Thread: 6.5 grendel load - too hot?

I bought a 6.5 grendel of a fella who's been reloading for it.
Looking over his reloads I see he's running 33.5g of varmint pushing a 90tnt and it appears some vmax.

I'm not a reloader so don't know much but it seems extremely hot.

Opinions?

0.3gn above max listed by Speer. Wouldn't say extremely hot but not a starting load even if someone else says it's OK in the rifle. Normal rule applies you shouldn't shoot other people's reloads.
https://reloadingdata.speer.com/Down...-tnt-hppdf.pdf

Thanks Makros. Doesn't seem extreme then. He reckon he worked up to that. I suppose hes doing that via the old'no pressure signs'.
Considering it had a but of recoil when I fired it compared to factory, I'll bring the load down a but when I do some.
It scoped my daughter first shot as she's too small to get behind the butt properly. Lesson learned.

Inpossible to answer without further knowledge of seating depth and case capacity.

Bullet jump (i.e. chamber geometry) also play an important role

The people that do not understand these basics should stick to factory ammo honestly.

Originally Posted by STC

Inpossible to answer without further knowledge of seating depth and case capacity.

Bullet jump (i.e. chamber geometry) also play an important role

The people that do not understand these basics should stick to factory ammo honestly.

So should you, you left out the most critcal factor . . . What is the velocity of the load. This is the most direct correlation to pressure.

My experience with hot (max, over max or otherwise) loads is that you will see shorter brass life (loose primer pockets, case head separation, split necks etc) sometimes case life is drastically shorter 2x fired = trash.
Is it worth it for miniscule gains especially in something like a 6.5 grendel ? Probably not.
As STC has illuded too there are many other factors to consider when deciding if a load is too hot, but what I can suggest is that all other factors unknown velocity is a very good indicator of pressure. If it's over book max in velocity for a given projectile and powder combination then it's almost certainly over pressure. As per previous comments at best you'll shorten your brass life, but depending how over pressure you may be playing with fire.
Even loads that are below book max in charge weight can be over pressure depending on othe variables such as seating depth, brass capacity, chamber length, etc so don't assume that cause it's only just over book max that it's probably safe.
Chrono it that will tell you alot, or pull the lot and do your own load development.
I know some people believe chrono are the devil but they can also tell you a lot about where your at if you use them properly and not just to chase the highest possible velocity.

its got more recoil......and has scoped daughter...drop it down to say 31-32 and be happy...if you wanted speed you wouldnt have bought a grendal ,so use it for and how you intended it to be used...a mild soft shooting accurate rifle.

Cheers. All good info. As far as I've read most of the load development is aimed at keeping it safe on the ar platform?
A few of his rounds have a weird ripple. Noy taking aim at him. He's used it shooting wobbilys down south and had great success. It's also a tack driver but as above posts. I don't need velocity like he's getting(2900). Just a gun that can punch over goats, fallow and sika.

that's moving along mine runs around 2600 2700

Originally Posted by Tentman

So should you, you left out the most critcal factor . . . What is the velocity of the load. This is the most direct correlation to pressure.

Fair comment.

Yeah. I've watched a fair few vids and looked at a bit of data. Seems the light bullets help alot.

Might pay to migrate the scope a bit forward if it caught her shooting on flat ground, scope contact gets a lot worse when shooting up hill in less than perfect conditions
Removing the potential should give her more confidence too I hate the idea my rifle might bite me when pulling the trigger


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Originally Posted by Cowboy

Cheers. All good info. As far as I've read most of the load development is aimed at keeping it safe on the ar platform?
A few of his rounds have a weird ripple. Noy taking aim at him. He's used it shooting wobbilys down south and had great success. It's also a tack driver but as above posts. I don't need velocity like he's getting(2900). Just a gun that can punch over goats, fallow and sika.

interesting projectile choice,ideal for pest control but best pick your shots if want to recover meat. you COULD look at where he got to..and say to self too hot, and use just below that as absolute maximum and just pick lower load and go shoot stuff.

Cheers. One of the legends in the forum is passing on a stock he shortened for his kid. I can shorten more if need be. It was in a bench rest and bipod. I should have been aware she didn't have her shoulder on it. Either way, she sucked it up, wiped the tears away and shot a 5shot 2moa which is pretty good for an 8yr old with too big a stock.

Velocity in and of itself isn't a sign of pressure. I have seen barrels that developed pressure signs several hundred fps below what you would consider hot load speeds, so the word there is it's but one section of the story. I would put more stock on things like case head expansion and marking and those sort of signs than directly going off velocity by itself...