Newbie to the Grendel seeks advice on brass and dies

[North Florida]

Hello members,

I am not new to reloading. However, I am brand new to the 6.5 Grendel. I will be completing my first Grendel AR build in Jan 2019 or maybe the end of this December if time permits.

I will only be shooting 6.5 Grendel in one dedicated AR build. I would love some advice and feedback on which dies most of you are using for AR / semi auto hand loading.

I was considering buying some factory loads for initial break in and practice and then using that brass for my hand loads. ????

What do you guys think of the various brands of brass out there?

I am hearing that the Lapaua may take 20+ reloadings before disposal. That may justify its higher cost. Yes? No?

How about Hornady or some of the other brands of brass? PPU, or Wolf on the cheaper end?

What is the life expectancy of various brands?

Generally speaking, I won't be trying to work up maximum pressure loads.

Whether I am punching paper or putting together some deer or hog hunting loads, accuracy is more important to me than pushing the envelope with maximum velocity or pressure.

I will gladly take any advice on projectiles as well. My build will utilize the 20" Monster barrel and Monster bolt that our moderator is supplying.

I appreciate any advice that you guys are willing to share here.

Thanks in advance my fellow members.

Regards from North Florida

[Bigs28]

I buy hornady American gunner to shoot and keep the brass. Ive read that the hornady is good for 8-10 but im not there yet. Starline gets good reviews but from what I've read lapua is the best. Expensive at first but lasts long enough to make it worth it.

[Sinclair]

Welcome North Florida,
One newbie to another, buy quality as good as you can afford. If you keep reloading quality will pay off in the long run (new to the Grendel not reloading per se), if you give it up it is easier to sell what other people are wanting, cheap will be hard to sell and for pennies. Yes, Lapua is the best (according to those in the know) and will be the cheapest in the long run. As far as shooting factory stuff to get brass, that is what I did until I was able to score 200 rnds of Hornady brass on sale cheap. Hornady Black 123 gr match was supposed to be the most accurate, but my rifle likes Federal Eagle 120gr OTM better so that is what I am shooting and will be reloading the brass soon. When it comes to dies, I have used just about every brand out there, even some brands no longer available. Once again my experience is that they all work initially with the better quality paying off, usually, Take care of them and they all should last a very long time. Grit is the nemesis of the sizing dies.

My last advice is to read this forum! I have skimmed nearly every thread on reloading and am throughly confused. So mush contradictory information Every barrel is unique, especially the AR barrels. So you will probably need to buy a variety of factory stuff and shoot it to learn what weight bullets, etc your barrel prefers. Maybe, just maybe some one on the forum will adopt you and get you started in the right direction.

I am still struggling myself to learn a new rifle, a new caliber with its spectacular ballistics, and all the other new fangled gear after a long hiatus from precision shooting so I wish you the best of luck in your new venture.

Best Regards from West Central IL

[VASCAR2]

I haven’t shot any Federal 6.5 Grendel ammo but reports I’ve read on forums indicates Federal 6.5 Grendel brass is not as good as Hornady. I have bought factory ammo on sale where you can buy factory ammo cheaper than you can buy brass and reload. I have bought Lapua and Hornady 6.5 Grendel brass on sale which made my reloads more affordable. Fortunately prices for 6.5 Grendel brass hasn’t gone up a lot and there is good availability now.

If you find ammo or components online for sale you need to act quick as 6.5 Grendel is getting more popular and stuff sells out quick.

[Arkhangel5]

NF,
I am down south of you.

I compete with my Grendel, and also use it for hunting when I can. I have about 1800 rounds thru my rifle in 2 yrs.

That was done with 300 pieces of brass, 200 Hornady and 100 Lapua, both shooting the same match load. I shoot 123's exclusively, out to 600yds in competition.

My rifle shoots really good for an 18in'er, I had my doubts when I first built it, but it has surpassed all my expectations in matches. Has also taken 2 deer with single shots.

I do all this using standard Hornady dies, making mag length ammunition, and getting consistent sub-moa performance. I would be hard pressed to get better results from more expensive dies.

That said, since I said I compete, that means I use match bullets almost exclusively, I prefer Hornady Eld-m's, but also shoot Nosler and Sierra match bullets. I only use CCI match primers and have not really tried using anything else. My powder charges are very exact, and I get repeatable consistent performance loading as I do.

I would do as was mentioned previously, scour this site for information, pick and choose what you think fits your objective, then see if it works.

SY

[glk45]

Finished my Grendel this spring. What i have found is that my Grendel's best performance was at the upper end of the powder charge weight. I'm like you. I don't like to hot rod my loads.

[LR1955]

Welcome North Florida,
One newbie to another, buy quality as good as you can afford. If you keep reloading quality will pay off in the long run (new to the Grendel not reloading per se), if you give it up it is easier to sell what other people are wanting, cheap will be hard to sell and for pennies. Yes, Lapua is the best (according to those in the know) and will be the cheapest in the long run. As far as shooting factory stuff to get brass, that is what I did until I was able to score 200 rnds of Hornady brass on sale cheap. Hornady Black 123 gr match was supposed to be the most accurate, but my rifle likes Federal Eagle 120gr OTM better so that is what I am shooting and will be reloading the brass soon. When it comes to dies, I have used just about every brand out there, even some brands no longer available. Once again my experience is that they all work initially with the better quality paying off, usually, Take care of them and they all should last a very long time. Grit is the nemesis of the sizing dies.

