Mike Ezell

No I am not aware of all the broken Grendel bolts. You have to help me out... I entered "bolt failure" at the 65grendel.com forum and didn't get any relevant threads. What search words should I use to read up on all the broken Grendel bolts? And are you saying the max load for A2520 is dangerous? The AA chart doesn't list a pressure for the load. Can you tell me what the max pressure is for 6.5 Grendel and what the pressure is for the A2520 load? Something tells me you won't get a coherent answer. Likely some hearsay passed down as the Gospel truth (you know, from his cousin's girlfriend's sister's husband...) There are bolt failures, but I don't think it's any higher than the normal 5.56/.223 chambering. More than likely any perceived increase for bolt failures in 6.5G is hot-rodded handloads, or due to out of spec bolts being used. Like someone grabbing a 7.62x39 bolt and using it instead. Bill Alexander has made subtle changes in the bolts he sells from the run of the mill stuff that's out there. Personally running a non-AA bolt wouldn't scare me, but if I was using one for 3-gun I'd stick to AA bolts only, and not get crazy with pushing the envelope on hot loaded ammunition. Well, me and my cousin's girlfriend's sister's husband did our own research in lieu of taking other people's word for it, using pressure testing equipment that I own when developing the 30 Major, along with speaking directly with Bill Alexander. One of the changes he made to the Grendel bolt was he made it deeper than a x39 bolt..023" deeper IIRC. Feel free to check my numbers. This keeps people from swapping a x39 bolt in the place of the Grendel bolt, so they don't interchange. Other than that, your post seems to support mine. Thanks. --Mike Ezell

No I am not aware of all the broken Grendel bolts. You have to help me out... I entered "bolt failure" at the 65grendel.com forum and didn't get any relevant threads. What search words should I use to read up on all the broken Grendel bolts? And are you saying the max load for A2520 is dangerous? The AA chart doesn't list a pressure for the load. Can you tell me what the max pressure is for 6.5 Grendel and what the pressure is for the A2520 load? I found 112 pages of info on broken bolts on the 6.5 Grendel forum here. http://www.65grendel.com/forum/search.php?searchid=338517&pp=25&page=1 The data is based on 50,000 psi rating as max..same as the bolt'max rating, so technically it's not too hot, but fatigue will cause failures eventually at max pressures. Have you chronoed your load? Do you know your ACTUAL chamber pressure or are you basing it off of load data? Why is it that we have a starting load and a max load, and are instructed to work up to max with caution? A max load in one gun may well be over max in another. Powder burn rates vary from lot to lot, as do velocities. As to whether or not I agree with the published max loads as being the Gospel...no I do not,and don't for many cartridges. That said, I use the Grendel case,necked up to 30 cal. at much higher than stated pressures in my benchrest rifles(bolt action). Here's another interesting read on pressures and loads predicted by Quickload. http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6820&highlight=quickload---Mike Ezell

Can you please link where you got that info from? Are you saying the AA chart's data isn't good? The loadings that the guy with the JP used and my loads are directly from the AA chart. The loads are max book. Thanks. I'll back up a little bit because of the 24" bbl. I get major with lower pressures with the 30 in a 20" than the 6.5 does with a 24", but have you not heard of all the broken Grendel bolts? AA rates their bolt to 50,000 psi. The 7.62 bolts aren't rated even that high. You are pushing the limits and if you get a lot of 2520 that's a little "hot",(or any number of other pressure issues) you're over the limits of the AA bolt and the 7.62 bolt. The 6.5 Grendel forum has plenty of info on documented bolt failures. It'll likely stand it for a while, but how long is a while in a 3 gun or combat environment? Reliabilty is the name of the game...not to mention safety. I've got a pressure trace system that can prove that statement...well below max---Mike Ezell

In the group target pic above, the top target is the "record" 5 shot group at 200 yards. The bottom is a sighter target(practice) with a pretty good attempt at making a smiley face. Now that's some confidence in your equipment to do that in a match. --Mike Ezell

Kevin, I make both 32 rnd and 45 rnd "Higher Capacity" magazines for all makes of 308, these magazines that you saw couldn't have been any uglier than mine :-) Bill Have you posted any pics of those anywhere on this forum? The only mag mod that need to be made for reliability is to the front rib in the sides of the mags where the actual bullet makes contact with the mag. It's too deep in a standard mag. Rounds tend to bunch up at the front...if that makes any sense A standard 30rnd mag can hold 26 30Major rounds. Maybe they just wanted more capacity ---Mike Ezell

Necking up can be accomplished by fireforming or just by expanding it up. To me, the brass looks like necked up brass w/o FF, but it's hard to say. It works either way. As to why they would use it as opposed to the 6.5 Grendel, if firing the same weight bullet from the same case, at the same velocity from a 6.5 and a 30 cal, the pressures will be much lower in the 30 because it has a much better expansion ratio and larger piston area with the 30. Peak pressure happens in the first 3-4inches of the barrel. If you look at it with that in mind, you essentially have a bigger chamber when max pressure occurs. That's why the pressures are lower. MPF can be attained with the 6.5 Grendel but has proven to be at above max pressures for the bolt to last. I've taken the 30 to the breaking point as well. It's alot faster than needed for major when it fails. The same can't be said of the 6.5 with same weight projectile.---Mike Ezell

I really like the idea of the 30 Gremlin. I'm pretty familiar with it as well. As you can see, I call it a 30 Major. My link I shoot Benchrest primarily with it now after redesigning the chamber specs a tad. I finished 8th in the country in IBS Varmint For Score competition last year. My link I shoot 118gr bullets at 3000fps in my bolt gun using Viht N120. That's NOT an AR load! I came on here after the latest "Front Sight" magazine came out with an article on the gremlin to clear some things up and to help with developing the cartridge for AR's. It's a great round as is. Accuracy will suffer somewhat with 7.62x39 brass and most of it is junk compared to Lapua or Alexander Grendel brass but can be used with some prep and an eye on pressures. I'm happy to help any way that I can. Sincerly---Mike Ezell