A Grendel at Thunder Ranch

[LR1955]

I took my 22” Black Hole Weaponry rifle to Thunder Ranch over the weekend for their two-day Long Range Scoped AR class. As the name implies, the course is designed around using a scoped AR in a designated marksman style application engaging targets between 100-to-700-yards. My local range doesn't have any facilities for this. I’m limited to paper at 300 yards. This class would be my first chance to engage steel at a mid-ranges.

The weather was great for late March in the high desert of Lakeview, OR. Overnight temperatures were in the high 20’s with afternoons in the high 50's. Sunshine. Wind was mild both days.

Of course, most students had 5.56s with 16- or 18-inch barrels. Ammo ranged from 55 to 62 to 77 grains. Even though wind wasn't a major factor, I got to see the limitation of the 5.56 at 500, 600 and 700 yards, even at a 5400-foot elevation. Some students had to have their shots walked in at extended ranges. Other weapons systems (the barrel, ammo and shooter) just weren’t providing consistent hits beyond 4 or 5 hundred yards. Green tip and a rack barrel aren’t the combination you want for this class.

That wasn’t an issue for me. The Grendel was superb. There were some misses, but Doc would give a good wind call ("Favor left") and we'd have a hit. I’m an average shooter but the Grendel made me look good. I started day 2 with a cold bore, first shot hit at 700 yards. That was followed up later in the day with a 700-yard head shot. Dial, aim, press, hit. One of the staff came and asked me what I was shooting and said he'd never seen a Grendel in class before. It even caught the attention of Clint Smith who commented on the performance of my 'zip gun' (his term for any non-military caliber). High praise coming from him.

The student just to my right was shooting a 6mm ARC. It was a new, untested build using a Ballistic Advantage barrel and shooting factory ammo. He had nothing but problems with consistency. Shots would land left and then they'd land right. Then they’d be high. It was so bad I suggested he check his scope mount screws. He never did get it sorted out. I suspect a bad barrel or bad trigger pull.

And the Grendel was the heavy hitter in class. There’s a resettable target at 200 yards. You shoot the head, which falls and then shoot a plate to reset the head. When my classmates couldn't reset it 5.56 or 6mm ARC rounds, I was called upon to use the Grendel. It hit hard.

I want to point out that my system is pretty affordable. The barrel cost me $280 five years ago. It’s an overachiever for its price. My scope is a 1st gen PST 2.5-10x SFP. It cost around $600 when it was the new hotness 8 years ago. Its nothing fancy by current standards. However, the turrets are repeatable and the reticle is fine enough for precision work. With my reloads it’s a consistent 1 MOA performer. That’s all you need to do this type of shooting.

A big part of my success was having used the system (rifle, scope, ammo) for the last four years. I’m familiar with it and it’s been reliable. I was just able to perform with it. Joe (with the new 6mm ARC) came to class with a new barrel and new scope. The bugs weren’t worked out. It showed.

I not gonna lie; this wasn’t cheap. $1000 for two days on the range, plus ammo, travel food, incidentals. I thought long and hard about spending the money. But besides the 700-yard range, you also get an expert calling the wind. This gives you the best chance to perform well. It was the best way I could think to test my rifle and myself. The Grendel performs.

BD:

A huge amount of money for two days of shooting. What did you get out of it that was worth what must have ended up being at least $1500.00?

LR55

[biodsl]

BD:

A huge amount of money for two days of shooting. What did you get out of it that was worth what must have ended up being at least $1500.00?

LR55

A huge amount of money, as I noted. What did I learn? Not much. It was the most expensive range rental in history. But I’m still glad I did it.

Again, as I noted, I don’t have access to a mid or long-range steel range. I’ve spent hours and hours at 200 and 300 yards on paper. I have shot 600 yards on two occasions at my range during the 600 bench discipline session. It takes all evening and I shoot 20 rounds. I wanted an opportunity to spend all day for a couple of days shooting longer range. I guess I could figure out how to do that by participating in a PRS course if they’d take me.

Was it worth it? To me, yes. Beats having another gun in the safe that I don't shoot. Would I do it again? No. What I’d really like to do is attend a DM course with LRRPF52 at Price, Utah. That would be fun.

