Loaded my first set of grendels.

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  • Loaded my first set of grendels.

    new Lapua brass, CCI 450's, BL-C2, 107gr SMK 2.245 COAL. They chamber just fine and extracted cleanly (unfired, just testing feed from mag). The feed ramps appear to put a neato little scratch in the bullet nose upon feeding but not real concerned about that. Ran them up in .2gn increments from 28gn.

    The best thing about loading them so far has been the ball powder. Stick powder I use on all my other rifles throws inconsistently as hell and jams up my thrower but this ball powder with the small grain size was throwing perfectly each time. I double weigh each charge (digital then beam) and saved a lot of time with the ability to accurately throw charges and not have to add or remove some each time.

    Nothing anyone hasn't seen before:


    These won't be running super duper fast but they're just work up loads. I've got some 100gn A-max's waiting for me at home and I'll put 12 of those together with the same charges and COAL's tonight. Hopefully I'll get a chance to hit the range this weekend and see if we have a nice 1-hole load. I found the perfect load for my 6x45 and 5.56 on the first runs through load development. Doubt I'll get the hat trick with the grendel. Besides.. I'm hoping I can run just a little faster and still get the groups under .5".

  • #2
    I also used those same components (except for the Lapua brass) and found a load my gun likes on the first try:

    Several months ago I put together a rifle on a Les Baer 24" heavy barrel, purchased directly from LBC. I had high hopes for the gun, but after running several different factory rounds through it, nothing grouped as impressively as one would expect for a $550 barrel and $1+ per round ammo. I managed the occasional 100-yard,


    I hope you have the same luck!

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    • #3
      Very nice! I'm hoping I can get up to 30gn loads with accuracy like that. I've done a fair bit of load development on a lot of other cartridges but nothing quite as exotic. From all that it seems that I usually get my best results within 1.5gn of the max charge. I'm a little skittish about running the pressures too high which seems to be a particular risk carrier for broken bolts if you b0rk a grendel load so I started lower than I usually would have (which coincidentally would have been 29gn).

      Thanks much.

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      • #4
        Sounds good....nice group 355

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        • #5
          Well... no new bullets arriving till friday so I stuffed a set of slightly hotter loads together last night. 29.2,29.4,29.7gn BL-C2. All other stuff the same. I'm going to have to get my butt to the range this weekend. I have 30 loads to run through in 2 different guns and a .22 and a 9mm I haven't even shot yet that I'd like to get some trigger time in on.

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          • #6
            Let us know how those turn out. I contacted Hornady and they told me that TAC is going to be very close to what they load their stuff with. I have some Win 748 sitting around that I use in my .204, so I am going to try that as well...

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            • #7
              Going to the range today if the weather holds and the dam don't break. I have 6 loads worked up for the 100gn A-max's and 8 loads worked for the 107gn SMK's. The SMK's are lower power charges since they're more of a competition load but the A-max loads go from 29n up to 31gn of BL-C2 which is just 1gn under the listed max for 100gn Scenars. I plan to use the A-max's to take deer and pig. I think the scenars have a longer bearing surface though so I should be well off the max. In any case, I'll be doing a nice big test today in theory. I'll see about scanning the targets if it's worthwhile info.

              I need to get my other comp guns out and work em' a bit too. The 6x45 is going to take a while to finish the target work on and it has priority over the grendel.

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              • #8
                Did really well. Had a couple mechanical glitches but I was prepared and the shooting went pretty well. From un-zero'd guns with 30MOA to dead on and with untested ammo (in 3 shots per gun). Got the Grendel zeroed. Apart from putting an interesting ring shaped impression on the base of the case the thing shot perfectly. Cycled every time. Groups with SMK's were distressingly good. Too many of those loads turned in holes touching results. It's a matter of getting the shooter relaxed now. I was throwing flyers more often than I should have been but to my credit there was someone with a 416 Barret 3 lanes down busting the SNOT out of my concentration and the neato looking brake punching me in the face with gasses wasn't helping either. The SMK is really going to be fun. I'm pretty sure I can dial in a .2"-ish load. The Amax's on the other hand were VERY picky about charge weight. They like it fast but not too fast I guess. My best load was 30g BL-C2 with the 100gn amax at 2.250. No pressure signs at 31.5gn with the amax but accuracy went to hell after 30gn. I need to get the micrometer out and get good measurements but in general the SMK shot like a match bullet should almost regardless of the powder charge. They shot better than me in any case. The Amax is everything a hunting bullet can be. It's not a match slug. My best group with the amax looks about 3/4" or so but the ol' Mk1 eyeball could be a tad off.

