Howa Mini Action 6.5 Grendel. Bought one today from Brownells. Howa mini barreled action with a 20" 8 twist HB(?) barrel will handle 130s easy enough Not as versatile as several others including the 6 BR and the Lapua 6.5 offering. But, it will make weight and be ready to run with a "decent" Bell and Carlson stock for ~$800.00 excluding scope.

Someone here previously started a thread about the 6mm ARC and I believe I was the first to pee on the idea as something that wishes it was as good as the 6BR.... It's not as good as the 6BR but a Howa Mini action with a replacement 6ARC barrel is still 50% the cost of building a Remington.

Defiantly not as good or as cool as a rifle built by one of the premier silhouette builders but just maybe some or the fence sitters can afford to give HP a shot - pun intended. I am changing my tune...

Merlin, I can share my load information in a PM, if interested.

The Grendel only likes 130 gr and lighter bullets, no use in pushing anything heavier.

I use a 107gr for the first three and a 130gr Norma Golden for the Rams, IMR 8208XBR powder.

Have fun, Dennis O.

Dennis I did PM you and appreciate the help.

Wow what a deal trying to get all the components lined up in the current market. Not easy. LOL

The thing is when the barrel is worn out, you can probably buy a whole new barreled action for the cost of shipping, parts and labor just to rebarrel.

atomicbrh wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 9:05 am The thing is when the barrel is worn out, you can probably buy a whole new barreled action for the cost of shipping, parts and labor just to rebarrel.

Yes Sir, very true. Won't be in the same line as a real custom but it will get the job done for me....

dwostler wrote: ↑Tue Jan 25, 2022 7:34 pm Merlin, I can share my load information in a PM, if interested.

The Grendel only likes 130 gr and lighter bullets, no use in pushing anything heavier.

I use a 107gr for the first three and a 130gr Norma Golden for the Rams, IMR 8208XBR powder.

Have fun, Dennis O.

I haven't used 8208, but the folks on the grendel forum say that it can spike pressures pretty quickly with 123+ bullets. The howa has a pretty generous chamber, so you should be able to maximize the overall length and powder to an AR. I'm probably going to use H4895 and 108 scenars for the CP and 130s for the TR, but I might stick with the 108s for CPT. I've done both in the past.

IMR 8208 has worked very well for me, H-4895 would also be a great powder, probably H-322 up to Varget.

The Grendel form is probably geared toward AR platform rifles, I had my reamer made about 10+(?) years ago, when Alexander Arms first came out with the cartridge. I tightened up the dimensions a little for bolt action rifles.

For our sport, it has been recommended to me to have the firing pin bushed by GreTan Rifles, they are unfortunately overwhelmed with work right now.

You have to be very careful, the smaller the case, the faster you can get into trouble with over pressures due to load or hot weather.

I believe someone had that trouble at a Nationals match in the past with a Grendel.

Of course start low and work up and, like I said, no benefit to over horse-powering this little round with heavy bullets, you get no return for your efforts and you end up defeating your quest for light recoil and excellent accuracy, the cartridge shares a lot with the 6 ppc.

Dennis O.

Agree. Varget is a bit too bulky to get enough powder to over pressure the case I believe. It worked well for me using 100s or 108s, but I don't have enough of it. Since H4895 works well for the 130s, that's what I'm going to use for the lighter ones too. Leverevolution works well, but it is temperature sensitive, so long strings or hot weather can heat things up and give you a bit of a heavy bolt lift.

N140 is supposed to work ok as well. I have 1## of it that I may try just to see with the 130s.

Mark Pharr spun my barrel on, and I actually found a R700 bolt that had been bushed already, so it was good to go. Long Rifles, Inc will also do the bolt bushing.

IMR 4320, is a short grain forgotten powder that IMR even forgot to list on the burn rate chart of 2020

A little slower than Varget, but much shorter/smaller grain size, so you can pack more into the case.

Helps with velocities a little bit, but never spectacular results.

Maybe it is now discontinued.

Your results may vary, Good to know about Long Rifles, Inc.

Please share your load data in a PM with Merlin

Merlin, I have a lot of cases. I can send you a few to get started

CCI 450's like most short cases, work very well in this cartridge.

Dennis O.

Dennis I think you for your most generous offer but I traded for a couple of boxes of Lapua today.

I have another kidney so I feel I got a decent deal!

Now for bullets. I got one of my eyes reworked yesterday and it is totally blurred out so I don't know what I will trade for bullets....

PM me your address I’ll send you some stuff to play with.

No organs or other bodily fluids needed.

Dennis

dwostler wrote: ↑Wed Jan 26, 2022 2:26 pm IMR 4320, is a short grain forgotten powder that IMR even forgot to list on the burn rate chart of 2020

A little slower than Varget, but much shorter/smaller grain size, so you can pack more into the case.

Helps with velocities a little bit, but never spectacular results.

Maybe it is now discontinued.


Dennis O.

IMR 4320 has indeed been discontinued. It was always right next to Varget on most of the burn rate charts. Given the popularity of Varget, and the fact IMR 4320 always seemed to be what you would call a "red headed stepchild", it was probably one of those things that Hodgdon deemed not viable.
VV N140 is almost a perfect match to Varget, but it is expensive.

Ended up with H335 and 123 ELDs. Be at least a month before I can get myself together and work up some loads. I looked at a lot of loadings and it appears that H335 has good velocity with low(er) pressures than most of the loads. Time will tell......

My rifle is now complete and it weighs 6.75 with no scope.

Sounds Good, just be careful, what works well now might be too hot during summer.

Play it on the safe side.

Dennis

I would say play it on the safe side is Always good advice. I will.