Ammo choices?

[Dope6.5]

I'll be using a 14.5 inch sabre upper for deer and hogs this year. I've never hunted with a Grendel before and while I plan on reloading soon I'm going to need suggestions for factory loaded hunting ammo.

[LRRPF52]

AA 120gr TSX load is hog killer medicine.

The 123gr SST works just fine as well though. You can watch a hog hunting video every week from Hunt Texas Hogs.

Even the 120gr PPU works well.

100gr TTSX load from Precision Firearms is another.

I would order 5 boxes of 123gr SST and go out and get dialed in with your set-up. Get a nice zero, then start practicing with it from positions you will use for your hunt. You can get both the 123gr AMAX and 123gr SST from several dealers online right now for $18.77-$18.99/box.

http://ammoseek.com/ammo/6.5mm-grendel/-rifle-123grains-

[danm]

AA 120gr TSX load is hog killer medicine.

The 123gr SST works just fine as well though. You can watch a hog hunting video every week from Hunt Texas Hogs.

Even the 120gr PPU works well.

100gr TTSX load from Precision Firearms is another.

I would order 5 boxes of 123gr SST and go out and get dialed in with your set-up. Get a nice zero, then start practicing with it from positions you will use for your hunt. You can get both the 123gr AMAX and 123gr SST from several dealers online right now for $18.77-$18.99/box.

http://ammoseek.com/ammo/6.5mm-grend...fle-123grains-

Can't type it any better than this...

[Drift]

As above. Buy a couple of boxes of Hornady, SST or Amax both work. 120gr PPU is good. The super premium loads with Barnes bullets are great but unnecessary. The truth is; in .264 caliber bullets most any cheap hunting bullet with a sectional density around .250 will work well. Expect about 28 inches of penetration in deer and hogs.

[81police]

I concur: AA loaded 120 TSX is serious hog & deer medicine. I've shot a pile of hogs and a handful of deer with this load and it's never let me down.

I've also used the Hornady 120 SST which performed very well too.

[Double Naught Spy]

The 123gr SST works just fine as well though. You can watch a hog hunting video every week from Hunt Texas Hogs.

I am afraid he doesn't shoot much Grendel and hasn't done any videos in quite a while.

I, however, do like the SST quite a bit.

[LRRPF52]

I am afraid he doesn't shoot much Grendel and hasn't done any videos in quite a while.

I, however, do like the SST quite a bit.

I was trying to refer to you, but apparently I got it wrong. Woops. Double Naught Spy has been puttin hogs dingle dangles in the dirt consistently on an almost weekly basis for how long now?

[Double Naught Spy]

Well, I had a good chuckle. Hunt Texas Hogs is a friend of mine. He got a big promotion or such at work and so his free time evaporated. Funny how promotions make for less free time, but that is apparently how it works.

[Lightning8]

I recently shot an Antelope at 260 yards or so with 6.5 Grendel with the Hornady 6.5G 123 SST load - it certainly killed the antelope but in no way got 28 inches of penetration - I did not think the SST was designed for that level of penetration.

[am4966]

SST will kill your hog or deer. It will will also comer apart really well in that animal or give you pass thru. 00spy can give you the 411. We just need for Hornady too load up a specialized GMX Grendel load, or have Federal jump on board with some hunting loads for the Grendel in hopes to drive ammo pricing down

Or reload

[Double Naught Spy]

Based on my used with factory SST from a 20" barrel, I get a lot of through and throughs on hogs, particularly on broadside shots, and on hogs up to 220 lbs. By 240 lbs or so, pass throughs are few. On hogs we butcher, we often find multiple wound channels and pieces of bullet or jacket in the hog, even with through and throughs. Most of the shots are going through some light bone (ribs/scapulae). Hitting the humerus will prevent pass throughs on hogs.

Basically, the bullet opens and the jacket peels back (and seems to fragment) and the soft lead inside peels back and flattens, but seems to erode and/or fragment away. Core and jacket separation are common and sometimes we find jacket bases, but the lead core missing.

Exit wounds on small hogs can often be quarter-sized, but smaller on big hogs. I suspect that on the smaller hogs, more of the bullet is leaving intact. Occasionally, there will be multiple exit wounds from a singular shot.

Head shots are a mixed bag in terms of penetration, but I would say that on big hogs, do not expect overpenetration (it is uncommon) and on small hogs, do not be surprised if you don't get overpenetration. The bone structure is such that penetration will vary greatly.

On smaller critters like coyotes and bobcats, exit wounds tend to be fairly dramatic. I can think of only one or two times when bullets have not produced an exit at least several times larger than the diameter of the bullet. Some exits are quite dramatic. SST is not pelt friendly.

This is all recollective observation, but I have never found an intact bullet and the closest I found was part of a core still in the base and the bullet retained about half the original weight.

I asked the guys from Hornady at the Dallas Safari Show about a GMX Grendel load. They apparently had been working on something like that, according to the guy, but it never came to production for some reason. That is all I could get out of them.

The SST is a good round for putting down hogs, no doubt. In one case, a buddy of mine and I both shot the same hog. He was using 150 gr. .308 ammo. Both got about 16" or so penetration on the hog, my shot quartered away and his quartered toward. Neither exited. Here is the vid... https://youtu.be/0UCUaCnCryI I certainly don't feel undergunned with the Grendel and SST ammo when compared to a .308.

[Dope6.5]

Thanks for all the responses. Sounds like the sst is GTG but is anything else going to expand more predictably? If not then SST is the way I'll go until I reload.

[81police]

Thanks for all the responses. Sounds like the sst is GTG but is anything else going to expand more predictably? If not then SST is the way I'll go until I reload.

Double Naught Spy is the hog killing king!

If you want predictable expansion look at solid rounds like the Barnes TSX or TTSX. I've shot 23 hogs, ranging from 60lbs - 300lbs, using the 120 TSX alone. What I've noticed is devastating wound channels, practically no fragmentation, minimal flight path deviation between entrance and exit wounds, and usually double bore diameter exit wounds. I have never recovered a 120 TSX, all have been pass throughs. All of those hogs were some type of shoulder shot, whether broadside or quartering. The downside to the 120 TSX is the price. Currently AA has them listed at $47.89/box. Compare that to the Hornady 123gr SST at around $22/box!

[LRRPF52]

I refuse to pay that much for the Hornady box ammo, which I why I order it online at the prices I listed before, more in the $18-$19 region. You will often see free shipping promotionals from the various online retailers as well, and ammoseek has a shipping rate meter next to each source if you look at their pages.

[Roe]

more in the $18-$19 region.

Makes me sick. We're looking at $5 to $10 PER ROUND here. At those prices I'd eBay my reloading gear at once, the extra time free would be well worth the money. No wonder reloading is popular here...