What are you loading for 6.5 Grendel?
- Thread starter SamT1Beef
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horsemen61
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Yes while I’m not a fan of that bullet that is the correct bullet for the Grendel
What do you like? Seems there’s slim pickings for data and bullets in Grendel. It’s not in any of my books. And hornadys website shows almost no data.
I shot 123amax, then dropped to 100gr balistic tips to get more velocity.
Currently im loading 120 barnes burners but i dont expect to hunt with this grendel.
While i prefer tipped bullets, pretty much any if the 100-120 gr hunting bullets should work well at the Grendels relatively low velocity.
Hodgdon, nosler, AA, and many others all have data available online.
Currently im loading 120 barnes burners but i dont expect to hunt with this grendel.
While i prefer tipped bullets, pretty much any if the 100-120 gr hunting bullets should work well at the Grendels relatively low velocity.
Hodgdon, nosler, AA, and many others all have data available online.
Seems like the SST's and the ELDM's have been the main bullets available for Grendel recently. I shot a doe with a 123gr SST and didn't care for the lack of a good blood trail despite optimum bullet placement. I'm experimenting with 129gr Interlocks for hog duty as soon as they start showing up again.
Thanks. I keep mostly Hodgdon and IMR powders
Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
I have killed hundreds of hogs with 123 gr. SSTs and with 90 gr. Speer TNTs and I like the TNTs better.
Check with the folks, here. They have a dedicated Grendel reloading book, etc. Plus, the folks are all about Grendel.
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horsemen61
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We gut shoot a lot of pigs while running at night so need something fairly radical expansion to get them dead as much as possible on those bad shots. I love love the 150 sst in 308. Also like the nosler green tip. I bought a bunch of those during an upswing in prices before they moved up.
For 223 I load a lot of the 62 grain bthp I bought in bulk long ago. They do pretty good unless you hit heavy bone. Good as anything for bad shots on running animals.
I have had good luck in 300 blk with a sierra varmint bullet. I think the low velocity makes the big hollow point act more like a ballistic tip. That could be the case with Grendel since it’s fairly slow too I guess. Maybe that 100gr v max I see in stock most places will be good. I’m bad at night about underestimating the distance so the flatter trajectory might be a big deal. That’s why the blackout has been in the safe a long time. It’s hard to get hits when you’re accidentally taking a 250 yard shot once they scatter. Walking half a mile and only killing one pig sucks.
I have plenty of SST's hoarded away so I will inevitably give them another try. I read a lot of good reports online about them but was a bit underwhelmed when I was finally able to take a deer with one. I have 38 acres in east Texas that is a mix of hard and soft wood timber. Pigs avoid my place like the plague for whatever reason, so I don't get an opportunity to hunt them like I really want to.
I’m not much of a deer hunter. But if you blow their heart up and they run you may not get a good blood trail like a lung shot. Not much you can do about it.
berettaprofessor
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Scenar Lapua 123's or Hornady ELD 123's. 28 grains of IMR8208 XBR with an OAL of 2.250. The Lapua was slightly better accuracy....FPS 2517, SD 12.2 for the Lapua 123
Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
Right, blood trails aren't nearly as determined by the bullet as people often seem to think. The blood trails are a matter of where the damage is done to the hydraulics of the circulatory system. Lower shots tend to produce blood trails better than higher shots. Why? Because sometimes the animal has to fill up inside to the point of the entry or exit wound for the blood to really leak out.
It is a sample of 1 and you have decided the bullet doesn't work? Statistically, that isn't very solid logic.
About the only rolls of the bullet in the process that you want are making and entry and an exit hole (more ideal with 2 holes) and doing tissue damage along the way, the more the merrier. If the SST exited and did more damage than just pencilling right through, then the lack of a blood trail is either on you for your shot placement or on the deer for not having the correct structures in place to be damaged by the bullet.
But wait, it will get worse with hogs. Hog sometimes just seal right up on both sides after being shot, even with big calibers like .45-70.
yea hogs can be tough to kill with bad shots no matter the size hole. Less likely to run than a deer though when shot from a stand where you can place a shot good. I guess they don’t have the physical ability to run without a heart like a deer.
Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
So much wrong with these statements.
What do you not agree with?
Varminterror
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In my experience, if you blow their heart up, they stagger and fall where they were hit.
Kinda like this one which was almost cut in half by a 123 ELDm:
I’ve shot deer before that are liquified in the heart and lung area that ran 50-100 yards. Even seen one run so strong I thought i missed and put a Texas heart shot in him. But yea Atleast half the time they drop dead on a good shot.
The pigs though. I bank on killing with my first shot dead right there when I can place the shot. Once they start running all bets are off though. Head shot who knows what happens. Spine shot they usually fall dead in a cool nose dive (reason the helicopter videos are so cool even though they use FMJ ammo)
Varminterror
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I counted 3 periods in that post, so quantifiably, I'd disagree with all 3 of the claims made.
You’re gonna have to explain that. I’ve shot thousands of pigs with everything from 223 up to 4570, shotgun slugs and 500 gr 50 cal muzzle loaders. My in field experience matches exactly my post. I’ve only shot about 20 deer and seen many perfect shots run 50 yards or better. So I’m not understanding where your coming from.
