Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Got my Grendel hunting load

Been messing with 125gr Nosler partitions fir a bit now.
Killed a coyote with an earlier loading at @150 yards out the truck window.
Last time shooting, I feel I had let loose a bad one.
Seated a bit deeper, and calling it good.
I'm not gonna keep searching for the Holy Grail of loads, and not shooting long distance.
Gonna do another test, and chrono, but I should be 2500ish, with 28.0 grains of imr8208.
I have nothing to really hunt with my Grendel, so it's just something to tinker with.
3 shots into @1/2" is good enough for hunting.

Looks good enough buddy. Is that a Leupold Tactical 3-9x40? I just bought one for cheap and have been using it. I was going to sell it and double my money, but it seems to be working good enough that I'm going to hang on to it.. I took my new yote rifle out yesterday. It seems to be a good shooting rifle. Most loads went sub moa for 5 shots, but this one was the keeper:



That 77gr SMK in the 22-250 should tear them up... In the upper part of the picture, I'm running a Leupold Tactical 3-9x40 Vari-X IIc on the 7mm Remington magnum. That rifle is also showing some great promise.

No, it's the 3.5 - 10 x 40 tactical model.
I have 2. This one has a mil dot reticle, and the other on my 243 is a duplex.

Edited, due to misreading your post on power range.

Have you had any issues with them? Surprisingly mine seems to track fine and return to zero. Kind of strange for a Leupold..

Misread your post. Mine is a Vari XIII 3.5 - 10 X 40.
I had my duplex on a 7 mag until I put an SWFA 10x on it. Talley lightweights, and I could twist to 1k.
No issues at all. Always the same. Only reason I changed to a SWFA, was holding wind on a coues deer at 960 yards, the duplex was thicker than the whole deer. Took too long to try to twist a windage adjustment for me, and buck moved off. Wind was pretty calm in the swale we were in, but moving pretty good out where he was. Buddy saw impact, tried to hold to the right, but couldn't see deer.
Now, hold "dots", and can still see target. No more lr shots like that. I learned my lesson.

Yeah, I hear you. I don't mess around when it comes to cleanly taking a game animal. I only pull the trigger if it's a guaranteed shot. 1 shot kill. 6 700 yards, makes no matter ,but conditions have to be right and I have to be 100% sure of the shot. My last elk I shot was only about 70 yards away. Right before I saw that bull, I was thinking to myself (you know how it is when you are out there hunting) "If I could just see one bull, that's all it's going to take, shooting one is pretty easy". Finding them is the hard part...

So you don't have anything to hunt with the Grendel but want to work up a hunting load??

Yeah, why not ?
I am probably going to put in for coues deer next year, and if I draw, may take it, and it's ready !

👍

I run 28 grains 8208 behind the 120/123 bullets all the time.29 gr. On 100gr NOS BT

How's that 100 Ballistic Tip perform?

Not shot a deer with it yet accuracy-wise as good or better than any of the 120/123 loads have. I'm showing 2700 FPS so I suspect it's more controlled expansion unless violent expansion it shouldn't be quite so violent on off quarters so you maybe don't lose it complete front quarter if you hit a bone. Just speculating maybe about November will no more. Just built the wifey the new AR that's probably what she'll shoot keep recoil down. Thinking about that I actually built that load for a Ruger American that takes an AR mags in a Grendel for my granddaughter but she chose a different route this last fall no biggie.

That is one sweet looking rifle

Thank you.
I weighed it empty, no mag, and it's at 7.844 pounds. (125.5 oz.)
Not going to burn up expensive components, so I did a final sight in, and group test. 1 inch high at 100 yards, should give me 1.7 inches low at 200.
It's not a lr gun. I have others for that. Just a well balanced, lightish, AR.

Well if you do hunt with that load and bullet you'll be happy. I used the same bullet (along with several others) from the two 6.5 Grendels I had, (both ARs, one with a 22" barrel and one with a 16" Barrel) and the 125 grain Partition was the very best of the lot.
That bullet was the one that gave me the best penetration (clear through) and the fastest kills on the deer and antelope I killed with those rifles. For killing game I gave uip on all the others after I started using the 125 gr Partitions. It was just a better load for all my uses, compared to the other bullets I tried.

Shot 5 rounds over the chrono today.
Average was 2517 fps out my 18" barrel.