My last advice is to read this forum! I have skimmed nearly every thread on reloading and am throughly confused. So mush contradictory information Every barrel is unique, especially the AR barrels. So you will probably need to buy a variety of factory stuff and shoot it to learn what weight bullets, etc your barrel prefers. Maybe, just maybe some one on the forum will adopt you and get you started in the right direction.

I am still struggling myself to learn a new rifle, a new caliber with its spectacular ballistics, and all the other new fangled gear after a long hiatus from precision shooting so I wish you the best of luck in your new venture.

Best Regards from West Central IL

Sinclair:

You got it! Just like asking truck drivers what pick up truck is 'the best'.

Experienced handloaders tend to use very good gear but they also tend to use the same brand of gear and will swear it is the best.

I personally avoid Lee gear almost totally. I only buy RCBS if nothing else is available. I prefer Redding gear but will buy Hornady without any worry about its quality or durability.

All seem to have good guarantees but I think RCBS may have the best of all of them. No questions asked guarantee is pretty good. That said, I would rather buy something that doesn't require a guarantee.

Bottom line is this. Guys are giving sound advice here but new shooters don't want to accept it. If a guy wants a good barrel, he will pay for a good barrel. If a guy wants a good optic, he will pay way more than $500.00 for a good optic. Want good reloading gear? Get ready to pay for it.

LR55

[Popeye212]

My observations on the brass issue is the Federal primers pockets come loose very quickly. I have stopped using the Hornady brass after 5-7 loadings for the primer pocket issue also. The Starline and Lapua I will stick with. Starline can be had for $41.00 per 100. The Grendel so far has been very easy on the brass very little trimming needed. As far as dies go I have RCBS,Hornady and Forster and the Forster is the better of the three. Forster Micrometer seating die is markedly better than the other two. Dies, all thing considered are an investment and considering what you will spend on bullets,powder etc. are relatively small part of the investment and in my opinion not where you should sacrifice. They are a major factor in the quality of your ammo. As for bullets to test the new barrel anything that has Sierra Matchking written on it seems to work well. As well Hornady with an EL on it. As far as the press (single stage) the Mec Marksman I have far exceeds my old RCBS that my son now has. But then again LR1955 is right about opinions on which is best. For the money and quality of the press I am happy with my choice. Saved a few bucks too. Just my .02

[LR1955]

My observations on the brass issue is the Federal primers pockets come loose very quickly. I have stopped using the Hornady brass after 5-7 loadings for the primer pocket issue also. The Starline and Lapua I will stick with. Starline can be had for $41.00 per 100. The Grendel so far has been very easy on the brass very little trimming needed. As far as dies go I have RCBS,Hornady and Forster and the Forster is the better of the three. Forster Micrometer seating die is markedly better than the other two. Dies, all thing considered are an investment and considering what you will spend on bullets,powder etc. are relatively small part of the investment and in my opinion not where you should sacrifice. They are a major factor in the quality of your ammo. As for bullets to test the new barrel anything that has Sierra Matchking written on it seems to work well. As well Hornady with an EL on it. As far as the press (single stage) the Mec Marksman I have far exceeds my old RCBS that my son now has. But then again LR1955 is right about opinions on which is best. For the money and quality of the press I am happy with my choice. Saved a few bucks too. Just my .02

Popeye:

Forgot about Forster. Would not hesitate to buy a Forster product. Have a number of their products and all are super.

Only Mec stuff I know of are shotgun presses. Top notch, too.
LR55

[Popeye212]

"Only Mec stuff I know of are shotgun presses. Top notch, too. "

The Marksman is a single stage press. Smooth as glass and I have seen some video reviews on the runout on it and it is as good or better than any of em. At $179 it is a heck of a deal. It is new I found it while looking at the Co-Axe and the T-6 and saw some comparative test reviews on them. Front access is a nice feature as is the spent primer tray. Doesn't prime which I was not going to use anyway. Hand prime or at present using the Lee bench primer. I like it better than the hand primer (arthritis) although some of the plastic on it would be better if it was metal. That said the only problem I had with it they sent out the replacement and I got it in 3 days.

[Mad Charlie]

I use My Forster COAX and competition dies with the micrometer seater for all of my rifle work, except for straight wall cases. I also have RCBS and Redding dies, but the Forsters are my favorite. I ran a Rock Chucker for nearly 40 years before I got the COAX a few years ago. It still works just fine. I may be the only guy in the state that got a bad Hornady New Dimension die set, stickinest sizing die I ever had. Hornady would have cheerfully replaced it, but I just went on with Forster and didn't look back. Since I am a retired machinist, I love precision tools.

Like the guys said, get the best tools you can, and learn to use them properly, it DOES pay off, cheap equipment is frustrating to work with.

lee doesn't live here...

[Popeye212]

Only Lee die I have is the decapper and a crimp for .223. Removed all the decapping pins.