Extremely poor results... Lapua, AMAX, CFE & XBR

[BarrelNut]

Went to the range with all this hype about how great the 6.5 Grendel is... Rifle is a Radical 24", Aero Lower, Vortex scope.

Weather was 38degF, 10-15mph wind, all shots at 100 yards.

I shot a box of Hornady Factory Match in 123 AMAX for break in, did shoot one clean one for 5, then shoot 5 clean one for the rest. Results were ~2MOA. I figured my handloads would be much better so it didn't concern me.

Test 1 was new Lapua brass, CCI450's, and CFE223 from 30.00-32.00gr in 0.25gr increments. Best group was 32.00 gr, but it was over MOA....I was pretty disgusted and didn't caliper the groups.

Test 2 was new Lapua brass, CCI450's, and 8208XBR from 26.00-28.50gr in 0.25gr incremenets. 28.5gr was 0.935" and the best of the day.

No loads showed pressure signs, and of course my Caldwell Chrono had a dead battery so no velocity numbers. Maybe I should move up another 0.5 on each and see how they do?


What gives? My rock river LR308 shoots in the 6's, and my Savage custom 308 shoots sub 5's regularly. In my 308's I exclusively use amax and match prepped LC13 brass. This 6.5 Lapua brass I just loaded out of the box. Maybe uniforming the primer pocket and deburring the flash hole does that much for accuracy?

I'm going to reload both powders, bring an extra chrono battery, and deburr the flasholes on the next batch of new lapua brass and see what happens.

I'd hate for these AMAX's not work out... I bought 500 of them!

Thanks for any help

[Fredman]

Could it be Scope, mount issue? I had similar issue 2 MOA, and found I had a defective mount. Otherwise barrel issue?

[NIevo]

If it's a Radical barrel then I would look there first. Do you know anyone else with a Grendel that could shoot some of the ammo? Since it was shooting poor with the factory as well as reloads I would think barrel or mount as other poster said.

[A5BLASTER]

Maybe scope and mount issue, maybe barrel to upper fit could be possible even in factory built complete uppers, try a diffrent bullet maybe the barrel will shoot thighter groups with a diffrent bullet and weight.

What trigger are you useing?

Maybe shooting position was affecting your grouping.

Check the muzzle break is timed correctly to the bore, maybe check the jump to lands could be you was a lil far back and had to much jump to the lands.

Hope you get it figured out, the 6.5 is a awesome round.

[JASmith]

A fair fraction of that spread could be variable wind drift.

Getting batter than 1.5 moa at the range I normally use is almost impossible when the wind exceeds 10 mph. The buildings and hills make even steady winds produce bunches of turbulence. Gusts are worse.

[Fredman]

A fair fraction of that spread could be variable wind drift.

Getting batter than 1.5 moa at the range I normally use is almost impossible when the wind exceeds 10 mph. The buildings and hills make even steady winds produce bunches of turbulence. Gusts are worse.

Good point. What were the vertical group size? Still 2 MOA?

[JASmith]

Strangely enough, wind rolling over the covered line or monds next to the lane or over the berm can cause vertical spread too.

Took awhile to break THAT code...

[Drillboss]

Try some more powders. Benchmark has had the best accuracy for me, albeit somewhat lower velocities. I've only seen about 1.25 MOA accuracy with CFE and XBR. H335, which some have had very good luck with, won't group at all from my rifle.

[sneaky one]

Try this again, after the brass is re sized .

[LRRPF52]

Sorry to hear that.

Problem is this isn't really a 6.5 Grendel with the compound throat SAAMI chamber, but chambered with some variant chamber and at a very low price point.

Every SAAMI-chambered 6.5 Grendel I have accuracy-tested (and that has been a bunch of rifles over the years) has been an exceptional to phenomenal shooter, not just for 5rd groups, but even into the 8-10rd groups on many.

