What is the largest bullet anyone has loaded for bolt action 6.5 Grendel

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  • tango29
    Bloodstained
    • Sep 2014
    • 41

    What is the largest bullet anyone has loaded for bolt action 6.5 Grendel

    What is the largest bullet anyone has loaded for bolt action 6.5 Grendel.

    I am getting ready to start loading for 6.5 Grendel and want to know the larges 6.5 bullet loaded for a bolt grendel.
  • VASCAR2
    Chieftain
    • Mar 2011
    • 6219

    #2
    Hornady has a 6.5/.264 160 grain round nose soft point. Reminds me of the old FMJ RN military bullets from the 6.5 Carcano, 6.5 Jap or 6.5 M/S. Lapua has a couple similar bullets, a 155 grain RN SP and a 140 grain RN FMJ, IIRC.


    You asked, I haven’t tried the Hornady 160 grain bullets in the 6.5 Grendel but a Friend tried few in his 264 Win Mag in case he ever ran accross an elephant.

    Hornday's traditional line of bullets feature exposed lead tips for controlled expansion and hard-hitting terminal performance. Most have their pioneering secant ogive design — one of the most ballistically efficient profiles ever developed. Most feature Hornady's exclusive InterLock® design — a raised ring inside the jacket that is embedded in the bullet's core that keeps the core and jacket locked together during expansion to retain mass and energy. INNER GROOVES:  Strategically weaken the upper section of the jacket, ensuring consistent, controlled expansion, even at long range. TAPERED JACKET:  Jacket thickness is precisely controlled for expansion at all velocities. ONE-PIECE CORE:  Does not separate like two-piece divided cores. The InterLock® retains more mass and energy for deep penetration and large, consistent wound channels that ensure quick, clean kills. CANNELURE:  Provides accurate and consistent crimping and also works with InterLock® ring to ensure the core and jacket remain locked during expansion. INTERLOCK® RING:  The raised InterLock® ring is embedded in the bullet's core, ensuring the core and jacket are locked in one piece during expansion to retain mass and energy. This is not loaded ammunition.

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    • lrgrendel
      Warrior
      • Jul 2013
      • 662

      #3
      Originally posted by tango29 View Post
      What is the largest bullet anyone has loaded for bolt action 6.5 Grendel.

      I am getting ready to start loading for 6.5 Grendel and want to know the larges 6.5 bullet loaded for a bolt grendel.

      I have loaded the LAPUA Naturalis 140 gr in my Howa 6.5 Grendel bolt rifle. ( I also load it in my 6.5 Creedmoor hunting rifle.)
      People have also tried the 140 gr Hornady Amax.

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      • Stevil
        Banned
        • Dec 2015
        • 121

        #4
        155gr Lapua Mega, very very accurate, not real fast from memory

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        • LRRPF52
          Super Moderator
          • Sep 2014
          • 8569

          #5
          I have several boxes of 140gr AMAX that I will shoot from the Howa.

          I've already worked out my maximum magazine-length COL, as well as single feed COL.

          140gr AMAX on the left

          NRA Basic, Pistol, Rifle, Shotgun, RSO

          CCW, CQM, DM, Long Range Rifle Instructor

          6.5 Grendel Reloading Handbooks & chamber brushes can be found here:

          www.AR15buildbox.com

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          • jason miller
            Warrior
            • Dec 2016
            • 182

            #6
            I tried 142 sierra match kings last year. I thought it would be fun to try them with Ramshot Big Game, which is supposedly slower burning powder than anything else I've seen people use with the Grendel, but fairly dense since it's a ball powder. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get enough of it in the case to even match loads with AR Comp that are already within safe pressure.

            I might try some 147 Hornady's someday. They catch a 123 eld at 600 yards(I think 600 was the number when I ran them) for velocity, and have less wind drift from the muzzle on.

            Comment

            • jason miller
              Warrior
              • Dec 2016
              • 182

              #7
              At what length did they kiss the lands for you? It IS possible to take some material off the insides of the magazine, if you were so inclined. I did it with the magazine for my .223 Mini, since the heavies weren't very close to the lands at mag length. I also burned a hole through the front of the mag by getting greedy, though. But I think I was at or very near having 2.400" fit before I burned through. In my Grendel, though, 123's are right around 30 thousandths off the lands at max mag length of 2.335" or whatever it was...

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              • Dinny
                Warrior
                • Jun 2016
                • 607

                #8
                I tried the 160gr Hornady today with 3.5gr of Trail Boss. Let me tell you that is not enough powder. The bullet stuck out of the muzzle 3/4" and I had to drive it out. Next test will be with 5.0gr.

                Thanks, Dinny

                Comment

                • ricsmall
                  Warrior
                  • Sep 2014
                  • 987

                  #9
                  Word to the wise on trail boss. Start high and work down. Somewhere on hogdgon site they explain how to safely do this. Find where the base of your bullet will be with a loaded round. Mark on outside of case with a sharpie, fill case to this point with trail boss. Weigh this powder and this is your max load. Start close to that and work down. I loaded 5 grains with 123 custom comps and was subsonic so if I had to guess you will be upwards of 7 grains. Hope this helps, and if you think it didn’t come out the barrel, check!! Lol.

