122gr 6.5 Lehigh Defense Controlled Chaos

[specialk22804]

Has anyone loaded or looked into loading the 122gr Lehigh Defense Controlled Chaos for 6.5 Grendel. On the Lehigh site they have the 122gr listed as for the Creedmoor and the 110gr listed for the Grendel. My thought is in searching available projectiles for the Grendel, the LDCC 110gr is pretty much the only 110gr bullet I can find. I considered loading the LDCC for hunting and loading another projectile of the same weight for target shooting and general tom foolery. There is a lot of projectiles in the 120-123gr range. I dont want to have to change my zero or plan for Kentucky windage everytime I change ammo. The only difference other than the 12gr weight difference in the 2 projectiles in obviously the 122gr is slightly longer. Being heavier, it will require a different, probably slightly larger load. Will this work with a grendel casing or do you think it will be too long to get the OAL to cycle in the AR15? I am thinking it may crunch a little powder but should work. Thoughts???

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[LRRPF52]

The 122gr has a lot of ogive length that will best be used in a bolt gun or loaded long. It's form factor is more like a 142gr 6.5mm target bullet, other than the meplat.

Comparing it with the 119gr flash tip, I think the 122gr will fit, but it will take up a lot of case capacity.

That 110gr is on the heavier end of what is ideal for 6.5 Grendel with a solid bullet.

Some have loaded the Barnes 127gr LRX with kill results on Oryx from an 18" JP Grendel, so I think it's doable, just not optimum.

[specialk22804]

That 110gr is on the heavier end of what is ideal for 6.5 Grendel with a solid bullet.

I am new to the grendel, but I dont understand what you mean here. Seems most of the ammo I see, especially factory ammo is all loaded with a projectile heavier than 110g. Hornady specifically loves that 120-123gr sweet spot. I have seen them as low as 85gr and up to 147gr I think.

The biggest reason for the question is as I mentioned, I really would like to use the 110gr LDCC but would love to load a target round that I can load cheaper than the LDCC without being so different in bullet weight that my sights are useless. Yes the simple answer is no, suck it up and just shoot the LDCC or pick a different round.

My plans for the Grendel are a hunting rifle with shots out to 400-500 yards with an occasional shot beyond 500. Primarily will be hunting North Carolina deer and coyote's as well as some hogs as they are becoming more prevalent here. If the 122gr is a no go and I dont really want to only shoot the 110gr, what bullet would be a good choice? Deer and coyote's are not as challenging as the thick shoulder plate of a ferrel hog.

My Grendel is a custom build with Odinworks internals, BCG and 20" Heavy barrel.

Thanks for the help!

[explorecaves]

Lead core is heavier than an all solid bullet. Hence the 100gr solid having a similar profile to a 120gr lead core despite the weight difference.

ETA: you will have to also push the solid bullets faster with the grendel to achieve the required opening velocities required for expansion which is why the lighter solid bullets are recommended.

[specialk22804]

I understand the idea that lead is heavier so a lead core would be smaller than a solid bullet like the LDCC. What I was not sure of was his comment of 110gr being on the heavy end of what is ideal for the Grendel.

On another note, I didnt even think about speed needed for expansion. According to Lehigh's page, the minimum recommended speed for the CC is 1500FPS which should be no issue for the grendel, right? Seems average speeds for a 120ish grain pill is in the 2300-2700 range depending on barrel length.

[rabiddawg]

Anything over 100 gr in a solid starts to eat up too much case capacity. That’s what he means by the 120 being on the heavy end of the solid copper spectrum.

[explorecaves]

Regarding the expansion speeds needed, spend some time viewing the data collected by RickOshay: http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showt...he-6-5-Grendel

Tons of information once you start to connect the dots in the data.

[LRRPF52]

If you're trying to hunt out to 500yds on yotes, any bullet will do.

Hogs will be a different story.

123gr SST will probably be your best bet all around. I would keep shots on hogs well within that range, like 300 and in for static hogs.