For the price, I would just be happy that the gun functions. If you want accuracy, I always recommend for people to go with the SAAMI chamber.

I've shot several guns with non-SAAMI chambers that had top-line barrels that were very accurate, but next to the same barrel from the same company with a SAAMI chamber, the SAAMI chambered barrel would shoot even more accurately. We're talking .73 MOA vs. .3 MOA from lightweight barrels even. Both grouped wonderfully, both the same price, same profile, only difference was chambers.

Believe me, I've accuracy-tested a lot of different guns now, not exaggerating to sound cool, and the SAAMI chamber just flat-out shoots. I suspect that you have a really long leade in that chamber. Can you take some measurements and see where you actually hit the lands with the 123gr AMAX?

Make a dummy cartridge or use the Stoney Point/Hornady gauge, and see what you maximum COL is allowable with that bullet. I'm interested to see what it is.

[Cornbread]

Check the barrel nut torque. Try loading the fire formed brass with minimal shoulder bump and try a longer coal.

[kmon]

Try another scope, had issues with a brand new Vortex Viper PST on my latest build, also check mounts and screws. Several good suggestions above, 52 knows these rifles better than I ever will.

In the OP the mention of debur the flash holes on Lapua brass, have never seen any that needed it. One of the reasons Lapua and Nosler brass cost is higher is that step along with some others is already done for you.

[BarrelNut]

Thanks for all the replies guys!

-At the range I double checked all the mounting screws. With the factory Match ammo being so off I thought I simply left the scope base untorqued.
-The wind could have something to do with it, as well as my shooting technique. I'm normally shooting off a bipod and rear bag, but yesterday I was just shooting off of 2 bags. The shouldering position was much lower than I"m accustomed to.
-I have a Vortex Viper 6.5020x50 that I am 100% confident in that I could switch out.
-I'm hoping it's not the upper or barrel. Looking at Radicals social media pages, people are having great luck with their 24" uppers.
-Trigger is a velocity 3.5lb, same one on my ar15. Very crisp break.

I'm going to take a fired piece of brass and body size it, then check the lands to see how far off I am. I don't have much room in the mag though....I'll try to find some benchmark and lapua scenars to try out, but I'm pretty determined to make this amax load shoot!

If none of this works I'll call Radical before I dismount the barrel. I can just see them saying they won't take it back because I messed with it!

EDIT: I was also thinking of unscrewing the pepper pot muzzle brake to eliminate that variable as well.

[BarrelNut]

Sorry to hear that.

Problem is this isn't really a 6.5 Grendel with the compound throat SAAMI chamber, but chambered with some variant chamber and at a very low price point.

Every SAAMI-chambered 6.5 Grendel I have accuracy-tested (and that has been a bunch of rifles over the years) has been an exceptional to phenomenal shooter, not just for 5rd groups, but even into the 8-10rd groups on many.

For the price, I would just be happy that the gun functions. If you want accuracy, I always recommend for people to go with the SAAMI chamber.

I've shot several guns with non-SAAMI chambers that had top-line barrels that were very accurate, but next to the same barrel from the same company with a SAAMI chamber, the SAAMI chambered barrel would shoot even more accurately. We're talking .73 MOA vs. .3 MOA from lightweight barrels even. Both grouped wonderfully, both the same price, same profile, only difference was chambers.

Believe me, I've accuracy-tested a lot of different guns now, not exaggerating to sound cool, and the SAAMI chamber just flat-out shoots. I suspect that you have a really long leade in that chamber. Can you take some measurements and see where you actually hit the lands with the 123gr AMAX?

Make a dummy cartridge or use the Stoney Point/Hornady gauge, and see what you maximum COL is allowable with that bullet. I'm interested to see what it is.

Let's on the off chance say that the issue IS the barrel, and Radical won't make it right. What 24" barrel would you guys recommend that has the SAAMI chamber?

[Joseph5]

A Lilja drop in or a Criterion barrel from Precision Firearms.