I am continuing to explore this 10 shot group "thing"

Of course I screwed with it -

Shot 9 instead of 10 shots - what could it hurt...

Went with .3 grain increments instead of .5 - that seems logical

Used a 3.5x thermal scope at 300 yards instead of a perfectly good Leupold 8.5-25x - Uh... Y'all said to use what you brung.

Shot the entire string in 2 mins 30 seconds - that's what you do when you have a DRACOS StraightJacketed barrel.

The pattern here is uncanny - I mean sheesh do you think the 10th shot would have printed right next to #9.....

I'll never know.



6.5 Grendel - Chad's magic $5 per pound powder - CCI 450 primers - Hornady once, twice, hell I don't know fired brass - COAL 2.2350"

I’m not real big on ladder test, but your point is very valid. I would load extra until I saw pressure signs then scratch that one. What in the world do you have taped up there?

I normally agree with that approach on the load until you see pressure and do with bolt actions but with the Grendel in the AR I do not. SAAMI max pressure for the Grendel is IIRC 62000 PSI and you do not normally see pressure signs until well above that. That is the reason I think you hear. When loading it for the boltaction Grendel I have gone to the pressure signs showing up but got my best accuracy at just over max listed loads for the AR.

PP on the using .3 gr for steps that is what I use for the Grendel as well. I like to use ~10% of case volume for the steps then refine around the node.

So, what did this range trip tell you?

I would call the node 6-8 and be good with it...even if 10 printed right next to 9

Using WC 846 S in 308 with 147 grain FMJ was a disaster - 5” groups all throughout the charge weights and loads that won’t cycle the bcg in 125 grain -

With 6.5 Grendel I’ve got a nice load going with 95 grain controlled chaos - attached is a 5 shot group at 100 yards . Velocity could be better...




This trip shows me that WC 846 S yields 2486 FPS to 2756 FPS through the 9 shot ladder. The 6-8 shot range was mid 2600 FPS which is a bit slow .

Also got to shoot some 100 grain Nosler Partitions at 300 yards using my 100 yard zero - the drop was 16” which explains some recent missed shots an extended distances

I know, you’re confused, it’s people actually doing load development.

I'm running the same WC846 S powder in my brothers 6.5 Grendel with the 120 grain Speer gold dot. That load is a compressed load and getting good velocity, and is a slow burning powder for that bullet weight and powder burn rate. The 90/95 grain weight bullets almost need to go to a faster burning powder than the WC 846 S for optimum velocity.

For example, WC 846 is close to Win 748 burn rate. I've found this lot to be a little slower burning than 748, which would need a higher powder charge to equal the performance of 748. In Nosler's data with a 90 grain, Win 748 shows 32.5 grains, and 106% case fill. Since the 846 powder is slightly slower burning, you could increase your max by about a grain, somewhere around the 33 to 34 grain area. But it will be heavily compressed. It's getting out of the optimum powder and bullet weight combo. Something faster burning may yield the same or more velocity, have a cleaner burn and provide a more optimum load. Something in the 4198 to H335 area would be a little more optimum for the lighter 90/95 grain bullets, but the 846 can work if you get more powder in the case.

I'm also curious on your cycling issue with the 308. The combination of 846 powder, 147 FMJ, and the 308 were near perfect combo, so that should certainly work and cycle an AR. So, not sure on that issue.

Chad -

Everything you’re saying is lining up so far in Grendel with this powder.

I’ve been cross-referencing BL-C2 in my load development.

In 308, i wrote it poorly above

147 gr mag tech fmj is cycling fine but grouping poorly

125 gr Sinterfire is not cycling the action using a BL-C2 charge weight from Sinterfire’s reloading data.

Thanks for the info on the powder and lightweight grendel loads

Welcome! Yes, I wouldn't recommend BLC2 for the 125's in the 308. It's way too slow burning for that combo, IMO. If you need to be got it to work, it would need to me max loads and pushing it hard. And lots of unburned powder, for the same reason above on the Grendel ammo.