                  Last edited by ricsmall; 12-17-2017, 10:09 PM. Reason: Edit to add link
                  Member since 2011, data lost in last hack attack

                  Comment

                  • bj139
                    Chieftain
                    • Mar 2017
                    • 1968

                    #10
                    Originally posted by Dinny View Post
                    I tried the 160gr Hornady today with 3.5gr of Trail Boss. Let me tell you that is not enough powder. The bullet stuck out of the muzzle 3/4" and I had to drive it out. Next test will be with 5.0gr.

                    Thanks, Dinny
                    Dinny,
                    LOL. It's a good thing you noticed. Was there any sound?
                    You are like me. Keep up the experimentation. It makes life interesting.

                    If I just wanted to make a perfectly engraved, undeformed bullet, 3.5 gr Trail Boss. I will remember that, I think.
                    Last edited by bj139; 12-17-2017, 10:13 PM.

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                    • Nodak
                      Warrior
                      • Nov 2016
                      • 160

                      #11
                      I'll be watching this with great interest. Once my suppressor clears I want to get a reliable subsonic load worked out. Would love to hear what kind of heavy bullet get accuracy in a Howa?

                      Comment

                      • Dinny
                        Warrior
                        • Jun 2016
                        • 607

                        #12
                        I've been loading TB for years and that's the first time I stuck a bullet on the first try. It was uncharacteristically quiet so I did a thorough check and found it protruding from the muzzle. 5 gr will be interesting.

                        Thanks, Dinny

                        Comment

                        • TKO
                          Bloodstained
                          • Feb 2017
                          • 70

                          #13
                          Regarding Trail Boss:

                          I have been playing with it in a RARR chambered in .300 AAC Blackout with Rainier Ballistics 180 grain plated HP's for a cheap and quiet "Bunny Fart" load. I used a cutaway case to determine where my bullet base was situated and loaded enough powder to reach the bullet base without compression of the powder. 5.0 grains.

                          Average velocity 10 ft from muzzle 811 fps
                          ES: 67 fps
                          SD: 15 fps

                          Very quiet:

                          Home for all your photos and videos, automatically organized and easy to share.


                          Actually, way more quiet outside of the garage, but I don't have a video of that.

                          Decided to try a 0.5 grain bump to 5.5 grains with attendant mild compression and velocity average climbed to 865 fps but both ES and SD more than doubled, so things were getting erratic. I highly recommend that you do NOT compress this powder.

                          I have plenty of throat and magazine room to seat the bullets further out for more effective case capacity, but I am happy with things the way they are for now.

                          Comment

                          • Dinny
                            Warrior
                            • Jun 2016
                            • 607

                            #14
                            Compression of TB leads to disaster real quick. Remember there are old reloaders and there are bold reloaders, but not many old bold reloaders. I have found load densities of 50%-80% usually give the best results with TB.

                            Thanks, Dinny

                            Comment

                            • Klem
                              Chieftain
                              • Aug 2013
                              • 3507

                              #15
                              Originally posted by Dinny View Post
                              Compression of TB leads to disaster real quick. Remember there are old reloaders and there are bold reloaders, but not many old bold reloaders. I have found load densities of 50%-80% usually give the best results with TB.

                              Thanks, Dinny
                              I recommend an internal ballistics program like Quickload (QL) if you are going down the track of loading subsonic/quiet. This will tell you how much volume you are filling with powder for whatever OAL you decide. It will also simulate the muzzle pressure for your load and length of barrel, and given muzzle pressure is 'sound' this is relevant for 'quiet'. If you are using an AR it will also predict the pressure at the port which is at a particular length along the barrel to determine whether it is going to reliably cycle. The predicted fill will also prevent you loading less than 80% the available space and so risking flash-over and/or Secondary Explosion Effect. Couple this with the Miller stability formula on JBM online and you can also know if the bullet is going to be stable exiting the barrel and potentially baffle-striking your expensive can.

                              If ultra quiet is your thing then I would recommend going the lightest bullet you can find. This will give the least muzzle pressure for a velocity approaching 100fps lower than the ambient speed of sound where you are in the world. The sound barrier crack builds from 90fps below the speed of sound which means this is your target, not the actual speed of sound. For example, a 'Hollywood-quiet' load in 300BLK is 6gns of TB behind a 110TTSX at 56mm OAL. The case capacity fill at that OAL is 91.5% which is above the 80% safety threshold. You have to watch the shank contact here as there is 5.4mm of shank in contact with the inside neck and you want as close as the calibre as possible (7.62mm). This is why the OAL is shorter than typical magazine lengths permit. The jump is fairly severe but at 100 metres max effective range the target wont notice. This 'Hollywood' load is equivalent 9mm in weight and speed, which is why normal 200gn subsonic Blackout loads are louder than 9mm. It just won't cycle an AR.

                              With Grendel you have a lighter range of bullets with a higher case capacity than Blackout. 25gns of water capacity in the Blackout compared to 37.5 in the Grendel. This makes it harder to load safely subsonic. For example, a heavy 140gn Barnes needs about 7gns of TB to reach the 80% safety fill threshold. This puts the round at about 1,150fps which is cracking the sound barrier. Less powder means more risk. It would be great if there were depleted uranium bullets available because that's the only way they will be heavier for the density than lead. And is why I haven't tried loading for subsonic in this calibre. It' either too dangerous or too loud.

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