02-13-2012, 01:30 AM
From my viewpoint, (and remember what I said previously about opinions!), any and all development of a commercial cartridge is a good thing.
The problem occurs when one of two things occurs:
1) Someone decides to call a similar, but different, cartridge or chamber by the same name that the original is known.
2) Someone decided to call all similar chambers the same thing, regardless of whether or not they are actually the same and will fire the same cartridge.
The market then becomes very confused, and understandably so. This really creates a morass for new people to the caliber, especially.
Alexander Arms worked for years to find brass, develop brass, develop loads, develop magazines, and so on. They worked with or convinced a major industry player to take the cartridge and chamber to SAAMI and went through the certification process. They worked with outside ammunition manufacturers to develop 3rd party brass and loads based upon the chamber submitted to SAAMI.
Now, we are faced with many different manufacturers who are, or will, manufacture chambers which will chamber the commercial cartridge, but may not necessarily chamber ALL the commercial cartridges available. When they don't do so, who will be responsible for that, the cartridge builder, working off the official SAAMI information? Or the company or individual building the rifle and using some variant of the chamber?
When Hornady first loaded Grendel ammunition, it worked in all the Grendel chambers, but not in some 6.5 CSS, some LBC .264's, and in only some of the other variants. With more and more rifle/barrel manufacturers in the game, how many more times will it happen before people start to say, "The Grendel isn't worth it, there is too much confusion"?
If you are a handloader, it isn't much of a problem, but what if you don't handload, like the vast majority of shooters? How can you buy something that may or may not actually work with available ammunition?
I'm all for others who want to build Grendels doing so, more competition makes the market stronger, always has. But it doesn't if what is being marketed as a Grendel isn't really a Grendel, but a variant that doesn't use the same bolt, or the same chamber, or whatever. Because if a new shooter buys a variant that is marketed as being more accurate, or having a higher velocity because of the chamber design or twist rate, and then tries to shoot it and has problems, who gets the blame? The Grendel? Or the company marketing the "latest and greatest Grendel"?
The Grendel is still young, and killing it won't take a whole lot. A bunch of people jumping in the game with Grendel variants that don't fire factory Grendel ammo will cause issues. It caused huge issues when Hornady first loaded Grendel, and that was with only relatively small number of rifles out there. The more rifles available, the worse that issue might become.
I have no issues with people building custom rifles with tight necks for competition shooters, or for anyone who wants a custom chamber built. Comptetition shooters do it all the time with .308, .223, or whatever. Heck, I ordered my 7mm WSM F Class rifle throated for VLD's!
BUT....doing it for non-custom rifles, where people may not realize the issues at risk is bad for the cartridge, and bad for the shooting public. Its a recipe for disaster long term.
I'm certainly not anti-non AA. I own Howa's, Remingtons, Springfields, Kimbers, Olympic Arms, and others.
I am anti-non Grendel chamber, at least for production rifles, because I see so many issues that will affect the long term viability of the cartridge. I want the chamber and cartridge to succeed, and without standardization the chances are much lower. New chambers/cartridges have a tough time as it is, making it tougher makes no sense.
The problem occurs when one of two things occurs:
1) Someone decides to call a similar, but different, cartridge or chamber by the same name that the original is known.
2) Someone decided to call all similar chambers the same thing, regardless of whether or not they are actually the same and will fire the same cartridge.
The market then becomes very confused, and understandably so. This really creates a morass for new people to the caliber, especially.
Alexander Arms worked for years to find brass, develop brass, develop loads, develop magazines, and so on. They worked with or convinced a major industry player to take the cartridge and chamber to SAAMI and went through the certification process. They worked with outside ammunition manufacturers to develop 3rd party brass and loads based upon the chamber submitted to SAAMI.
Now, we are faced with many different manufacturers who are, or will, manufacture chambers which will chamber the commercial cartridge, but may not necessarily chamber ALL the commercial cartridges available. When they don't do so, who will be responsible for that, the cartridge builder, working off the official SAAMI information? Or the company or individual building the rifle and using some variant of the chamber?
When Hornady first loaded Grendel ammunition, it worked in all the Grendel chambers, but not in some 6.5 CSS, some LBC .264's, and in only some of the other variants. With more and more rifle/barrel manufacturers in the game, how many more times will it happen before people start to say, "The Grendel isn't worth it, there is too much confusion"?
If you are a handloader, it isn't much of a problem, but what if you don't handload, like the vast majority of shooters? How can you buy something that may or may not actually work with available ammunition?
I'm all for others who want to build Grendels doing so, more competition makes the market stronger, always has. But it doesn't if what is being marketed as a Grendel isn't really a Grendel, but a variant that doesn't use the same bolt, or the same chamber, or whatever. Because if a new shooter buys a variant that is marketed as being more accurate, or having a higher velocity because of the chamber design or twist rate, and then tries to shoot it and has problems, who gets the blame? The Grendel? Or the company marketing the "latest and greatest Grendel"?
The Grendel is still young, and killing it won't take a whole lot. A bunch of people jumping in the game with Grendel variants that don't fire factory Grendel ammo will cause issues. It caused huge issues when Hornady first loaded Grendel, and that was with only relatively small number of rifles out there. The more rifles available, the worse that issue might become.
I have no issues with people building custom rifles with tight necks for competition shooters, or for anyone who wants a custom chamber built. Comptetition shooters do it all the time with .308, .223, or whatever. Heck, I ordered my 7mm WSM F Class rifle throated for VLD's!
BUT....doing it for non-custom rifles, where people may not realize the issues at risk is bad for the cartridge, and bad for the shooting public. Its a recipe for disaster long term.
I'm certainly not anti-non AA. I own Howa's, Remingtons, Springfields, Kimbers, Olympic Arms, and others.
I am anti-non Grendel chamber, at least for production rifles, because I see so many issues that will affect the long term viability of the cartridge. I want the chamber and cartridge to succeed, and without standardization the chances are much lower. New chambers/cartridges have a tough time as it is, making it tougher makes no sense.
You seek escape from pain. We seek the achievement of happiness. You exist for the sake of avoiding punishment. We exist for the sake of earning rewards. Threats will not make us function; fear is not our incentive. It is not death that we wish to avoid, but life that we wish to live. - John Galt