                All in all I shot about a dozen different loads with the grendel.

                With the 6x45 I was more or less just dialing the scope in. The deer bullets for it are 80gn PSP's and are routinely 1" groupers. I put a 10 shot group in under 2" rapid fire. The 70gn TNT's are a nice bullet but I had feeding troubles with them at just a tit under mag length. I think I need to stuff em down a bit further. Otherwise it's a bit more precise than the 80gn-ers like you'd expect.

                Got to try out a red dot on my MkIII. that was a hoot.

                More to come. Maybe even a scan if I can get the thing working.

                Comment


                • #9
                  r3d, through what gun/barrel did you run those Grendel rounds?

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                  • RangerRick

                    #10
                    The bright ring on the base is probably an ejector mark. It is a sign of excessive pressure.

                    RR

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by RangerRick View Post
                      The bright ring on the base is probably an ejector mark. It is a sign of excessive pressure.

                      RR
                      ...or that you're shooting an auto-loader... I hardly have any loads without some type of ejector swipe, but if you start seeing significant extrusion of the brass into the ejector recess, then you are really pushing it. Another sign is cratered primers. I also prefer to watch the chrono for major spikes in velocity.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by ss355 View Post
                        r3d, through what gun/barrel did you run those Grendel rounds?
                        Alexander Arms 20" (really it looks to be an Entry 19.5" but was sold to me as a 20" with the brake). I don't think it's any of their special barrel options, just a standard tube.

                        Originally posted by RangerRick View Post
                        The bright ring on the base is probably an ejector mark. It is a sign of excessive pressure.

                        RR
                        I had thought that but there's NO other signs. Upon some thought time it looks to be happening just as the bolt is unlocking and appears to be a possible sign of high port pressure trying to prematurely unlock the bolt. It looks like the bolt may be unlocking and turning against the case head while the case is still expanded against the chamber walls. Primers show no signs of high pressure... nice and round over the edges into the pocket, no setback, etc... And at < 31gn BL-C2 I'm highly doubtful of it being too hot even with the brand new lapua brass and its thick-ish walls. I got the same marking of the brass on loads that were VERY under-pressure as well so I'm going to say that it's probably not chamber pressure related, more likely port pressure. Don't wanna call you wrong but it doesn't fit the symptoms.

                        Originally posted by LRRPF52 View Post
                        ...or that you're shooting an auto-loader... I hardly have any loads without some type of ejector swipe, but if you start seeing significant extrusion of the brass into the ejector recess, then you are really pushing it. Another sign is cratered primers. I also prefer to watch the chrono for major spikes in velocity.
                        No chronograph yet but I'll get there eventually. The primers aren't pierced at all and the dimple after firing doesn't have any raised area around the firing pin impact point (like a rim around a meteor crater, principle is the same).

                        I'm hoping someone from AA is watching the thread and can confirm/deny the port pressure issue. It's a second-hand upper so I can't be sure of what was the situation before I got it.


                        On the upside, I have caliper measurements for the first range session.

                        My best performing loads were:
                        107gn SMK 29.2gn BL-C2 CCI450 Lapua-0-fired, 2.245" .75" 3-shot 100yrds
                        107gn SMK 29.7gn BL-C2 CCI450 Lapua-0-fired 2.245" .5" 3-shot 100yrds
                        100gn A-Max 30gn BL-C2 CCI450 Lapua-0-Fired 2.250" .84" 3-shot 100yrds

                        the rest of the groups were either fouled with a flyer of my own doing (trigger side) or just were not accurate enough for me to develop any further. The 10-shot group I mentioned with the 6x45 netted into 1.84"

                        Looking closer at my brass I'm pretty sure it's the early-bolt-unlocking that's marking my brass. There's a little burr kicked up on the base of the cases at the end of a 30-40 degree constant angular rate shiny patch that's indexed correctly to be the extractor groove.

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                        • #13
                          So, do I then need a faster yet burning powder to get the primary combustion done before the gas port?

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by r3dn3ck View Post
                            So, do I then need a faster yet burning powder to get the primary combustion done before the gas port?
                            might also need a heavier buffer, too. That'll slow down the ejection process.

                            Comment

                            • Clod Stomper

                              #15
                              Originally posted by QuadCam View Post
                              might also need a heavier buffer, too. That'll slow down the ejection process.
                              And/or an adjustable gas block. Or an MGI adjustable gas tube. That will help fix it from the front end instead of the back.

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