Help with a load for 130 Gr FP for 6.5 Grendel

[Redpoint]

Hi Guys,

New here and been doing a lot of searching for load data for 6.5 Grendel (here and everywhere) and I see it is pretty limited. So if I have missed some easy to find load data I apologize.

Firearm is a 20" AA 6.5 Grendel.

I am looking for some load data for a 130 grain flat point bullet. I don't know the exact mold number or manufacturer at this time but it is 1.025 in length, and dropped at .266 diameter. It has 8 lube rings. It does not have a specific reduction at the base for a gas check. See attached picture. At this time I will be using Wolf 6.5 Grendel Brass.

Questions

- Any suggestions on a safe load for this weight bullet? Current powders I have are Unique and BLC-(2) so would like to use those if possible.

- Ideal diameter to size bullet to and C.O.A.L?

- Can I add a gas check to this even if there is no groove for it? Would it be a bad idea to use it in a Grendel without a gas check?

- Anything specific I need to be careful of when loading Cast Bullets for the Grendel?


I'm not dead set on using this bullet forever, but a friend loaded me a few hundred rounds the other day so I would like to get playing around with it. We have a military match coming up in a at the end of the month, and I would like to get anything together that flies reasonably straight so I can shoot in it. Ultimate accuracy is not that important to me right now.

I've noticed some people recommend the SAECO 140 grain .264 bullet mold. These seem to have a long lead time. Would the Lyman #266649 140RN/Gas Check, RCBS 6.5 - 140-SIL, or RCBS 26-140-FN etc. be a good alternative to SAECO

Thanks for all the help guys. Any Cast Bullet load data at all that you have for the 6.5 Grendel would be great to see as I am having some trouble finding it.

Jeff

[leadman]

That boolit is designed for a gas check. If was designed as a plain base the base would be the same size as the driving bands.
I did a quick search and found no info other than a caution on too long of a bullet causing problems.
Did you check the cartridge overall length with this boolit in your gun? It is possible that the base and part of the boolit will be below the shoulder. This boolit is full diameter on the body all the way to the nose from looking at the pix. This can lead to problems with leading and the possibility of the gas check coming off. You might be better off with a bore rider nose and one lube groove just above the base.
Unique probably won't run a semi-auto and I am assuming this is what you are shooting. BLC2 will but don't know what to recommend for a starting load. I looked at the Hodgdon website and with a 123gr jacketed bullet the charge of 4198 is compressed so with BLc2 being a slower powder I wonder if you are going to get enough velocity out of it. You can call Hodgdon and ask if they have any data.

[Redpoint]

Thanks Leadman,

Glad to hear I can put a gas check on that bullet as that will alleviate some of my fears of leading up my barrel.

Looking at the Alexander Arms reloading table at the link below, it appears they are pushing 129 and 130 grain bullets with 29 grains of BLC-2 at 2300 FPS. This is way faster than I need to be going. Also, in the beginning, fully cycling is not very important to me as I will be shooting single shots for a while anyway.

http://www.alexanderarms.com/images/pdfs/grendel_reloading.pdf

Is there a standard way to scale down the powder charge from FMJ bullets to cast bullets of the same grain? Would it be safe to cut the powder charge in half and start there?

Can you tell me what type of bullet is considered a bore rider?

Thanks for the help,
Jeff

[Moonie]

I've used H4895 in my 6.8 SPC and 5.56 uppers with reduced loads, you can safely reduce H4895 to 60% and I've done so in my 5.56 and still had it function the action.

H4895 is a great powder for reduced loads in semi-auto's as it has good gas volume for getting them to cycle.

I have a son with a Remington 742 in 30-06 and we run 35gr with 170gr boolits and it functions perfectly with that load. Full power load is closer to 50gr.

[midnight]

The three powders I plan on using are H335, BLC-2, & 8208. I can't vouch for them since I havn't shot them yet. There is a 6.5 Grendel forum you might check with.

Bob

[Redpoint]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I have found that a former cast boolit member has been using 140 gr Saeco's with 18 grains of H4198. I'm going to start with 17 grains of IMR -4198 and the 130 grain bullet gas checked and sized to .266. Hopefully will get out today and try a few rounds. Looking at some other load data for the Grendel using IMR 4198, 17 grains seems to be a pretty safe starting point. I will let you know what I come up with.

Jeff

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=66129&highlight=grendel+load


You have a very very very short throat in this caliber. There is only one good bullet that will fit and that is the Saeco 140 grain bore-rider. This is a very hard cartridge to load for. I got some excellent accuracy with the Saeco bullet. I sized them to .265 and seated to barely touching the throat. The AR 15 doesn't have much camming if that is what you intent to shoot them from.

My regular plinking/other load is 18 grains of H4198. If you're using the Grendel case with small primer, I use the small rifle primer. If you are using cases formed from 7.62x39 I use the large pistol primer. If using the 7.62 case then adjust the H4198 load to 17 grains.

The nose of the bullet can't be any larger then .256 for AR use, depending on who made your barrel.

Joe

[Redpoint]

So just wanted to post a follow up to what I've been doing for the 6.5 Grendel. I bought the Saeco #264 bore rider mold and I am sizing them to .265. I'm using 18 Grains of IMR-4198 which performs well and cycles the gun properly about 90 % of the time. I am seating the bullet to an over all length of 2.2" so it will fit in the mag however this sets the base of the bullet a bit below the neck. We shot in a 300, 400, and 500 yd sniper match last Sunday and took third place out of 7 teams. So all in all I pretty happy with this set up. Accuracy was very good at 300,400 yds but I'm still getting some flyers at 500yds. Next batch I am going to move to 19 grains and only seat the bullet to 2.3". Hopefully this will reduce the flyers out at 500 yds.

Jeff

[Kos1966]

I know this is an older post but I am thinking to start reloading cast for my Grendel. Has anyone tried powder coating and gas checks? What fps are you getting? Accuracy and distance?