So I've decided to give the 6.5 Grendel a try. Just ordered an upper, it should arrive early next week. I wanted a rifle for shooting at 500+ yards to replace (or at least to add to) my current 'long range rifle' (a Ruger No. 1 in .223). More on that in another thread:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=803118
So now I need to figure out how I'm going to reload for this thing. I am under the impression that the .264, 123gr Hornady A-Max was designed with the Grendel in mind, and that factory ammo is loaded with this bullet? If that is the case I'm thinking it's the bullet I'll want to use for my reloads as well.
Looking at MidwayUSA, I see that the Hornady brass sells for about $0.70 each, and that the loaded ammo is about $1.00 per round. Normally I just buy brass and reload all my ammo, almost never shoot factory. But in this case I'm wondering if it makes more sense to buy factory at first and then reload the brass. If I can find a way to duplicate the factory load with my hand loads I won't even need to change the zero on the rifle.
Is this a dumb idea? Is the Hornady brass even any good? Should I spend the extra $$$ and get Lapua or something?
If this isn't a dumb idea, does anybody have any recipes for the 6.5 that will match factory ammo?
Really any info or recipes for this cartridge at all would be helpful, I'm totally starting from scratch on this one, have zero knowledge/experience with 6.5
I have some H335, some IMR 4198, and some CFE-223 already (been using them in .223), and I'm told that powders suitable for .223 work in the Grendel too. I know that the powder that gives you the best accuracy, and the powder that gives you the best velocity, are not always the same powder. I'm making accuracy my priority for this rifle, but velocity would be nice to have too.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=803118
So now I need to figure out how I'm going to reload for this thing. I am under the impression that the .264, 123gr Hornady A-Max was designed with the Grendel in mind, and that factory ammo is loaded with this bullet? If that is the case I'm thinking it's the bullet I'll want to use for my reloads as well.
Looking at MidwayUSA, I see that the Hornady brass sells for about $0.70 each, and that the loaded ammo is about $1.00 per round. Normally I just buy brass and reload all my ammo, almost never shoot factory. But in this case I'm wondering if it makes more sense to buy factory at first and then reload the brass. If I can find a way to duplicate the factory load with my hand loads I won't even need to change the zero on the rifle.
Is this a dumb idea? Is the Hornady brass even any good? Should I spend the extra $$$ and get Lapua or something?
If this isn't a dumb idea, does anybody have any recipes for the 6.5 that will match factory ammo?
Really any info or recipes for this cartridge at all would be helpful, I'm totally starting from scratch on this one, have zero knowledge/experience with 6.5
I have some H335, some IMR 4198, and some CFE-223 already (been using them in .223), and I'm told that powders suitable for .223 work in the Grendel too. I know that the powder that gives you the best accuracy, and the powder that gives you the best velocity, are not always the same powder. I'm making accuracy my priority for this rifle, but velocity would be nice to have too.