Looking to use the powders I have, which would you recommend concentrating on? Going to be used in a bolt gun and AR. Going to be 120gr and 123gr bullets.
CFE223- heard it’s really dirty for AR’s
Varget
H414
RL15
Small supply of XBR8208

I think Varget would be your best bet.

CFE-223 and Varget!! It’s always the first available and widely used.

Never seen XBR8208.

I’ve loaded thousands of 6mm ARC.

CFE223 and Leverevolution will be tops for speed most of the Time in the Grendel but are more temp sensitive than many others.

8208 has a large following for those weight bullets but please treat 28.5gr as max load seriously as at that and higher loads it can spike pressures real quick in the Grendel. Not from me and my testing but from the guy that did the pressure testing for the Grendel specific reloading handbooks

Varget will work and generally speaking be a little compressed in most Grendel applications.

414 I have not seen much discussion on

Reloader 15 does have data an like others you will be getting into compressed loads with it.

I load mostly CFE223 in the Grendel for my use if I had more 4895 it would be my go to for 129gr bullets in the Grendel but not switching from a good shooting load now, though 4895 is more temp stabile.

if you had it on the list would also add 335 for another good option.

Varget first available? It went missing for a couple years and when it came back it was nearly double in price. I have never loaded Grendel but CFE223 is easy to find. Not always the best way to decide but it's good to have a load you can actually use when the next shortage comes.

All gun powders went up in price, significantly.

Pay the toll, or stop shooting. Those are your two options.

No joke on all going up, walked through Cabelas yesterday and the 1 pounders seemed to all be $60+ each

I load for 2 Grendel’s one uses 4198 and the other uses Win 748 Both of these are usually easy to find

Since powders not mentioned in the OP are now being thrown out there, I'll suggest AR-Comp.

I didn't play with the 6.5G long enough to even hunt with it much at all, but I did work up loads using the 129-grain LRAB with AR-Comp and I think that is the most useful hunting combination out there for the Grendel. AR-Comp will get you top velocity with that bullet and it is a temperature-tolerant powder. The bullet itself seems to have been made especially for the Grendel since it is very good at conserving velocity over distance, is quite accurate, AND it is said to show reliable expansion at velocities as low as 1200 fps. It always just made perfect sense to me.

CFE 223 will work, but it's too slow burning for an AR platform and won't yield a full burn, which contributes to the "dirty". Varget and R15, both too compressed for the 6.5 G in an AR platform. But if you can seat the bullet out further in the bolt gun and gain some case capacity, it would be a good choice. H414 is way too slow for the 6.5 G. 8208 would be like a "1967 275 GTB 4 Cam" and "Champaign would fall from the heavens and doors would open.....", (Just sayin') LOL!

I use H335, which is just about perfect for the Grendel. And the powder seems available most of the time. Also a good powder for the 223.

All of my Grendel experience is with the AR15 platform. Going to a bolt gun means you can run the pressures up a bit and seat the bullets out more if the throat allows it. But I'll share what I know

As said above, 8208 will/can spike pressures with a 120-123 gr bullet. Learned the hard way. I also found the 123gr bullets would start to yaw past 900 yards (500 ft above sea level). It was very accurate below 700 yards. I killed a bunch of hogs with the 123gr SST bullet. No problems there.

However... I went to the Sierra 107gr tipped bullet and it is stable and accurate out to 1000 yards. That is with 8208 which behaved well with these lighter bullets. Never took any game with the bullet though.

In the 6.5 Grendel and 5.56 I found CFE 223 to be almost as accurate as 8208. If you are hunting, the CFE 223 powder is simply excellent and predictable and, most of all, available. I have never noticed it's a dirty powder. No doubt there are plenty of other powders to try but this has been my experience.

I have mainly used XBR8208 but don’t overlook N530 as it’s more readily available and nowadays cheaper. Burns super clean too.

Nothing came even close to going up as much as Varget by percentage and it virtually disappeared for a couple years (still hard to get). That was my point. A member advised to use Varget because it's always the first available. My experience is opposite. A2400 is one of the best magnum pistol powders there is but that doesn't matter if you can't buy it.


Yes, H335 is about the easiest rifle powder to find. I built my 5.56X45mm load on H335 because of this fact.

Nothing came even close to going up as much as Varget by percentage and it virtually disappeared for a couple years (still hard to get). Maybe they all went up since. I haven't needed to buy any powder for a good while. That was my point. A member advised to use Varget because it's always the first available. My experience is opposite. A2400 is one of the best magnum pistol powders there is but that doesn't matter if you can't buy it.


Yes, H335 is about the easiest rifle powder to find. I built my 5.56X45mm load on H335 because of this fact and it works well too.

This is what I use for all 4 of my 6.5G's. Mine like the lighter pills though. Shoot mostly 100-110gr projectiles. I would love a gold dot type 100-110gr range in 6.5

Thanks for all the info. Looks like I may need to out and do some shopping for some other powders. I think a buddy has some TAC that he may sell.

I mostly load 130 and 129gr bullets in it since I bought a couple thousand several years back at good deals. CFE223, Leverevolution and H4895 are great for the heavier weights especially if loading for a bolt action or longer barreled ARs.

Something on Loading the Grendel and pressures. SAAMI spec is 52000psi and most ammo is loaded to about 50,000psi. The Original Lapua Grendel brass was specked for 57,000psi by Bill Alexander in an online discussion Mr. Alexander suggested not going above 57000psi for better brass life and if you wanted to get more velocity go to a lighter weight bullet or bigger cartridge Sounds like a smart man. . Expect shorter brass life even at 57000psi than you would get at 50,000 psi.

I hunt whitetail deer mostly with the Grendel and inside 350 yards. For that many bullets would work but I am really liking the 129gr LRAB in front of 30.6gr CFE223 in Lapua brass. Bought all those in quantity several years ago and the way it works for me no need to change.

I sent you a follow up PM.

8208 XBR works well for me. In fact, I picked up another pound today at my LGS.

28.2 gr, behind Hornady 123 gr ELD-M bullets, produces 2460 fps at the muzzle (Howa Mini with a 20" bbl). Groups really well in this particular rifle. YMMV.

Good to know. That’s what I’ll be using, a Howa Mini. How is your accuracy with 8208 XBR? Have you tried CFE223?

Still tweaking seating depth, but the worst 3-shot group (COAL 2.240", 2.250", and 2.260") was 3/4" last time out. Bone stock rifle except for sanding the barrel channel where the stock was contacting the barrel, and replacing the trigger spring (ordered from some guy in Australia).

Quite an improvement from three different Hornady factory loads fired in this rifle which produced from 1 3/4" up to almost 3" 3-shot groups!!

I haven't tried CFE223.

Our Mini runs the same bullet & powder but 28.5GR and not a smell more. When kmon11 states not to exceed 28.5 (or at least very gently if you just have to see for yourself), he's not kidding. I danced up to that line and when I stuck a toe over, I was rejected. I did that in the summer and now I have a safe load year round.

You probably will find 8208 and CFE223 will be the best of those in that order. Currently I use 8208 and CCI450 primers in pretty much everything I load. Careful with the 8208 it performs best at or near max but can spike quickly so be careful on the upper end. Go slow but does like to be pushed.