AR-Stoner 6.5 Grendel barrel short chambered.

[hydrotech]

I loaded 17 rounds in a mag to check to see how the pri 6.8 mag would work...I have factory hornady 123sst...they all chambered and extracted by hand. They are about 2.240 COAL. The bullets are all scratched but not sure if its from being jammed into the lands. Didn't shoot any yet...I should have dies and brass in the next few days. To make a dummy round. I take a dremel with a cutter wheel and cut 3 slits perpendicular to the rim of the case neck, then press a bullet in and leave it seated really long. I then put it in and let the bolt slam and use that to seat the bullet at the length it is jammed into the lands. The slits allow it to seat easy like this. I Take it out and measure it to give me a maximum COAL I can load to..that said I like to load as long as I can and keep the bullet right off the lands. I hope my barrel chamber is going to allow this....anybody try a test like this with a dummy round? If they are too short I hope satern recuts them for us or exchanges them.

[XcountryRider]

Seems the barrels are having no issues with the SST's.

[mccuistion]

I loaded 17 rounds in a mag to check to see how the pri 6.8 mag would work...I have factory hornady 123sst...they all chambered and extracted by hand. They are about 2.240 COAL. The bullets are all scratched but not sure if its from being jammed into the lands. Didn't shoot any yet...I should have dies and brass in the next few days. To make a dummy round. I take a dremel with a cutter wheel and cut 3 slits perpendicular to the rim of the case neck, then press a bullet in and leave it seated really long. I then put it in and let the bolt slam and use that to seat the bullet at the length it is jammed into the lands. The slits allow it to seat easy like this. I Take it out and measure it to give me a maximum COAL I can load to..that said I like to load as long as I can and keep the bullet right off the lands. I hope my barrel chamber is going to allow this....anybody try a test like this with a dummy round? If they are too short I hope satern recuts them for us or exchanges them.

Yes, this is exactly how I measured what my max possible OAL could be with the 129g SST, 107/120g SMK, and 120g A-max. Most of my loading has been with 120g SMK though.

Does anyone know who makes the Brownell's Grendel barrels? I'm sticking with Saturn but i'm just curious.

[Tedward]

So does it seem to be an issue with certain shaped bullets? Fatter Nose???

I haven't had a chance to test anything but all of mine when test fired with Hornady Factory ammo, SST or A-Max, have fired with out issue. This is the same batches before Midway got there's and some after. So it must be an issue if you start to use hand loads.

XCR, are you getting different measurements from your older 24"? I didn't catch that but I think that's what your latest measurements showed.

[Tedward]

Just looking at Noslers Bullet Spec's, it doesn't indicate the measurements like your talking about. The OAL for Partition 100gr is 2.200. Balistic is 2.245. The added .045 seems to for balistic tip so not sure if the rounds are different but from what this looks like, they need a shorter OAL.

Again, I am not a reloading expert but just reading the numbers.

http://www.nosler.com/65-grendel/

[customcutter]

Seems the barrels are having no issues with the SST's.

Will short throats lead to increased pressures? How high the pressures are might cause damaged bolts, etc?

[Sputnik]

I loaded 17 rounds in a mag to check to see how the pri 6.8 mag would work...I have factory hornady 123sst...they all chambered and extracted by hand. They are about 2.240 COAL. The bullets are all scratched but not sure if its from being jammed into the lands. Didn't shoot any yet...I should have dies and brass in the next few days. To make a dummy round. I take a dremel with a cutter wheel and cut 3 slits perpendicular to the rim of the case neck, then press a bullet in and leave it seated really long. I then put it in and let the bolt slam and use that to seat the bullet at the length it is jammed into the lands. The slits allow it to seat easy like this. I Take it out and measure it to give me a maximum COAL I can load to..that said I like to load as long as I can and keep the bullet right off the lands. I hope my barrel chamber is going to allow this....anybody try a test like this with a dummy round? If they are too short I hope satern recuts them for us or exchanges them.

I have read about that method, some slam their bolts, some gently glide. I guess it depends on how your easily the slits allow the bullet to slide. I have read of some blackening the bullet with a black marker to watch for land contact. I have not attached my barrel to the upper receiver yet. I can check my headspace with my loose bolt and it seems to lock with a dummy 123 Amax round. Any suggestions on other tests I should try on my 16 inch Liberty?

[Walter]

I measured the OAL using a Hornady gage and a SST bullet. It was 2.242 which is right in line with what the OP got. The chamber should be 0.020 longer. The bullet will be right at the lands. This is with a group buy barrel.

[MikeGideon]

I measured my Shilen with a Hornady OAL gauge and 123g Lapua Scenar. It's real tight too. I would like to know how the tapered throat plays into this. I can jam the bullet in with a little force, and not seeing any nicks from rifling. It's in there good enough that I have to punch it back out with a dowel. My JP barrel has some room, maybe .02 to .03.

[Tedward]

Talk to Satern and when the shop has a time later today, just got back from Shot Show so a lot going on, they will take a look at the barrels they have on hand from the same batch and take measurements.

I'll let you know when I hear something.

[XcountryRider]

I talked to Steve Satern he says his reamer is SAMMI spec and slight variations from barrel to barrel are normal.

[dmsims21]

The free bore area may be too tight on these barrels. Maybe the reamer was used on too many barrels.

[Tedward]

I talked to Steve Satern he says his reamer is SAMMI spec and slight variations from barrel to barrel are normal.

Thanks for the confirmation.

[adrenaline junkie]

How can a reamer/barrel have variations of the dimensions talked about in this thread? If there are variations of that much, they're not doing it right.

[rickOshay]

So what's the word on these barrels? I have not assembled the 16" I purchased. To me, not chambering commercial ammo is a "problem", not a "variation".