6.5 Grendel: pet loads and preferred bullets

[Gtscotty]

Thanks for passing on the info! This is the stuff I love to read on this website.
I sure would like to get my hands on some 8208XBR. I couldn't find it before all this panic buying, so there's no chance now.

I'm always interested to see what folks are using too, and the Grendel is quite a fun little cartridge to load and shoot. 8208 does work well, but as you said, it was getting a bit scarce even before the panic. You might have a better chance of finding H4895 or even AR-Comp, and both of those work very well. I prefer AR-Comp, but only really because burned H4895 has a distinctive, weird smell to me, and shooting a suppressed AR, I get a little puff on each shot.

Speer Gold Dot 120 over 30.2gr aa2520, cci 450, Hornady cases seated to mag length.
Targets are dime sized shot at 100yds.
Ruger American Predator, bolt gun.

I used the 120gr Gold Dots under 28.4gr of 8208 to take a late season doe antelope @ ~175yds this past year. The wind pushed my shot a bit further back than I expected, but I was still in the back of both lungs, and didn't really see the level of expansion and damage I want to see. The doe ran a good ways and required a follow up, so I'm planning on trying one of the softer mainstay bullets for the chambering like the 123gr SST or 123gr ELD this year.

 

[rdnktrkr]

I have a few lbs of Win748 and loaded up 2 ladders with 90gr and 123gr to try this month, we werr going to the CMP but looks like now we will be at my hunting property, 1/2 a day to set up, I m hoping to try some factory rnds out to 300yrds and test my loads at 100yrds.