6.5 Grendel Caribou Harvest

[BlueDuck]

BlueDuck, do you have Volume II of the 6.5 Grendel Reloading Handbook series? I think you will find the information therein very informative as to how you move forward with barrel length, projectile selection, terminal ballistics, optics, etc.

A 16" Grendel has a lot of capability, I have learned, a lot more than I initially gave it credit for.

LRRPF52, I do not have that book. I suppose I need to pick up a copy if I intend to reload for my rifle. I have a small amount of powder and 120 grain TTSX bullets and I have 20 reloaded cartridges that I made up on Monday in order to confirm my zero. Getting powder up here is next to impossible. It has been a very long time since I've seen any for sale.

[BlueDuck]

Probably not going to get to 400 yds with a 16" barrel and maintain the 2000 fps you need for the TTSX to open up. I got about 2600 fps from a 16" barrel using the 100gr TTSX. That will drop below 2000 fps at about 300 yds

I was wondering if anyone had worked out the ballistics/max effective range for the 120 TTSX. I was guessing it was somewhere right at 300 yards, but that was just a hunch. I would not consider a 300 yard shot uncommon while hunting on the tundra. That being said, 300 yards is about as far as I'd be comfortable taking a poke at such a large animal.

Do you think the SST bullet would provide more reliable and better expansion at the 300 yard mark and beyond, when fired from a 16" tube?

[southern180]

Nice work,, dont worry about the boo not responding to your first two hits, hunted many inland and northern heard , have hit them with everything from 30-06 to 375HH
and they just stood there. I really think the winter boo have a slowed down heart rate and such to conserve energy. last hunt was down near tok fly out. And for mother Rucker if you get back there in the fall and need some hunting fix look me up I have a small place south of enterprise.

[BlueDuck]

Nice work,, dont worry about the boo not responding to your first two hits, hunted many inland and northern heard , have hit them with everything from 30-06 to 375HH
and they just stood there. I really think the winter boo have a slowed down heart rate and such to conserve energy. last hunt was down near tok fly out. And for mother Rucker if you get back there in the fall and need some hunting fix look me up I have a small place south of enterprise.

I appreciate the offer! I plan on staying up here until I can't hunt anymore

[southern180]

I appreciate the offer! I plan on staying up here until I can't hunt anymore

OK , have known many to say that , many more have moved south after our age and retirement , dont get me wrong I love the state, I have hunted browns down south near Juno to boo on the north side, had all the toys to boot, the flying was the greatest, had a good weekend gig with DC4s out of FAI.

[BlueDuck]

OK , have known many to say that , many more have moved south after our age and retirement , dont get me wrong I love the state, I have hunted browns down south near Juno to boo on the north side, had all the toys to boot, the flying was the greatest, had a good weekend gig with DC4s out of FAI.

I will not deny that hunting up here is incredibly hard on the body. I'm still recovering from the hunt last weekend. We rode approximately 50 miles total on snow machines. Got stuck a few times and had to dig out. Luckily recovering the animals wasn't too difficult, but the ride out beat us up. I hope I can continue to hunt up here, but it sure isn't like hunting whitetails back east. That is for certain. I haven't hunted bears down south (have hunted them unsuccessfully around Fairbanks). All that being said, I could not imagine living anywhere else.

[southern180]

I will not deny that hunting up here is incredibly hard on the body. I'm still recovering from the hunt last weekend. We rode approximately 50 miles total on snow machines. Got stuck a few times and had to dig out. Luckily recovering the animals wasn't too difficult, but the ride out beat us up. I hope I can continue to hunt up here, but it sure isn't like hunting whitetails back east. That is for certain. I haven't hunted bears down south (have hunted them unsuccessfully around Fairbanks). All that being said, I could not imagine living anywhere else.

Get a couple guys you can hang with day in and day out drive to haines take the ferry to juno. fly out to one of the ABC islands, take a inflatable with motor, cruse the shore. you will see 7-10 bear a day. approach from down wind on land to get up close and make sure its the one you want, lots to see but wait for the 10 foot mark. many deer camps/shacks that will be nicer than your tent, just be sure to write in there camp book that you stayed and liked the place, most all are open. plan on 6-10 days and bring lots of salt for the hides. as for fairbanks take the 4 wheeler out behind the AFB during blue berry season in the hills, 2 guys sit atop the hills and spot. one goes down for the stock the other stays atop hill to guide other in direction of black bear, brush once you get in it is to thick to see the bear till you get real close. this is a fall hunt the other in the ABC islands is a spring hunt. HAVE Fun

