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Old April 22, 2018, 02:28 PM   #1
homesick
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Questions about a 6.5 Grendel

I'am a little slow in getting into the 6.5 Cal market but finally got one in the 6.5 Grendel. The one I put together has a 1/8 twist 16" stainless steel barrel.
I shot it today with factory 120 gr. and 123 gr loads. it seemed to favor the 120 gr. What I found was the magazine was very difficult to load (the one I have is metal 5 rd). The rifle functioned well with a minor feed issue as magazine didn't was to lock in properly. (not the rifles fault).
Questions
1 Who makes dies for this caliber as RCBs does not list them.
2 Will lighter bullets be better for this twist ( 1/8 ).
3 Does anyone has experience with different powders.
4 Does any one have experience with this caliber on hogs. (effective ranges)
5 Who makes magazines that work either metal or poly (the one I have is metal and I'am not to impressed with it).
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Old April 22, 2018, 03:53 PM   #2
fourbore
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I had been thinking about getting a cz 527 bolt action in grendel. While I have no experience, I have given some though to the round. I hope it would be good for 200 yards hunting. Now, I am not a long range guy.

The 1:8 twist should handle bullets up to 160 grain. But; the powder capacity and over all length limitation of the grindel does not make that a practical round for heavy bullets. That seems like a very fast, too fast twist. Now, the CZ 527 is 1:8, so that seems like the norm. Bottom line light bullets are better, but; that is in spite of the twist. The twist itself will favor heavy bullets.

I did a quick google and found this for dies. Hornady, Redding, Lee and the very impressive Forster Micrometer Seating die. Hornady is a safe choice for basic product. Funny about RCBS. Redding has a good reputation too.

https://www.midwayusa.com/65-grendel/br?cid=10208
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Old April 22, 2018, 04:36 PM   #3
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Quote:
Questions
1 Who makes dies for this caliber as RCBs does not list them.
2 Will lighter bullets be better for this twist ( 1/8 ).
3 Does anyone has experience with different powders.
4 Does any one have experience with this caliber on hogs. (effective ranges)
5 Who makes magazines that work either metal or poly (the one I have is metal and I'am not to impressed with it).
1. Hornady makes dies. My Overwatch has a 9" twist
2. My 123 SST, under CFE223, shoots .3"
3. Zen Hunter has some excellent videos in the Hunting thread. If I recall, he kept shots to 200.
4. I have 4 DPMS mags that are excellent.
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Old April 23, 2018, 09:02 AM   #4
stagpanther
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Welcome to the Grendel! A great AR hybrid--but a "finicky" one--don't worry as teething issues are fairly common. I've built 4 of them--I've found that a 16" barrel handicaps the ballistics somewhat--I would go with at least an 18" barrel--but if you're not using it for anything beyond short range hunting it should still be plenty accurate. It was developed around the 129 sst--not surprisingly those bullets tend to excel in a Grendel

The Grendel case typically stretches a bit in use--expect some head bulging and flow when running warm loads. For this reason a full length small base AR die is essential (unless you want to run a high-end adjustable comp die, this is one instance where I could see springing the extra bucks for one) Get a case gauge so you know if you need to knock the shoulder back--I find that you almost always have to with spent Grendel cases from warm loads.

ASC and PRI mags have worked well for me. Cavity back and Alexander Arms produce "Cadillac" magazines for the Grendel. Because the Grendel has a relatively long-seated bullet--sometimes the bullet won't get the necessary lift from the feed ramps before the bullet actually clears the chamber face--so that sometimes--actually pretty often--can cause friction damage and even jams upon feeding. Do a slow-feed of a cartridge from the mag to see if that might be happening. You might also need to adjust the feed lips on the magazine in order to get the necessary "pitch angle."
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Old April 24, 2018, 06:51 AM   #5
Mobuck
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"The one I put together has a 1/8 twist 16" stainless steel barrel."
That sort of emasculates the cartridge.
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Old April 24, 2018, 07:45 AM   #6
Double Naught Spy
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Quote:
2 Will lighter bullets be better for this twist ( 1/8 ).
Right now, I am testing Federal's Speer TNT 90 gr. bullets out of mine and they work fine. I don't know if you are going to find many bullets much lighter than that.

Quote:
4 Does any one have experience with this caliber on hogs. (effective ranges)
I hunt at night and so my ranges tend to be shorter, but I have dropped hogs as far as 340 yards with Hornady SST 123 gr. ammo.

Quote:
3. Zen Hunter has some excellent videos in the Hunting thread. If I recall, he kept shots to 200.
I think you mean Zen Archery (nobody named Zen Hunter on TFL), but he hunts with a 6.5 Creedmore right now. I don't recall that he ever hunted with a Grendel. He and I have done some vids together and I do have a couple hundred vids of hunting hogs with the Grendel. (see sig. line below for link)
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Old April 24, 2018, 01:09 PM   #7
ndking1126
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Subscribing. Interested in what dies people are using. I was looking at Hornady's, but hoping for first hand experience.

I use C Products 10 round mags. Haven't shot it a whole lot, but looks well built and so far have had zero issues.
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Old April 24, 2018, 04:57 PM   #8
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From the guy that invented the 6.5 Grendel (I built one back in the day, and had to get load data from Bill because there wasn't any available):

https://www.shopalexanderarms.com/6_...Magazines.html
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Old April 24, 2018, 07:36 PM   #9
arizona98tj
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In regards to magazines, I ordered C-Products 10 round magazines from MidwayUSA and also from Alexander Arms when I put my Grendel together. Both brands of mags have performed equally well and without issues.

I am using a set of Redding dies. These are the only Redding dies I have....and that being said, they work very well, no complaints.

I've not used mine on hogs but have taken several whitetail deer with it. All were one shot kills out to slightly over 100 yds. I was using Nosler 120 gr BTs.

Won't comment on your twist rate since mine is 1 in 9" and I've no exepereince using what you have.

I have more info in my Grendel write-up on my website. You might find something helpful there.

Good luck on your new caliber! I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
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Old April 24, 2018, 09:44 PM   #10
homesick
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thanks for the feed back guys
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Old May 6, 2018, 09:48 PM   #11
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Buddy of mine has been developing one for a couple years. Benchmark has been his best performing powder. 27 grains of it and the AMAX bullets would regularly bring sub moa groups. 123 SST and ELD bullets are phenomenal. Tim from the military arms channel used one of the two to take a deer within 100 yards. LaRue make a 17 round mag. I think you're going to be really happy with the your rifle.
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Old May 7, 2018, 07:44 AM   #12
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https://www.joeboboutfitters.com/C-P...pd-6.5-mag.htm
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Old May 7, 2018, 10:03 AM   #13
Double Naught Spy
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I have tried one of those mags. They are terrible.
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Old May 10, 2018, 07:35 PM   #14
homesick
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I'm learning a bit about the Grendel first the 16" barrel seems to be to short so I put on a 18" today and groups went from 4" to 5" to 1" with a 1/8 twist 18" BCA barrel. 100 yds
The best load is with 120 Sierra HPBT / IMR 8208,but didn't seem to like the 100 gr or 107 gr.
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Old May 10, 2018, 10:56 PM   #15
stagpanther
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The 8208 is really one of the top powders in my experience--but I've also had good--sometimes very good--results with (as I recall, though memory does not always serve these days) H335, TAC and Exterminator. One of the Vihtavuor powders--can't remember which one but I think 135--also has been outstanding with some recipes.
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