05-04-2018, 01:42 PM
Kswhitetails Wrote:Copy. I know there are other cartridges, that using traditional thinking, are "better". But, I'm stuck on the Grendel case as a parent probably for the sake of stubborn pride... Maybe I shouldn't be. (By the way, I failed to say this first, but 6mm AR is a 6.5 Grendel case necked down to 6mm, nothing more than that = 6mm Grendel)
The further down this rabbit hole I go, the further into option induced stagnation-land I find myself in. I'd like to have a Rem 700 based Grendel, honestly. (http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthrea...el-project) Something I could have in wood and blued steel, and take to the woods to hit where I'm aiming, proudly taking game that others say can't be taken with Grendel... let them eat crow.
Here's where the bolt gun comes into things further: I want to shoot at distances past 500 pretty bad. I've taken my Grendel to 400, and it was a poop shoot. Looked at the calculator, used the reticle, and held what it said for a generic - velocity estimated guess. pip/clang 5/5 on an 8" gong, then 4/5 on a 4". It was FUN, and easy. So, next challenge is to truly develop my load, get good calculated and verified velocity numbers, and stretch things out. The only real place to do that around me is participating in PRS matches. But the local guys all agree, Grendel is handicapped at longer ranges because of low relative velocities due to low case capacities and short magazine lengths. (Many of them have Grendels, or so it seems).
But, knowing myself as I do, there will come a day (probably match 2) where hanging around in the middle of the pack isn't good enough. And I'll start asking the Grendel to do things it just isn't capable of. (IDPA silhouettes at 1300)
As much as I hate to admit it, these guys are all likely right. Grendel just isn't competitive against the large frame AR and the bolt guys. Especially at 900+, which is where these things are apparently won and lost. (This is where I remind myself that I don't have the skills to be competitive yet anyway, and that a bolt gun isn't necessary, and I've already got the LaRue Grendel to get started with, just go do some of it and see what happens, go shoot and have fun and learn more...) But, I'll be damned if I listen to myself telling me to quit dreaming.
I will not leave the 6.5 bore. It's just too good for it's size. Especially when considering the 600 plus BC bullets for competitions, in the x47 or Creed, or others mentioned. The rage at the moment is the 6 dasher around here, so I thought about building a 6 Grendel improved. (Hence the thread title) After thinking about the 6mm/243 class for a few days, finding the selection of high BC bullets at the moment is somewhat limited, and showing varying results at best. To take the 6 Grendel out to 1300, would mean using the 105 RDF, or even more so the 110 SMK, which means customizing the throat, and pushing them at velocities that just barely get there supersonic - that's far too advanced for my tight brain box. Which means 6 Creed, and if I'm doing that, then I'm doing the 6.5, no question.
So, the rabbit hole starts looking like Alice's nightmares all over again. If I'm doing a Rem 700 action bolt, and I MUST leave Grendel, then I think to myself: "it's either going to be a Defiant, a Bighorn Origin, one of GAPrecision's Templars, or (maybe, more reading to do) a Mausingfield." I mean these things are freakin' SMEXY fellas... I really like the GAPrecision, for their RSAUM version of the 6.5, but holy cow, $5k for their boom-stick says no - especially when I can build a .260/6.5 creed LaRue for under 2k. I wonder if I could just scavenge a 700 action, and chamber an easier to obtain blank in 6.5 RSAUM, (Shilen, Criterion, etc) then have the Remington bolt machined to fit? Gah, by the time I get this done, and buy a stock, trigger, magazines - I'm getting to GAP's asking price anyway...
So, when I sit back, settle down, and take a breath to think, It becomes easy. My weapon for PRS/long range isn't going to be Grendel. And herein lies the foundational problem. The Grendel's just been too good to really get into building something else. I'm trapped in the tractor beam of goodness that the Grendel has become in my shooting life. So my Grendel bolt will come to be, likely with advice from Second as he's already been down this particular road, and others. My PRS gun is going to most likely going to come from LaRue in the form of an UU kit in .260. Or Creed. Dammit another rabbit hole...
I hear you on all of it. BE and Dasher are big here too. They're also a pain to deal with because of the brass. I thin 6x47L or 6CM is a great compromise; Lapua factory brass, tons of data, mild loads, and 308 Winchester based equipment (bolt face, magazines, SA. Etc). I know a lot of guys here love Grendel but when you take it out of the AR15 or a budget 223 boltgun action it loses its appeal.
I'm in handloading heaven with Grendel but my next boltgun will be a larger cartridge.