[LR1955]

A huge amount of money, as I noted. What did I learn? Not much. It was the most expensive range rental in history. But I’m still glad I did it.

Again, as I noted, I don’t have access to a mid or long-range steel range. I’ve spent hours and hours at 200 and 300 yards on paper. I have shot 600 yards on two occasions at my range during the 600 bench discipline session. It takes all evening and I shoot 20 rounds. I wanted an opportunity to spend all day for a couple of days shooting longer range. I guess I could figure out how to do that by participating in a PRS course if they’d take me.

Was it worth it? To me, yes. Beats having another gun in the safe that I don't shoot. Would I do it again? No. What I’d really like to do is attend a DM course with LRRPF52 at Price, Utah. That would be fun.

BD:

I was about to say go to LRRP 52 because he actually trains people.

One of the frustrating things about commercial training facilities is that they tend to put guys through a lot of drills but rarely train or coach them.

LR55

[lazyengineer]

My own take, is to take every oportunity you have to stretch your exposure. If you shoot 20 rounds a year, and hunt once a year and don't really care - totally cool. But if you invest a notable portion of your discretionary time into shooting sports and the hobby, then you should push your boundaries frequently, to be the best you can be.

Classes like this, are part of that. It's an opportunity and exposure to a type of shooting with a setting and instruction from experts outside your normal access. If it's done in a fun manner, go for it! Would I personally spend $1500 for it? Eh.. maybe not. But I have had access to much lower cost versions or components of much of this, so I don't have to. If you're a regular suburband dude, with no access to long=range shooting, and limited experience in formal sports of 3-gun, High Power, etc; that $1500 investment returned a Hell of a lot of knowledge and exposure, I bet.

I once did a 3-gun night shoot. Cost me $300 to go. I totally got my ass kicked. And learned so much, that I'm really happy I went.

Push your boundaries to be all you can be - and I think it's great you went to this match, and great that you wrote it up. Which is another thing. In my experience as a professional and as a shooter, I find that you don'r really understand and analyze what happened, until you write the report. Only then do you trully analyze the data and digest the results. And so, write-ups like this are great; and often why my own posts can sometimes seem long. Because half the time, the audience for that report was actually me, to complete my analysis and assessment of what happened :o

Thanks again for the post!

[Happy2Shoot]

The farthest I have ever shot was 500 yards; and last time I did was 2009. I would easily pay $1500 for two whole days of shooting to 700 and beyond.

As an aside "green tip" is the most accurate bullet for the job. 9 or 10 out of 10 shots at 500 yards on a half human silhouette with a 10 year old, poorly cared for rifle. What else does a grunt need?

[RANGER]

Very cool report. Thanks for sharing!

For the life of me, I don't know why a major bullet manufacturer doesn't take the 6.5mm 120-class into the 21st century by giving it one of the new hybrid nose ogives. Why do they keep offering the same old boring thing?

Attached is my Photoshopped example of a Berger 6.5mm 140gr with some bearing surface removed to reduce weight — nose and tail remain exactly the same. Simple, right?

High velocity and wicked BC, and would maximize the Grendel.

Interesting. Do you think with that new Ogive the Grendel could push that 140? I thought traditionally anything over 130 was too much for the Grendel

[NightStalker]

Great report sorry if I missed this if you already answered, but we’re you shooting handloads, and what bullet was you using?

[biodsl]

Great report sorry if I missed this if you already answered, but we’re you shooting handloads, and what bullet was you using?

I used the last of my stash of Hornady 123 A-Maxs. 31.2 grains of CFE223 @ 2.245" using CCI 450 primers in Hornady 4 or 5 fired brass.

[DfnsMn69]

Being from Oregon previously I've had the opportunity to take 2 courses at Thunder Ranch from Clint... Def Hand Gun and the Tactical Rifle & Pistol course.. I have never been so damn tired or learned so much over the span of those courses. Clint is not everybody's cup of tea but I can tell you that he is a certifiable badass gunfighter and I am damn glad to have invested in bettering my skills learning from him. If I have a chance in the next year and it becomes available I will be taking his High Angle Rifle course because here in the Canyon Country of Northern Idaho I can put those skills to use.