Would you get into 6.5 Grendel in 2024?
- Thread starter KCode
- Start date
So I just measured a bunch of cases of unfired Lapua, unfired Alpha, vs fired Lapua cases.
(Hornady #350 shoulder datum headspace comparator bushing mounted in calipers, with calipers zeroed to closed position on the bushing so we get actual case head-to-shoulder datum)
SAAMI Spec Maximum cartridge shoulder datum: 1.220" -.007"
SAAMI chamber to shoulder datum: Max 1.2301” Min 1.2201"
Virgin Lapua: 1.205"
Virgin Alpha: 1.212"
Fired Lapua: 1.221"
The Alpha brass is visibly longer to shoulder datum, .007” longer. I’m pretty stoked about it.
Pre-production stuff that I’m going to run and give them feedback on.
I went and checked the site when I got home looking for it too.
Would be very interesting to see a comparison of an identical load using once fired (in same gun) Hornady, Starline, Lapua and Alpha brass. Should yield some interesting data, though would think you’d want to keep case weight variance as low as possible. I have Hornady that can weigh 115gr +/- 5ish unprimed, only two bags of Starline-one bag 107-108, other 109-110gr unprimed, all Lapua about 112-114 unprimed and Alpha unknown. Would like to see some consistency amongst the competition. Look forward to your further feedback.
I was looking at the Hodgdon website a few days ago and on paper CFE223 had the best numbers- granted that doesn't necessarily translate to positive real world results. Any experience with it?
I tried running a H2 in mine to slow the bolt down a little but groups looked like I was patterning a shotgun so I went back to a carbine wt. No matter what I tried case mouths were getting dented by the deflector- a piece of the soft side of velcro largely fixed that. Had some feed issues in the beginning that ended up being mag related (CMMG and E-Lander work flawlessly). Have you experienced any of the same with yours?
Unfortunately I haven’t been back to the range since installing the T1 buffer, removing the gas rings in the bolt, and installing the bolt spring. Unfortunately my pup developed osteomyelitis in a toe and had to have it amputated… so that was 5k last week. I THINK I’ve got an Elander 17 round mag on the way. I probably need to grab a couple more boxes of the Lapua Scenar L’s. I’m also waiting on the Redding type S bushing full body die and the 0.285” bushing. I’m going to go through another 20-30 rounds with the Duramags then I’ll try the other mag if the cases continue to take a beating. The BCG is now pretty smooth in the upper.
I didn’t have issues with the case mouths… it was the shoulders getting dinged up. I may need to look into smoothing/blending the feed ramps. I wouldn’t think that would be an issue with the higher end parts I used, but nothing ever works out the way it should. Unfortunately that’s not something I’m knowledgeable or experienced with so I would need to find someone trustworthy.
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Soon…
Oh these better not be short AF in the headspace department or else they just fucked up.
The Alpha brass has longer headspace already compared to all my other unfired brass.
They’re wanting to make it as long as possible so there is very minimal difference between virgin and fire-formed loads.
It hasn’t been something that ever really bothered me, but I’ve seen a lot of people complain about it.
They’re wanting to make it as long as possible so there is very minimal difference between virgin and fire-formed loads.
It hasn’t been something that ever really bothered me, but I’ve seen a lot of people complain about it.
Wade from Ally Munitions was running pressures he won’t even mention in 6mm ARC when he finally broke a bolt.
He experienced a weird failure I’ve never seen before in AR-15s, with the bolt face around the firing pin aperture blowing a chunk off and pieces jamming into the FP channel.
I’ve only seen that in my buddy’s 6.5 Creedmoor AR-10 bolt, with the larger FP aperture. He had a guy braze a new FP aperture into it and that failed too. I’ve never seen it in AR-15s.
The main thing is that Lapua temporarily halted 6.5 Grendel brass production, and their US rep had already lifted the prices so high to force their 2 primary US B2B customers to drop them many years ago.
I’m still running Lapua brass I got back in 2009 in the thin cardboard boxes before the switch the big blue plastic cases. I really liked the Precision Firearms 50rd boxes of Lapua brass ammo. I think PF switched to Starline years ago when the price-hike happened.
Several moons past this question, truthfully I wish the 12.5" all had another 50-100 FPS, i.e I can't wait to see if 13.X, 14.5 actually matters for the Grendel **with Hornady factory ammo.**
Until LRRPF5's magic ammo is released, 12.5" is the shortest I'll go on a Grendel. I'm into his magic ammo FWIW. I want to go kill 10 pigs with it
I've previously survived my 6.5-Grendel mid-life crisis a few years back, and also made it through my 224-Valkyrie crisis. I'm back to 6.5-Creedmoor and 300-BLK ... where I belong, and regularly attending my "Useless Calibers" 12-Step program where I get support from others who have made it out of those two crappy calibers and are also in recovery.
The brass is available on the website and we ran it .007" longer than the other brands.
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Pay him no mind. The NorthWet has addled his mind.
But, 300 blackout is a better suppressed cartridge than 6.5 Grendel. And 6.5 creedmoor has much longer legs than the Grendel.
My grendels are my most ol used rifles, but none are what I’m reaching for when I get the call that I drew a sheep tag…
