6.5 Grendel Carbine....

Back in the middle of December, i ordered a couple of custom SSK carbine barrels, one being a 20" fluted 6.5grendel, the second one an 18" fluted 357/44 Bain & Davis.

Got an email today that the Grendel has shipped; was happy to see it was ahead of schedule as they had originally estimated 3 months, and they got it done and shipped in 2. Going to start prepping some brass today to begin load workup, i have a 2x7 Leupold Ultimate Slam set aside for that barrel when it arrives (has a holdover reticle, kind of like a ballistic plex).

Curious as to how this one will compare for speeds, i have carbines now in 6.5TCU, 6.5x30/30Ackley, and 6.5JDJ , kind of thought it would fall somewhere in the middle of those for velocities.

No word yet on the 357Bain&Davis, already sized some .44brass to feed that one, will update as i hear word on that one. Going to prep some Grendel brass today.

Great! I look forward to hearing about the Grendel. 2 months is a reasonable turnaround for sure. I had intended to order myself a Grendel carbine barrel by now, but I got sidetracked and accumulated a couple other projects recently. Probably order by mid March.

I can HIGHLY recommend Starline brass for the Grendel. It's all I used in my prs rifle and superb accuracy, single digit sd's and plenty of speed were a non-issue. I ran the 107 TMK's which seems to give me the best ballistics for that game. I'm sure you'll be more interested in bullets for hunting which seem to be on the 120ish range. 8208 was definitely the powder of choice.

Look forward to your range reports!

Mike...8208 was absolutely my first choice was well, i have a howa mini chambered for 6.5grendel & after trying several bullet/powder combos, it was most likely to succeed...when i last worked with .223 bolt gun load tests , my .223's were happy with 8208 so i laid back an 8#er...glad i did, as that powder was non-existent here for a long time.

AR-Comp was a close second , and averaged about 75fps more speed, but groups with 8208XBR were better across the board. I have a pile of assorted lightweight bullets from feeding the other 6.5's and hoping this one will be happy with 120's/123's.

And, i got a second email, and the shipping order shows 2 barrels...so i guess they finished my 357Bain&Davis also....UPS tracking says shipment should arrive Monday.

[QUOTE=
And, i got a second email, and the shipping order shows 2 barrels...so i guess they finished my 357Bain&Davis also....UPS tracking says shipment should arrive Monday.[/QUOTE]

Gerald, fantastic, that had to put a smile on your face.

I am anxious to hear how it shoots for you. The velocities should lag just a bit behind the JDJ and 6.5x30-30 AI and ahead of the TCU. We settled on a hunting load for Andy's CZ using CFE223 and the 123 grain SST. It churns up 2525 fps with superb accuracy. We were going to work with the 120 grain Nosler BT and maybe a couple other propellants, but after seeing what the CFE223/Hornady 123 SST was doing, we called it good and stuck with that combo.

What bullet do you plan on loading in the B&D?

Bobby...kind of depends on how they throated the B&D.

going to start with some 158 FP-XTP (not the HP version), but also have the Sierra 170JHC, the Hornady 180XTP and the Hornady 180SSP.

Speer used to make some gold dot .357's that were bonded JSP's, those were 170gr, almost a jacketed WFN style with larger meplat... i think i still have some of those also that i was using in a .357herrett.

Murphys law says it'll like the one i have the least of. :rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FyrepowrX

Murphys law says it'll like the one i have the least of. :rolleyes:

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That describes my "luck" all the time ha ha.

I may have to break down and order a B&D G my kids say thank you, Your a bad influence

I'm always ticked to see a new one arrive, but i've been wanting that Bain&Davis for a LONG time; had one in a 10" tc custom shop bbl , musta been 20 years or so ago...shot well, but i just never did much with that setup. Sold it when i got a 13" ported 357herrett from MGM, which was probably 15 years ago.

think it might of been about 2 years back , i found a new set of Bain&Davis Redding dies at the big Tulsa gun show, cheap...snapped those up...then got sidetracked with too many other projects.

i even still have some of that old B&D brass from my first barrel ages ago, i found those last week & tossed them in the tumbler to knock decades of crust off of them.

I am looking forward to your first reviews

Got in the SSK box, which had the 6.5grendel...but not the .357B&D, even though packing list showed that. Dropped them a line & they responded very quickly; the 6.5 had finished a few days before so they shipped it immediately, rather than waiting...since they were the ones paying the freight cost, was kind of nice they did that. And, they responded VERY quickly...the Bain&Davis barrel is finished and with a little luck, should arrive by Friday or thereabouts.

Finish on the grendel is very good, weldments are clean, looks great. Flutes were both narrow & shallow, so aside from the cosmetic look, no weight reduction there, and no cooling benefits, not that i heat barrels much. So, if ordering flutes, just be aware it wont affect balance/weight, etc.

i ordered it "prepped for scope base", and they did a 6 hole drill & tap, i stuck an MGM 6 hole base on it. I second guessed my scope choice a few times, and then settled on a Burris 3-9x E1 with illuminated german #4 reticle that i had stashed away for a "some day" project.

havent started loading for it yet to see how the chamber is throated, will report back on that soon.

https://i.imgur.com/uZWRxz6.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/JtqnAUn.jpg

Gerald,
That is a thing of beauty!
...drool
:hail:

Lookin good, G. I hope it’s a tack driver for ya!

On a whim, i decided to order some more bullets to see how this one fares with Barnes...the 6.5mm 100gr TTSX were back in stock again I had wanted to test those in the 6.5x30/30ackley as well, so have a few boxes of those headed this way.

Already has some 120gr ELD-M's, and some 123gr SST's, and a couple of different 100gr bullets, so surely it'll like something i feed it! Have my bolt grendel sighted with 100gr ballistic tips, the 6.5TCU sighted with 100gr Partitions, and the 6.5x30/30ackley sighted with 100gr Hornady Spire points, so kind of hoping this one will be OK with 120/123 weight class, as i have a few boxes of those getting dusty.

If you want to run all-copper, the Barnes 115 grain Tac-Tx will open wider than the 100 grain TTSX. It was designed specifically for the Grendel. And Midway just got them back in stock.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/102433588?pid=567209

Thanks! i just snagged some of those too.