Hornady 6.5 Grendel Brass — First Report

[Guest FroggyOne2]

Robert Whitley of AR-X Enterprises, LLC builds match-grade uppers for AR-platform rifles. Many of Robert’s favorite chamberings are based on the 6.5 Grendel case necked-down to 6mm. Until recently, Lapua was the only source for 6.5 Grendel brass. As you’d expect, Lapua’s Grendel brass is truly excellent, but it is also pricey, and sometimes hard to find. Now Hornady is producing USA-made 6.5 Grendel brass. Robert Whitley had a chance to sample the Hornady 6.5 Grendel brass and compare it to the original Lapua version.

Robert reports: “I was able to get my hands on some of Hornady’s new 6.5 Grendel brass. My big question was how it would measure up, particularly the loaded necks, and whether it would be compatible with our existing 6mmAR and Turbo 40 die sets. As it turns out, this brass looks like a perfect fit for our existing die sets (and obviously 6.5 Grendel die sets too). Accordingly, folks with existing die sets will be able to use the Hornady brass without any issues.†However, as the loaded neck on the Hornady brass is .001″ (one-thousandth) slimmer than Lapua brass, you may want to try a smaller bushing when sizing Hornady Grendel brass.

The Hornady 6.5 Grendel brass has a LARGE Flash Hole, about .078″ versus .0591″ for Lapua brass. Dimensionally, the biggest difference is the shoulder diameter, with the Hornady brass measuring 0.428″ vs. 0.424″ for the Lapua brass. The Hornady is actually a better fit for 6mmAR chambers which are about 0.432″ at the shoulder. Interestingly, case H20 capacity is virtually identical. Water capacity of new, unfired Hornady 6.5 Grendel brass is 35.1 grains, while new, unfired Lapua Grendel brass holds 35.0 grains of H20. Both brands of Grendel brass increase to about 36.0 grains H20 capacity after firing and full-length sizing.

Robert concludes: “This is a great new offering, in addition to the already great Lapua brass we currently useâ€. Here are some of the particulars of the cases:

Hornady 6.5 Grendel BrassLapua 6.5 Grendel BrassFlash hole diameter: ~ .078″

OAL of brass: Average 1.515″

Weight of cases: 111.7 to 113.0 grains

Web diameter, unfired: 0.4375″

Shoulder diameter, unfired: 0.428″

Loaded neck diameter: 0.2895″

6mmAR loaded neck: 0.270″Flash hole diameter: 1.5mm (0.0591″)

OAL of brass: Average 1.515″

Weight of cases: 111.0 to 112.5 grains

Web diameter, unfired: 0.4385″

Shoulder diameter, unfired: 0.424″

Loaded neck diameter: 0.290″

6mmAR loaded neck: 0.271″

[kesava]

Glad to see this. i love the 6.5 but i understand the practicality of necking it down. this is some hard to find ammo, if your not reloading.

[mk19]

Good info, thanks for posting it. 6.5 is a truely great round and now more appealing with more reloading options.