...for hunting larger bodied, big game, and/or those tough pig shoulders.

In an ongoing effort to explore heavy bullets in the 6.5 Grendel to maximize hunting penetration for larger bodied game animals, today I focused on 156 grain Norma Oryx. For my ongoing bullet efforts with the 160 grain Hornady round nose, see here:  https://www.ar15.com/forums/AR-15/loaded-6-5G-with-160gr-Hornady-RN/121-751681/

The Oryx is a bonded gilded metal jacket, lead core bullet. It is arguably one of the finest penetrating hunting bullets ever. The Oryx will work all the way down to about 1,500 fps. With the velocity achieved in this load in my rifle that puts me out to 300 yards at my altitude, 550' ASL.

























Rifle details: AR-15, 16 inch, 1:8 twist, 3R rifling, med profile, mid-gas, melonite, free float, CProducts SS 6.5G mag with a max allowed OAL of 2.300".

USUAL DISCLAIMER: The combination of components I used worked safely in MY rifle. I am presenting the results of MY efforts to develop a load in MY rifle. YOUR rifle is not the same as MINE. Any attempt to use MY data for YOUR rifle should be worked up through the SOP for load development. There is no guarantee MY load will be safe in YOUR rifle otherwise.

Load details: 29.4gr Alliant RL17, 102% density, loaded with 7" drop tube, virgin Hornady brass, full-length sized with Hornady custom grade new dimension dies, seated to 2.243" OAL. The bullet has a max OAL of 2.247" in my chamber = about 0.005" jump to the lands in this load. Remington 7-1/2 primer. No crimp although the next go will incorporate a crimp to see if I can bring the standard deviation down some. (FWIW, if anyone has interest in a brand-new CH-4D cannelure tool I'd be willing to ship it to you for $90. Brand new, used for less than 12 bullets. It simply isn't what my Corbin tool was. It works but I much prefer the Corbin...)

Loaded round chambers fine from the magazine and extracts with a normal effort on the charging handle.

Group details: 102 lasered yards. The Chrono screenshot reflects these four rounds. The flyer in the group was my sighter, and the remaining three were fire-for-effect after adjustment. Center to center comes out at 0.167" for 3 shots. Not too shabby...

Gel Details: 101 lasered yards, Clear Gel 17"L x 6"W x 4" Thick; MV of shot #1= 2,220 fps, shot #2 = 2,217 fps, Neck before expansion = ~1 inch; Permanent cavity widest point: ~1.3"; Gel shot in a second session after the grouping proved worthy. Unfortunately in the process of taking my rifle out of the case on the tailgate of my truck I caught a bee in the eye and dropped my rifle on the deck. Unfortunately I only brought two rounds with me to do gel test. I had to shoot what I had on a gamble the scope wasn't knocked off. It was off a little and I only caught the edge of the gel and the bullet exited the side of the first block at about 12 inches, passed through 4 in of a sideways block behind the first one and stopped in the folded tarp behind the blocks. The second one was fine. It penetrated 17 inches of the first block, then 4 inches of a sideways block placed behind the first, then several layers of a folded tarp behind that. Both bullets were recovered in the tarp.

Recovered bullet details: interestingly, the maximum frontal area of each of the bullets was within 0.020" of each other. One was 0.590" and the other was 0.610". Recovered weight bullet #1= 155.1gr (loss of 0.9gr) and, bullet #2 was 155.4gr (loss of 0.6gr). Again, not too shabby...

Like my load with the 160gr Hornady RN, this load is on equal ground with the legendary 6.5x54 Mannlicher-Shönauer carbine in MV with a bullet well known in that chambering. The key to it is the incredible performance of Reloder 17. That powder is absolutely a speed demon for equal pressure in the applications its suitable for. The Swiss developed a technology to have the burn rate retardant penetrate the whole kernel of the powder, versus just a surface coating as is the norm. The result is a much flatter pressure curve with a larger area under the curve = more velocity for equal peak pressure. It is simply AMAZING in the Grendel with the heavies...

ETA: corrected mag OAL

Very interesting, never considered 6.5G capable of firing heavy bullets effectively.  Much appreciated and I don't even reload...yet.

Thanks!  That is really helpful.

Good stuff. Wow!

Your work with the heavier bullets is very much appreciated. Thanks for putting in the time and detail that you do.

I echo the sentiment of the poster prior to me;  sure appreciate the info you put together to document your testing.

Have you done any testing with this bullet in the 6.5 Creedmoor?

Very glad you all appreciate the fun I have with this. It only adds a level of satisfaction to know others might benefit from it. Now if I could only get my wife to see the light...

JK, nah, she's good. She realizes I could have far worse vices...

On the 6.5 Creed with these bullets... that 16" upper was built to hunt with and the barrel had a really TIGHT chamber. All the heavies I tried in it needed to be set back in the case pretty good. I flubbed with a few loads using VV N560 and the Oryx and got decent velocity (2,450 fps) but didn't have the accuracy with it I wanted. I didn't have that upper long because it was so tight it wouldn't play well with the heavies I wanted to use.

I do have an Ashbury Precision in 6.5C that I could try them in I suppose. Never gave them a go in that rifle because I shoot real pointy bullets from it. What barrel length you thinking about? Once these bullets become available again (seem to be un-obtanium right now unless you go to northern Europe...), I could give them a go in that one. That rifle is foolishly accurate as well. I have a picture somewhere of 6 rounds I put into the same group size as this one using the 140 ELD-M and RL26. Interestingly, the bore of that barrel looks like it was carved with a hammer and chisel. It shoots GREAT... right up until it copper fouls... which isn't long. Typical Savage factory barrel...

Thanks for the lengthy reply, watson.  My Creedmoor is a gasser and sports a 24” tube, so that would be the launcher.  It’s a heavy pig though, so if I did use it for “hunting” it would be from a stand only.  That bullet would be a much better choice than the pointy bullets I use for long range.  

That said, it’s posts like this that make me consider the Grendel again as a hunting only upper.  Really the only thing stopping me is that chances for me to hunt are few and rare, so I’d rather spend the money on components for reloading or ammo.  With a dedicated suppressor in 6.5 on a 12.5” barrel that sure would make relatively handy upper for hogs.  

Again, thanks for your informative post.

That's pretty interesting.  Thanks for posting that.  This the first time I've seen information on good performance with bullets that heavy.  My curiosity is definitely piqued.

I'm not doubting your accuracy claim at all but I don't put any stock in 3 shot groups as I don't see them as an accurate representation of accuracy.  In my opinion, not that it's worth anything, it takes at least a 5 shot group to show a pattern.  Multiple 5 shot groups at that.

Man this is awesome.  I've been debating about building a dedicated hunting upper in 6.5 Grendel and you're making it hard for me to say no to myself.

Do eet.  By far my favorite cartridge.  Have 5 personally,  12.5, 2-16", 18", and 24".  Probably shoot 6.5 10 to one of any other I have in the safe.

Be forewarned it is a very serious strain of BRD, as of today, two 12”, two 16”, one 18”, one 20” and one Cz 527.  All in 6.5 Grendel.