I hope it works out. I've always respected G. David Tubb, and have come to expect that when he comments on something, he's right on the money.
My guess is that he never talks about something that he's not already proven three ways to Sunday, a trait I could use a bit of myself. It appears that the 'vaporware' comment is mistaken, but when one depends on independent contractors to deliver, sometimes they don't, and let's not get started on government contracting.
These particular days, I put all the comments and complaints aside. The market is so sideways, nothing can be counted on. You have to treat the 'good' days like "Bad Years Eve". No matter what we see through the windshield, a complete breakdown can be lurking somewhere within the next mile.
Sorta reminds me of the old Monty Python skits about the Spanish Inquisition, "
Nobody expect the Spanish Inquisition!".
Better, reliable expansion is the primary reason why I am impressed with the Speer Gold Dot rifle bullets. It's just another (very) different approach to the same issue.
But these days, everything, even the Speer stuff, is vaporware. It's there surrounded by glowing praise in the magazine ads, but find some on the shelves, or marked "In Stock"?
If you
can find it, it' because it's junk and nobody wants it at any price.
I've seen the video by the Federal-CCI-Speer-Remington CEO about the shortages, and I believe every word he says. But even that news is still gloom and doom.
I found an Big 50 ammo can full of rimfire ammo out in my shop. I bought some nice steel 22LR target. The rest of my shooting world is on hold, IMHO.
And then there's that dementia ridden jerk who wants to step into the White House and make all our lives better and brighter..., and he's the 'good one'.
Greg
PS, quoting myself from above:
I am trying two boxes (40rd total) the first available 6.5G Frontier 123FMJ loads, with some pulled and replaced by Speer 120gr Gold Dot bullets, which have a good reputation for both accuracy and excellent terminal performance on deer-size game. The Frontier powder charges are pretty consistent for military grade ammo. They will be tested against handloads using Starline Brass, WSR, the 120 SGD (Speer Gold Dot) bullets, and W-748 at charges from 30.0gr on up to ? OAL is arbitrarily set at nominal magazine length, 2.260".
There are minimal pressure signs (minor primer edge rounding, no primer cratering, no ejector swipes, and significant sooting at the neck and shoulder) at 30.0gr of W748. My personal interpretation is that there's room for some more powder, as long as the pressure signs are reviewed religiously. The sooting is possibly a sign that case pressure is insufficient to seal the case neck. I'm not giving my seal of approval to this experimentation; but I am proceeding.
This stuff turned out to be nearly all wrong.
Lack of pressure signs in the 6.5 Grendel turned out to be the Devil's Speech, egging me on toward disaster. Going above what was posted above achieved only one thing, a broken extractor. The soot was actually just evidence that the case was being yanked o/o the chamber while it was still under pressure, putting way excessive strain on the extractor. Adding even just a smidge of powder beyond the 30.0gr mentioned just pushed it all past the point of failure.
IMHO, it's important to treat the 6.5 Grendel, with its wider diameter bolt face cutout, as a special case. The extractor needs to be modified, and it's weaker, IMHO. Pressure signs are not a reliable indicator of safe loads for that round. My rifle has been fixed with a JP Improved Grendel Extractor. Those folks got the message right. Loads will now remain within published limits, and the barrel will be reserved for loads with lighter bullet weights, mainly as a varmint barrel.
The Frontier 6.5 Grendel 123gr loads proved to be a big 'Meh' as far as accuracy went, and perhaps a bit hot. YMMV.
These days, my liking for W-748 has been replaced with IMR-8208XBR and TAC.
