Wildcat Cartridges

There has been a lot of noise and confusion around the 6.5 Grendel® and the similar cartridges that have sprung up around it. Two have surfaced that bear a closer look. The 6.5 BPC has become “the” bolt action chambering that can safely fire Grendel ammo. The differences in the chamber dimensions are minor; the 6.5 BPC was developed by Jim Borden and Dr. Louis Palmisano, the latter of PPC fame. The newest entry into this race is the 264 LBC-AR™ from Les Bear Custom, as the name implies this

Headstamped brass by Hornady

chambering is optimized for the AR platform. The biggest difference between these variations is that fact that the latter two are open use, in other words, anyone can chamber for them, like any factory cartridge.

Some sources call the BPC and the LBC cartridges “improved”. When you compare the drawings this is improved label is pretty hard to understand. There is little difference aside from the tolerances for case expansion, and the throat design. They do have a 30 degree shoulder verses a 28 degree shoulder on the Grendel, however, this will not provide any noticeable change in ballistics as the volume of the case is virtually unchanged. In fact, 2 degrees is barely outside the tolerance limits that most tool makers offer.

Ammo for the 264 LBC-AR

Black Hills Ammunition has new loads being built exclusively for Les Baer Custom at his request and with his assistance in load development. The .264 LBC-AR is loaded with a 123-grain Hornady A-Max bullet is available exclusively from Les Baer Custom. It’s designed for use in Les Baer Custom rifles as well as rifles of other manufacturers, and will also perform in rifles chambered for the 6.5 Grendel cartridge. The brass is produced by Hornady and head stamped .264 LBC-AR. Naturally this brass could be sized in a 6.5 BPC die and used for rifles so chambered.

Hornady fans have some new bullets to look at this year.  The ballistics boys at Hornady are in the process of building their line of expanding monolithic solid bullets, known as the GMX® Bullets.  This year they introduced the 6mm GMX®, weighing in at 80 grains. 

Constructed of Gilding Metal these bullets have been tested at a wide range of velocities for expansion.  Velocities from 2000 to 3400 feet per second have been tested the bullets expand up to 1.5 times their original diameter and still retain 95% of their original weight.

So why is this news?  Well, if your one of those folks who just has to use your 6mm for deer or antelope, this kind of bullet will penetrate deep and still shed energy in the target.

There are a few more of these bullets in the R&D phase right now.  The .257, .264 (6.5mm), and a .308 bullet for the 30-30 are expected to be the next in line to hit the market.  These are lead free bullets, so they will be good news for the left coast.

Patrick Ryan at Redding told me that one to items that Redding is making a standard stock item for 2010 is dies for the “260 Imp. 40”.  That translates as the 260 Ackley Improved to you and me.

We talked about popular wildcats they had made dies for recently.  The 6mm SPC was one that had seen some strong interest.  I am a firm believer that the pendulum has begun to swing away from huge cartridges with super case capacity.  Economics may enter into the change but more likely it is shooters learning that they don’t like recoil, and smaller cases are the easiest route away from recoil.

Ballistics from the 6mm SPC will fall right between the 6mm BR and the 6mm PPC so it is in a good family.  Accuracy should be awesome in a well built gun.  It’s not as short and fat as it’s cousins but that should not hinder result too much.  Like many things in life, its more about having faith than anything else.

Recent additions to the NoslerCustom line of brass are the 25-06 and the 7mm-08.   For those of you who may not know the differences that Nosler brass offers, here is a quick run-down.

Nosler carefully checks thier brass, case mouths are chamfered adn deburred, flash holes are deburred and check for alignment.  The brass is all sorted by weight so that you get uniform brass in each box.  Considering the difference in price, its a pretty good deal and saves you lots of time at the loading bench performing tedius tasks.

Ron Reed of RAR in Oklahoma City is the source for a variety of 14 caliber products.  He is carrying cleaning rods and brushes, bullets, funnels, and last we talked he was planning to have some barrels in stock. 

Bill Eichelberger was a prolific wildcatter who specialized in calibers from .10 to .20.  He wrote an entire reloading manual just for 14 caliber cartridges.  His book includes 16 different cartridges in 14 caliber.  Probably the most popular of these are the 14/221 Walker and the 14 Hornet.  Everything  from a rim-fire on the long rifle case to giant magnum on the 222 Remington Magnum case are in the reloading manual, so there is something for everyone.

Ron plans to be the go-to source for 14 caliber.  Thought you wildcatters would like to know where to get these products.

Reed’s Ammunition & Research, LLC
1209 SW 129th St.
Oklahoma City, OK 73170
WWW.REEDSAMMO.COM

Painciples and Practice of Loading Ammunition, By Earl Naramore

This book was first published by Samworth in 1954, my attention was drawn to it by a mention in P.O. Ackley’s books as a good resource.  I figured if it impressed Ackley it was worth a look.  Obviously a book this old is in some ways out dated, however, this book centers more on mechanical design, strength and processes than on reloading data.  So it is still a very interesting read.

Many writers today cater to the reader who wants to know just a little bit about a lot of different subjects, so their explanations lack detail and fail to make the subject fully enlightened.  Naramore spent 914 pages on the process of loading ammunition, as you might imagine this allowed him to go into great detail about many aspects of the reloading precess.

Because this treatise was written over 50 years ago it includes some information that might not be found in too many other places today.  Are you going to learn something that will put you way out in front of the pack, probably not, but you will likely pick up some useful ideas that modern reloaders are forced to learn on their own by trial and error.  All in all an enjoyable read, sometimes it’s just fun to see how things used to be done, or how much they have changed.  I would have to say this is a must have book for reloaders and wildcatters alike.

FDZ