Good 500 yard bullet for the Grendel

[rickt300]

3,5 and 8 inch steel circles, 10 rounds in four minutes. Can be windy.

[lazyengineer]

JMHO; 107 SMK HPBT - Good BC; light and FAST getting to target. An under-sung bullet here.

123 Hornady SST; good general purpose mass and bullet shape

Nosler 123 HPBT - same

Run a decent calculator and try to estimate the wind. Strelok is my personal favorite, but the US Government has now banned it; so if you don't already have it, I guess that one's out.

[LRRPF52]

107 SMK
107 TMK
108 Scenar
120gr SMK
120gr Scenar-L
123gr A-MAX
123gr ELD-M
123gr Nosler CC
123gr SMK
123gr Scenar
130gr ELD-M
130gr Norma GT
130gr Berger
130gr Berger Hybrid AR
130gr Nosler RDF

Some of these will be more sensitive to the type of throat you have. The VLD long secant ogive bullets shoot really well with the actual SAAMI compound throat or a short throat.

107gr SMK and TMK are great on top of 8208XBR.

[rickt300]

Think I will try starting at the light end of the spectrum. I do have some 120 grain Matchburners.

[Sinclair]

107 SMK

Some of these will be more sensitive to the type of throat you have. The VLD long secant ogive bullets shoot really well with the actual SAAMI compound throat or a short throat.

107gr SMK and TMK are great on top of 8208XBR.

.

Where can someone find whether a bullet has a tangent or secant ogive?

[mdram]

i use 123 eld and 107tmks at 500, booth with 8208
works fine on 5" and 2.5" targets

[LR1955]

.

Where can someone find whether a bullet has a tangent or secant ogive?

Sinclair:

Many times the bullet company will publish the ogive style.

You can also do a visual of the ogive and tell. Secant ogives tend to have less curve and abruptly go into the shank. Looks like they have more length to the front of the bullet too.

I have noticed a lot of companies making hybrid designs, trying to incorporate the best benefits of secant and tangent.

I avoid secant ogives because never found them to be totally reliable and they are hard to load for. Seems like the more you go to a standard tangent ogive, the easier to load for and more consistent down range. I have no problems with hybrid designs.

LR-55

[Zeneffect]

there is a lot to consider when shooting steel actually. one of them is being able to see the impact (500 yards... with a line of shooters, you wont hear it as well as you will hope to)

how are points derived? what are the rules? is it just hits on plate and hits/marks = points? if so.. avoid the sierra 105gr blitzking. They are good if you are knocking over steel but they are hard to see as they tend to explode and not leave a mark. They also wont knock over 60lb worth of steel at 500M so if that is the game, either soft set or pick a 123 or heavier.

given the limited info on the rules, I would go with the 123gr ELDM and some staball match. consistent 2500fps from 22" barrel that wont change during the course of a day, good SD, leaves a nice black spot on impact, bucks the wind well.

if wind isnt that bad, run 120gr SMK + 8208. accuracy, speed, temp insensitivity. only thing that isnt that great is the BC.

[rickt300]

Well you have to shoot from prone and all you have to do is hit the steel circles which are laid out horizontally. You get 3 points for the 3", two points for the 5" and one point for the 8" target. Just laid out my prone setup and man I am getting a bit creaky in my old age. Got my rear bag right and the bipod made the front easy. The problem being I had some discs replaced in my neck a few years ago and they are literally a pain shooting prone.

[Zeneffect]

you get to use a rear bag? I am envious. Only front bag or bipod allowed for the matches I attend

Since you can use a rear bag... run 123gr - 130gr to avoid having to deal with the wind as much. Use an adjustable bag rider so you can set your elevation then press down into the rear bag creating a solid contact point with the ground. Use a bubble level so your cant is the true every single time. get a good optic so you can read the mirage if you dont have wind indicators. 500 yards, anything doing 2450 or faster will work. If the shotting distance is static.. adjustable bag rider with fine adjustment will change your world.

[Sinclair]

LR55:
Thank you, never knew how to tell a tangent from a secant. Now, to check and sort my stock of bullets on hand!

This reloading thing is getting more complicated everyday. Back in the day we used Lyman or Lee hand tools, dippers to measure the powder, and seated the bullet until it fit the magazine! Maybe I am getting too old for this game.

[LRRPF52]