Help to improve accuracy

[Rick2001]

Good afternoon.
I have a 24" Grendel Hunter upper on a self assembled lower and I shoot reloaded ammo.
I shoot from 100 yards to 560 yards and while I can't claim real problems with accuracy, so far my best group it is just 2 MOA.
Not sure if the problem is the ammo I reload , the rifle or myself, but I would like to receive a feedback on my loads to understand if I am doing anything wrong.
Cases: recycled brass , mainly hornady
Powder: BL-C(2) 29.9 gn
Bullets : Speer Gold Dot 120 gn
Primer : Magtech Small Rifle

What I would like to understand in the end, is if this is the best accuracy I can get out of that rifle or there is room from improvement.
Thanks in advance

[grayfox]

The Grendel hunter is not known for being a great barrel.
You need to make sure first of all that everything is tight and not moving on you, scope, mount, barrel/barrel nut, no crush washer behind your muzzle device to throw the muzzle tip off...
Plus your situation is compounded by the extreme shortage of reloading components, so I don't know what you have on hand, or if you can only work with the few things you do have.
First, for accuracy you really need a chrony, I suggest magnetospeed, or else lab radar if you have the budget for it.
BLC2 is not the top notch powder for the grendel but it will work...
If you can, do this -
load up some 120 gr Sierra MK with 27.5-28.0 of 8208xbr (a search on here will attest to that combo), that bullet/powder is pretty forgiving and there normally will be a node in there for most barrels.
If that won't shoot then you've got some good indication that it's either your barrel or the build in total... like something loose.

Gold dots have been shooting well for most guys with AR comp, start low and work up from idk-26.5ish no more than 28.0 for now.

Honestly though if I were in your shoes I'd get rid of the GH barrel and get a better one.
The Monster ones on here, an Odin, a Criterion, Lilja or better... the price delta to the one you have will quickly be mode up by the fewer loads you have to shoot... Otherwise you run the risk of pumping good components down a less-quality pipe. Plus your lost time and added frustration.
Maybe not the news you wanted to see but just being honest for you.
Keep us posted.

[Londerko]

[Rosecrans1]

As above! We need a little more info in regard to what you have shot in this gun. Have you shot any factory ammo? What was it? Most everything shoots Hornaday Black ELD-M decent.
Is your trigger mil-spec? Mil-spec triggers are notorious for a lack of accuracy. Upgrade to a nice 3.5 lb to 4.5 lb trigger from one of the aftermarket vendors. (Primary Arms is where I have bought my upgrades).
Using one bullet weight & brand and one powder isn't going to tell you a thing about accuracy in that rifle. Some rifles shoot only a few bullets well. Usually high-end barrels shoot everything decent to great. I wish things were better at the retail end so that you could pick up some better powders and a variety of some bullets. (Never used your primer choice).
Just know that a GOOD trigger will help greatly if you're shooting a mil-spec one now.

Good Luck!

[Rick2001]

Hi all. Thanks for your feedbacks!
The rifle has a cmg 3 5 flat trigger.
I have some hornady black and american eagle ammo around that I was sparing for worse times (if possible) , so today and tomorrow I will shoot some groups and post the results.

[Rosecrans1]

The 3.5# flat is what I run in both my gas guns. It's a nice trigger. The factory ammo should give you an idea of what it can do. You may find that the barrel needs more ammo down it's throat to tighten up your groups. This is indicative of most cheaper barrels. My PSA took 250+ before everything tightened group wise.

[LR1955]

The Grendel hunter is not known for being a great barrel.
You need to make sure first of all that everything is tight and not moving on you, scope, mount, barrel/barrel nut, no crush washer behind your muzzle device to throw the muzzle tip off...
Plus your situation is compounded by the extreme shortage of reloading components, so I don't know what you have on hand, or if you can only work with the few things you do have.
First, for accuracy you really need a chrony, I suggest magnetospeed, or else lab radar if you have the budget for it.
BLC2 is not the top notch powder for the grendel but it will work...
If you can, do this -
load up some 120 gr Sierra MK with 27.5-28.0 of 8208xbr (a search on here will attest to that combo), that bullet/powder is pretty forgiving and there normally will be a node in there for most barrels.
If that won't shoot then you've got some good indication that it's either your barrel or the build in total... like something loose.