[BlueDuck]

Get a couple guys you can hang with day in and day out drive to haines take the ferry to juno. fly out to one of the ABC islands, take a inflatable with motor, cruse the shore. you will see 7-10 bear a day. approach from down wind on land to get up close and make sure its the one you want, lots to see but wait for the 10 foot mark. many deer camps/shacks that will be nicer than your tent, just be sure to write in there camp book that you stayed and liked the place, most all are open. plan on 6-10 days and bring lots of salt for the hides. as for fairbanks take the 4 wheeler out behind the AFB during blue berry season in the hills, 2 guys sit atop the hills and spot. one goes down for the stock the other stays atop hill to guide other in direction of black bear, brush once you get in it is to thick to see the bear till you get real close. this is a fall hunt the other in the ABC islands is a spring hunt. HAVE Fun

Thanks for the tips! Spring bear season will be on us pretty soon up here. I'll give it a shot! Again, thanks!

[lamrith]

BlueDuck,
Congrats on a great animal and thanks for the full write-up and honesty. It takes guts to admit it was not your best shot, but you got it done and made sure it did not suffer.

Since people have been talking about performance.. One question I have for the Horde as a new hunter and new grendel owner is I see people talking about wanting passthru and max penetration. Would it not be better to have the bullet enter, open fully and stay internal to do maximum damage and transfer of force versus going thru and letting much of that force not be transferred to the target? Can anyone share some insight on this, I know I plan to hunt Muley/whitetail this fall with mine and would like to get some development done before then. Right now I am shooting factory Horn 123G Amax, once those are gone I will likely start reloading..

[BlueDuck]

Since people have been talking about performance.. One question I have for the Horde as a new hunter and new grendel owner is I see people talking about wanting passthru and max penetration. Would it not be better to have the bullet enter, open fully and stay internal to do maximum damage and transfer of force versus going thru and letting much of that force not be transferred to the target? Can anyone share some insight on this, I know I plan to hunt Muley/whitetail this fall with mine and would like to get some development done before then. Right now I am shooting factory Horn 123G Amax, once those are gone I will likely start reloading..

[lamrith]

I prefer the complete pass through since in theory, it provides two holes from which to bleed and/or let air escape. That being said, I've seen plenty of critters die from arrows and projectiles that did not completely pass through the animal.
I can’t offer any facts that support one over the other (complete energy dump vs complete pass through). But I can offer this, the ability to penetrate deeper may offer you a bit more latitude on what is an acceptable shot…..quartering vs broadside. I would not be willing to attempt a quartering shot with a cartridge that I know would not be able to reach the vitals. Of course bullet construction and performance are just as much of the penetration equation as is cartridge performance (meaning how fast the cartridge can push the projectile).

BlueDuck,
Thanks that helps allot and makes quite a bit of sense!

[dmsims21]

I am all about 2 holes for bleeding. Many times the entry doesn't bleed at all.

[Drift]

When it comes to bigger game, penetration is preferable to expansion. In general, a SD (sectional density) of .25 or greater is what you are looking for in a "traditional" cup and core bullet. Bigger game like Muley/Northern Whitetail have bigger bones and a longer body mass; so if you are unsuccessful in shooting all-the-way through (like during a Texas heart shot) a long bodied deer, you can till hit the vitals. Using "super premium" bullets like Barnes or N Partitions lower that SD/bullet weight . If hunting anything that mite bite back like big hogs 130gr or heavier knocks them backward along with assuring deep penetration.

[BlueDuck]

When considering the Barnes 100 grain or 120 grain (TSX or TTSX), I wonder which offers optimal expansion and penetration at say 300 yards from a 16" barrel?

[LRRPF52]

From a 16" barrel, with a 2650fps mv, you hit expansion threshold at 275yds with the 100gr TTSX. Same thing with the 120gr TSX. They both have over 29" of expansion through Permagel at 2000fps impact speed, with between .410-.416" expansion at that speed. This is all in the Terminal Ballistics section of Volume II.

Some other premium bullets with similar or lower expansion thresholds are:

120gr GMX
129gr ABLR

The Berger 130 VLD has proven to perform very well on even large game at extreme long range from the larger capacity magnums, namely the 6.5 SAUM 4S, and George Gardner specifically prefers that bullet for his long range hunting due to its accuracy and predictable performance at a wide range of speeds.

The 130gr Berger from an 18" Grendel has been used to take several large Mule deer and puts them down very well.

I'm interested to see what the 129gr ABLR does, since it is rated down to 1300fps expansion.