers medium game killing capabilities out to 400 yds. It is flat enough shooting for varmints and enough energy for clean kills on 300 pound animals. (remember the .243 has been killing deer for decades with a 80 gr bullet). The bullet is a unique bore riding design with a ballistic tip and requires some work to load properly but the results are worth it. there are 2 bearing surfaces on the bullet and I load them to the longest one by using 3 to 4 thousandths of neck tension and a 1/3 turn on a lee fcd to secure it. If you are shooting a semi this step is critical!!!. Now there is a viable magnum speed bullet available for the Grendel. A 22 inch barrel with this load is right at 3250 fps. I also loaded it in my 24 inch Creedmoor at 2.68 oal and was able to run it to 3900 fps before I ran out of case to fill. The bore rider makes for very low pressure and high velocities my friends. In my sons 22 inch Creedmoor I loaded them "light" to 3380 on a node with ar comp and get .35 groups and a dead zero of 285 yds when set +1.5 at 100. This makes the Creedmoor now a varmint capable rifle as well as the 6.5 prc and win .264 mag. which will run the 80s over 4000 feet per second for epic laser like ballistics past 400 yds. If you want to see more check out the full report on the 80s on the hammer forums.

[Harpoon1]

Sorry I overlooked that one. Didn’t see any data for it in the 11th Edition, but I think it’s interchangeable with 120gr GMX data.

I updated the list with the 120gr Hornady CMX.

The CX is in the 11th Edition “app” version! And it is the same!

[Fess]

I would be cautious about the CX until someone proves it works at Grendel velocities. When Hornady made the change from GMX to CX, they made a point of getting consistent performance over a set of parameters that included a min opening speed of 2000fps. Higher velocity 6.5's have become much more popular than when the GMX was introduced back in 2009 and Hornady has been catering to them. The new "heat shield tips" are harder than the older ones and that seems to have had an effect as well (Hornady itself has pointed out that softer tips help expansion at lower velocities). Before these changes, some of the GMX, like the 100 grain .277 version, worked at velocities well below that 2K fps mark and were decent for intermediate cartridges like 277 wolverine and the Dreaded 6.8 SPC, . After repeated reports poor performance in the field and expansion testing by shooters, some those who bought that bullet have resorted to cutting off the polymer tip to get more reliable expansion and increased effective hunting range.