Need help choosing powders

[Savage Shooter]

Thanks, LRR. I have ordered Vol 1 and 2 for the Grendel so I can really dig in there and not ask repetitive questions here. My main interest is looong range shooting and prairie dog hunting, so, I thought that 24" would be of substantial benefit when I bought my AA Overwatch (that and the sale price at Midway....). Sounds like I might have been better off with a 20" bbl - then I'd have a maneuverable hog gun without giving up too much in 600 yd prairie dog and steel shooting.

[LRRPF52]

I'm actually going to build a 22" heavy fluted 6.5 Grendel and run CFE/123gr loads through it at well over 2600fps. It might give me a reason to leave my .260 Remington AR10 home even more, since it is so easy to spot my own hits with the Grendel.

I'm going to use extensive carbon fiber for the furniture, to keep it as light as possible. It will be with a Lilja barrel.

[bigbear_98]

I recently loaded some up with cfe 223. I started at 30.1 and went .3 increments to 31.3. I'm hoping to see much better results than 8208. I was just breaking 2500fps before I saw pressure signs with 8208 at 28.2gr and the pressure came on fast. I am also running my rifle suppressed exclusively so I expect to see pressure sooner than not suppressed.

27 all the way to 28 grains of 8208 gave me some great 5 and 10 shot groups though.

[Joseph5]

Use the google search engine stickyed in the AR forum and look up a thread from Bwild97. He posted his reloading results and was getting 2700 fps with CFE and 123r bullets out of a 24 inch barrel. I have finally been able to let go of my quest/desire for maximum velocity when reloading. This cartridge/rifle helped me do that. I know I could get more velocity from mine because I am not maxed out pressure wise but when I started shooting 0.5 inch 5 shot groups and being able to spot my own shots I became a believer. If I can't kill whatever I am hunting with this rifle than I shouldn't be hunting it. The 6.5 Grendel is the ballistic equivalent/twin of the 6.5x54Mannlicher which has been used to great effect/success the world over shooting critters up to Giraffe size. I was previously a 300 WM shooter running 180r bullets at 3100+ fps. While it makes an impressive impact on stuff there was know spotting my own shots and 40 rounds in a sitting was about all I could take. I can load 2.5 Grendel rounds with the same amount of powder that I was putting in my 300. My Grendel is lighter, easier/funner to shoot, and a lot more economical which leads to more shooting which leads to being a better shooter.