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.

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.