Gold dots have been shooting well for most guys with AR comp, start low and work up from idk-26.5ish no more than 28.0 for now.

Honestly though if I were in your shoes I'd get rid of the GH barrel and get a better one.
The Monster ones on here, an Odin, a Criterion, Lilja or better... the price delta to the one you have will quickly be mode up by the fewer loads you have to shoot... Otherwise you run the risk of pumping good components down a less-quality pipe. Plus your lost time and added frustration.
Maybe not the news you wanted to see but just being honest for you.
Keep us posted.

What GF says about the 120 Sierra MK. Doesn't really matter what powder you use and BLC 2 was a very popular powder for the Grendel when the cartridge started out. If your barrel won't shoot a 120 MK between one and two minutes, get a new barrel.

LR55

[Rick2001]

If only I could find the Sierra anywhere...

[Rick2001]

Ok, opening the safe where I stocked the ammo and components for an extended emergency, I've found the following samples of what I have available to test...










I will try all the different ammo I have now as soon as it stops raining , but what about good bullet/powder combo to try with the things I have right now ?
Thanks

P.S. No Sierra MK available anywhere in the US.... I've spent 2 hours searching.

[grayfox]

Some of my advice will depend on how good of a shooter you are. If really good you could try, for the ammo on hand, 3 shots of the SST, 3 of the Eldm, and 3 of the Berger 130's (even 3 of the AE, probably 120 OTM?). Look for grouping of each load - don't worry about the zero point as all 3 could have different POI's; big target with several aim-spots. If you have a known/called flyer then one more round of that type. If they are all 2"+ then that implies the barrel - more shots won't get you under that spread anyway, my opinion.

As to hand loads, the 129 sst (coal-2.245) has Hornady data for both the 748 and Blc-2, both powders top out at 29.5; but to really know what they will shoot you need a chrony and do load workups from 10% low like ~26 grs.
The partitions are kind of expensive to play with IMO.

[Rosecrans1]

Well you have a combo from the Speer manual you could use.

Win 748 and Speer Gold Dot 120gr. (Federal 205 Primer).
Start Charge is 25.7gr/2268fps
End Charge is 28.6gr/2481fps (This is close to a compressed load). Suggest going 5 to 10% less for your max charge!

OAL=2.260

[Rick2001]

I have ordered also 500 Barnes Match Burner Bullets 120 grains Open Tip Match Boat Tail. anyone knows if they are good quality or just plinking bullets ?

[Lemonaid]

I have ordered also 500 Barnes Match Burner Bullets 120 grains Open Tip Match Boat Tail. anyone knows if they are good quality or just plinking bullets ?

The Barnes 120 MB have given me outstanding accuracy for my Ruger 6.5 Grendel RAP, better than any other bullet I have tried. If you don't like them, give me a PM and I will graciously take them off your hands!
I am using RL15 for my loads but would think AR comp would be even better.

[knitepoet]

My factory Shilen barreled AA Overwatch will shoot well under 0.5 MOA with a LOT of different loads, I haven't been able to get under 2 MOA with it with any load using the GoldDots

My Custom 799 with a #1 Shilen isn't as consistent as my AR, but it's not a fan of the 120 GoldDots either, though it is "Hunting accurate" enough for the ranges possible where I hunt, <160 yards.

So my first thought is try a different bullet.

I've never found a "accurate" load with BLC(2) in multiple cartridges/rifles either.

edited to add: I'd also AGGRESSIVELY copper clean the bore. Having a pure copper "jacket" The golddots have left quite a bit of copper fouling in all the rifles I've shot them in, 223, 300BO and 6.5

[Rick2001]

100 Yds with bipod. Quite windy (but at 100 should not have big effects) There may be some human factor in the grouping but not too much