One less manufacturer for 6.5 Grendel - PPU

Prvi Partizan (PPU) has stated that they will no longer manufacture 6.5 Grendel ammunition and is recalling all current ammo. The company states it is having too many issues with non-standard barrels.

This may also effect Wolf Gold ammo as well.

Sounds weird.

Prvi 6.5 Grendel uses large rifle primers not the small rifle primers used in the SAAMI Specifications. Their brass lasts through very few firings before the primer pocket gets loose at even the mild pressures of the Grendel.

Prvi recall notice Recall Link




Question is what are they replacing it with?

Email from wholesaler:

Hello,

Please, return the ammo via UPS or FedEx to the following address:

TR&Z USA Trading Corp.
1370 Honeyspot Rd Extension Building B
Stratford, CT 06615

Please, include/e-mail any receipts that you have if you would like to get your money back.
Otherwise we will gladly exchange to any other type of ammo that we have in stock. Unfortunately, we do not offer Grendel. It is discontinued.
Also, we will cover your shipping costs (please, include/e-mail the receipt and tracking#).
If you have any questions, please, do not hesitate to contact me any time.

Thank you
Best Regards,
Nijole Inkrata

TR&Z USA Trading Corp.

I called the # above and they will replace with other caliber PPU ammo or refund if you have the receipt. Got no further information from the lady that answered.

I have shot a few boxes of PPU Grendel and loaded the brass once the second loading was scrapped from primer pockets being loose. Hornady brass is good for 10 or more loads while Lapua brass is good for 15 or more loadings.

Hate to see a manufacture discontinue a round but in this case what will be missed the most is a widely available factory load that was less expensive than the other manufactures.

It is true there have been a couple Grendel chambers but the variations had to do with bolt face depth and the compound throat angle used in it, not case dimensions except the LBC which uses a .290 neck instead of a .3 diameter neck of the Grendel.

I have heard via rumor that TulAmmo primers were better for this brass because of loose primers. Any truth in this?

They might get you another reload from it but the pockets do expand as does the case head at the rim on firing, not sure if Tula primers might get you another loading or not.

Not all primer pockets were loose but enough were that I scrapped the batch.

One more reason to roll your own.

If I had a gas gun running 6.5 Grendel, I'd have a brass catcher on it, same as I do for a .308 gas gun. It pains me to know how much time and effort I put into brass prep (as well as expense) only to lose the brass.

Jason, I know what you mean about brass prep. That is part of what I like about shooting Lapua brass in the Grendel. I am at 5 loadings and have not annealed or trimmed the brass yet and am still in spec in measuring those loads. There are some that shoot a lot more than I do that report throwing away brass they never trimmed and had 20 firings on it. Guess that is an advantage using 52000psi max loads in brass that could handle 60000psi without an issue. Some that are loading to the 60k for their boltactions are saying brass life is reduced to 7 or 8 firings.

There have been concerns about PPU and Wolf 6.5 Grendel ammo for a while, reported on several other forums. Now PPU is blaming the guns while their ammo is undersized according to SAAMI specifications. Head space SAAMI dimension for headspace is 1.220 -.007 measured at the .350 datum on the shoulder PPU brass on new loaded ammo is often in the .006 to .008 under SAAMI minimum dimension. Combine that with a chamber that is SAAMI max and that could be an issue resulting in high chamber pressure.

We know ammo manufactures often make ammo at or slightly below SAAMI specs as Hornady does but their headspace dimensions are 1 to 2 thousandths below SAAMI minimum not 8.

Spot checking some new Nosler and Lapua brass I have here, it runs right along with Hornady on headspace being just under min SAAMI specs. This goes right along with some others that have measured and posted on other forums. Some of the ones in the links below are gun manufactures and one is co-author of the Grendel load data manuals.

Link

In RickOshay post there is a link which has a link to another discussion on PPU ammo pressure issues and in that post there is a link to another.

That's a lot of slop between the brass and the chamber. Brass manufacturers have a reputation, as we all know. I will be so bold as to say LaPua brass is probably the best in the world. PPU, well, it's better than no brass at all, that's about it.

Not much better.