Bullet length's compared

[wiuprof]

I saw a thread this morning that got me thinking of the overall length of the Grendel cartridge that got me thinking of the length of the various bullets and which might be too long to be practical in the Grendel for my purposes. I have four different 6.5x284's and a 260 Rem. that preceded my recent Grendel acquisition, so that I had a good inventory of .264 diameter bullets to measure. Twelve different bullets were available to measure the overall lengths and compile a list. The photo shows them lined up from shortest to longest in O.A.L. (except for my error with J&K)!



BULLET LENGTH

A- 100 gr. Sierra H.P. .937"

B- 100 gr. Nosler B.T. 1.087"

C- 120 gr. Sierra H.P. 1.187"

D- 120 gr. Horn. A-max 1.214"

E- 120 gr. Nos. B-Tip 1.221"

F- 123 gr. Horn. A-max 1.240"

G- 123 gr. Lap. Scenar 1.303"

H- 129 gr. Horn. SST 1.327"

I- 139 Lap. Silv. Scenar 1.358

K- 140 gr. Horn. A-max 1.372"

J- 142 gr. Sierra MK 1.377"

L- 140 gr. Berger VLD 1.422"

Forgive me for mixing up J&K in the photo. The Horn. A-max is shorter than the Sierra MK and their positions in the photo should be reversed. I didn't notice it until I had the photo on the computer. It really doesn't matter. Folks in the horde know an A-max from a SMK on sight!


I personally use the Hornady Chamber-All device to measure the ojive to land length for my individual rifles, but thought it might be interesting to just photograph and measure each of the dozen bullets that I have on hand. It could be useful to folks who only have one or two of these bullets on hand.



IMHO, the cartridge seems to be best suited for hunting and target use with the mid-120 gr. range and under. Perhaps the 129 gr. SST would perform A.O.K. from a longer (20-24") barrel.

[txgunner00]

Great info. Thanks for posting it.

[Variable]

Thanks for sharing!

[Whelenon]

Nice work, thanks for putting that together.

[wiuprof]

Actually, the thread that prompted me to measure my dozen bullet types was concerning the Nosler 125 gr. Partition bullet. I was considering using it for a tough hunting bullet that would not infringe too far into the case capacity. LRRPF52 posted that its length was 1.17" and I wanted to compare that to some of my "on-hand" bullets. That length proves to be very short, indeed. It would land between the 100 gr Nosler BT and the 120 gr. SMK! That should not take up too much room in the case. Of course, that assumes that seated to magazine length would not put the bullet into the lands. That's what my chamber-all would tell me.

I will order some and report back. I'm also curious about Nosler's 100 gr. Partition. That must really be a shorty. A 115-117 gr. Partition would probably be ideal for the Grendel. (wishful thinking)

[biggdawg]

I just got done measuring all the 6.5 bullets i had and measuring my chamber with each bullet here is what i came up with

[txgunner00]

I'll measure the bullets I have and post them later today. As I have found with the 100 gr Amax, shorter doesn't always mean it works better with this chamber. I wish they would have used the 123 amax profile on the 100.

[LRRPF52]

The 123gr AMAX was specifically made for the Grendel after experiences with the 100gr/120gr AMAX ogive profile causing too short COAL. Nice work gents!

[wiuprof]

After my initial post, I had a nagging suspicion that I'd forgotten a bullet and indeed it was the 107 gr. Sierra Match King. This bullet amazed me when I got it a few weeks ago because it was actually longer than the 120 gr. SMK. It has a much longer boat tail and the front end looks like a Berger. It's a needle.

Out of curiosity, I checked with the Sierra website and looked up the B.C.'s and they are about the same for the 107gr. M.K. and 120 gr. M.K. I'm not sure if that's good or bad in a small package like the Grendel. I will try loading some of the 107's to magazine length or shorter if my Chamber-All indicates that I'm into the lands. The velocities with a 107 gr. bullet and a high B.C. should make a pretty good combination for punching holes in paper or larger varmints.

Does anyone have experience with this 107 gr. SMK in the Grendel? If so, please let me know.

[txgunner00]

I just got done measuring all the 6.5 bullets i had and measuring my chamber with each bullet here is what i came up with

What were you using to get the LTO?

[biggdawg]

What were you using to get the LTO?

i have hornady's bullet comparator set and the lto stands for length to ogive . i measure from the base of the bullet to the ogive with the comparator set http://www.hornady.com/store/Bullet-Comparator-Kits/


and i used this with my own modified case to measure distance to lands. http://www.hornady.com/store/Lock-N-...traight-1Each/

i use the LTO because it isn't always the same to the tip of the bullet they vary some so measuring to the ogive is more consistent.

also these measurements are for my chamber others may be different. i just do this for all my calibers. i like to compare the bullets

[wiuprof]

I wanted to revise this when I found that I had forgotten about two bullets that I had on hand and neglected to include in my initial post. A label on the photo would also be easier to identify the bullet without referencing the key. The 107 SMK is amazingly long and sleek. That long, sloping nose must have a huge cavity of air to be longer than the 123 A-max!



BULLET LENGTH

A- 100 gr. Sierra H.P. .937"

B- 95 gr. Horn. V-max 1.015

C- 100 gr. Nosler B.T. 1.087"

D- 120 gr. Sierra MK 1.187"

E- 120 gr. Horn. A-max 1.214"

F- 120 gr. Nos. B-Tip 1.221"

G- 123 gr. Horn. A-max 1.240"

H- 107 gr. Sierra MK 1.269"

I- 123 gr. Lap. Scenar 1.303"

J- 129 gr. Horn. SST 1.327"

K- 139 Lap. Silv. Scenar 1.358

L- 140 gr. Horn. A-max 1.372"

M- 142 gr. Sierra MK 1.377"

N- 140 gr. Berger VLD 1.422"

[txgunner00]

Here's a few more.

................................Length.......LTL.. .....COL
A - 100 Hornady SP.....0.981.......2.220.....2.190
B - 100 AMAX -...........1.046.......2.280.....2.230 *determined by min. neck hold
C - 120 Speer SP - .....1.061.......2.312.....2.260
D - 140 Hornady SP -...1.252.......2.284.....2.260
E - 129 Hornady SST-...1.319

not pictured

................Length.......LTL.......COL
123 SMK.....1.301......????.....2.260