6.5 Grendle in bolt action load info

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Bfglowkey

New member
The Grendle is a gem in the AR world and the numerous amounts of loads are mostly limiting the pressures so that the gas operations of the ARs are within safe tolerances. I get it.
My dilemma is I feel that in a bolt gun it can easily replace my current stalking hunter in 308. So I am putting together one based on the Howa 1500 Mini action. 20" threaded HBL ( contour # 6 ) and its gonna rival the weight of the Tikka TX3 lite. Now recoil is super mild as well from the few I have shot in the ARs that some kind gentleman let me try at the range recently.
So my question finally....with no gas operation limits to worry about, are folks loading them to higher pressures safely and if so are they sticking to the common powders like 8208, BLC2, AR COMP, Leveraction? Or is there some other options that suddenly are viable that are not in the burn rate of the above mentioned ( Accurate 2540, Benchmark, H332(5), TAC, CFE223...etc)
Small case and overbore seem to lend the thought that its pretty much the above mentioned. Maybe if you had a longer barrel a slightly slower burning powder might be feasible but I can see it....then again I am just a fun seeker and avid enthusiast so I reach out to you fine folks for your experience in the cartridge.

Plan on sticking to the 123 pills ( SST for hunting ) and the 95 for varmints. But mostly the 123s
 
Blowkey, the current max pressures for the Grendel are around 50,000 psi (depending on the source), so in a strong bolt action you would think that you could load up to 60,0000 psi at least. But you would probably be wrong. The Grendel case (based on the .220 Russian) has a much thinner web than the ‘06-based cases we are familiar with, and may not withstand these higher pressures.

Even if you could safely load to the higher pressures, there is no way the Grendel will come close to .308 performance - the case is just too small. But that said, it would still make a great deer cartridge.
 

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Oh I have zero plans of going crazy with the load development. I simply asked because most of the original data was for the AR platform and ensuring proper cycle/feeding. I was mostly looking at if the bolt users had other learned info/powder etc so I would be as informed as possible before beginning my journey. When I say 308 performance I mean kill deer within 300 yards or less without worrying about energy on target. All the data points at its plenty adequate for deer 300yds and in. I plan on moving my current stalker gun into a more heavy stand rifle and shoot it more recreationally and let my new grendle do the back country work. I am also hoping that the 95 Vmax loads will make the ground hogs go boom at all the current ranges and based on what I am seeing on the charts at least it seems it will also replace that rifle as well.
Time will tell over the next month when the rest of my parts get here. More to come as it happens.
 
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