I can tell you what I went with and what I got out of it. I like talking about it anyway, it's my favorite rifle and my most successful build by far. Shoots .33MOA at 100y! Consistently, a single, 1/3" ragged hole! I hope to find an even better load one day, I've far from exhausted my options, but I'm happy with this, oh yeah! Here's the parts list:
20" Satern bbl., 1:8.75", med. or heavy up to gas block, .750 after w/ bolt. AAC 51T hider tuned to lock up tight. Larue gas block. Noveske lower, milspec A2 buttstock, Geissele Hi-Speed w/ DMR springs, MIAD grip, JP Ent. small parts for the lower. VLTOR upper w/ PRI Gasbuster "combat" charging handle, JP Ent. full mass carrier (they say or used to say "Tactical" on them --it's by far the best AR carrier PERIOD I've ever found). KAC FF rifle length rail, lots of rail covers, micro flip ups, bipod mount and QD sling release. 1907 QD shooting sling, another QD Vickers for other stuff. Last but definitely not least, USO SN3 TPAL w/ USO low rings on a Larue 5/8" cantilever riser for approx. 1.5" to center (for clip on NV) 2" sunshade/ARD --this whole scope setup, mount w/ sunshade and all, just barely clears these micro KAC flip sights, perfect fit, and makes the use of a standard A2 stock perfectly acceptable/useable. On the other hand, if you wanted a more DMR style rifle, an 18"bbl., SOPMOD stock, heavy buffer and a lower power scope like a 1-8x USO, etc., would be the way to go (I sort of wish I had, just for size).------Nice setup! I love the idea of the 1-8x USO for that platform. I currently have a CORE15 carbine. The only things that I've changed on it is the handguards are now Midwest Industries T-1 Series 15" free float, Noveske Flaming Pig (going to chop the barrel and go SBR at some point in the future, just decided to go ahead and get the FP now), and went with the fixed Magpul MOE buttstock. I've never really liked the adjustable buttstocks on carbines for some reason. I'm weird, I know. I don't plan on doing anything else to this rifle as it's purpose is to be on standby "in case SHTF." It'll never see serious duty work so it's more than capable for it's purpose.
But it shot .33MOA at 100y with the ACOG it wore first and with a Leupold 2.5-8x it wore later. It still shoots .33MOA using the SN3, nothing has changed there, but it IS much nicer and easier to work with. And a rifle like that deserves good optics. Mind you it also started with a matched Aero Precision upper/lower, PRI adj. gas block, an RRA trigger and a milspec carrier. So considering accuracy hasn't changed, I'd have to assume it pretty much all comes from that Satern bbl., all the rest just serves to make it function smoother or feel better to me I suppose, so I couldn't and didn't want to justify a PRS stock for a rifle with a cheekweld that can't really be improved upon as is due to the scope/mount assy. And it's heavy enough, a bull barrel would just be overkill to me, especially one that long. I'd also look at the PRI carbon fiber tube as opposed to a metal one if you use a medium-heavy contour barrel under the handguards like I did. This lightweight 14.5" version will be built with a PRI carbon fiber most likely, but it'll be really light.------I like the Satern barrels, at least what I know of them. They're nice barrels and may have been a good option for what I'm doing. Just went with the PacNor because it was readily available, just sitting there waiting on me to buy it. I'm not worried about the weight of the bull barrel because this rifle will only be shot from a bipod in the prone, or off a table (for some local comps that I'll be shooting with it), nothing else. If I ever get into a situation where I have to sling this rifle, that means I have much bigger problems to worry about and my CORE15 has a blown out chamber and is nothing more than a paper weight. The weight of this barrel, for my purposes for the rifle, will actually be of benefit to be heavier as it will help reduce recoil and allow me to get the rifle back on target much easier and faster.
I only use handloads in it, so far best of luck with 100gr. AMAX when seated quite deep (Hornady said okay...) and 120 Nosler BT's. BL(C)2 and AA1680 mostly. So far, not nearly the luck I expected with SMK's of any weight. For some reason, they just don't do nearly as well as these BT models others do.------I hope to experiment with load development at some point (see reply to previous poster) but to begin with I'm just going to be working with what I find to be the most available factory load (relatively speaking).
If you can find a Satern cut rifle barrel of any length really, I'd go for that. 24" may be more common because I THINK 26 is into diminishing returns. Could be wrong, but it's damn long, especially for a bull barrel! I have two more Saterns on order, another 20" like this one, and a custom deep/wide fluted 14.5" that weighs less than 1lb., no telling when I'll get 'em. But they are worth the wait, still, YOU may have to get something in the meantime. OR find a barrel maker of similar quality (not familiar with who you mentioned, it rings a bell but that's it).------I've already got the PacNor in hand, so it's a no-go on the Satern. But I'll keep it in mind if I do another build. In the world of long range precision (which I have most of my shooting experience in, previously ran a custom built .308 with 30" Kreiger 5R in 1:10), longer barrels are king. For this barrel, I'm going longer to start with (though it's overkill for the 123Amax factory loads) because I do plan on hand loading at some point. For that, I'll probably go in the direction of heavier (which means longer) bullets and slight slower burning powders (such as the Alliant PowerPro 2000MR), both of which need the longer barrel and faster twist to optimize their performance. Even though 600yds is my primary goal, I will be running out to 1000yds with this rifle and will be competing against .260's, .308's and other higher velocity, heavier caliber rifles. And if that combination doesn't work, I can always cut some length off the barrel. I've never tried, but I'm pretty sure it would be quite the job to start with a shorter barrel and then try to stretch it out if need be, lol.
My BIGGEST advice, since you are building this yourself, is to make sure the bolt you get matches the chamber you get and the chamber you get is indeed the proper AA Grendel chamber. Then you will probably have to source the bolt from CSS, just make sure you know which bolt fits that particular barrel/chamber --they offer more than one due to all the duplicates that were made of the once trademarked chamber. Les Baer even has his own copy. But from how I hear tell of it, the Grendel chamber is optimized already, there isn't anything you can do to it except make it run better with only one cartridge, but less so with others. Your choice there. Get the best barrel you can, regardless who you go through. I'd rethink 26" bull myself, but hey, maybe you have plans for it. But make sure to get it from a truly stellar barrel maker, because if not, there won't be a thing you can do to that rifle to make it shoot any better as long as you are a good shooter.------ParNor is the barrel maker for Noveske. All Noveske barrels come from PacNor. I got this barrel, which is actually a barrel blank in .264, from my gunsmith. He's going to be doing the chambering for the barrel and is going to be truing the bolt to the barrel and matching the bolt headspace specifically to this barrel. And, the chamber will be cut with a virgin reamer from Pacific Tool & Guage (possibly the best reamers on the planet, at least in my humble opinion).
Bill. A told me that 24" is best and about max. for a long barrel if you want more velocity --26" is diminishing returns? He said if you want mobility or handling, just go 14.5 or 16, as there isn't enough change in velocity to make the 20" as useful as it is in 5.56. I have the 20", but it suits me fine. Last I spoke with him, he said he was having the best results so far using the Berger 120gr. BT's. I didn't get the load from him, now I can't get in touch with him.------See above for barrel length and rifle use.
Also, for loading, the AA stamped brass is just Lapua brass they had stamped that way. WELL worth the discount in price! WHEN they get their operation unfucked again. Oh, and though it looks like you can order stuff from that site, they aren't shipping. I'm waiting on a couple of bolts and some extractors I ordered in December or January. So look to CSS for now maybe.------Thanks for the heads up. I already assumed that that was the case with AA brass, but it's good to hear the same from someone else. Confirmation is always good.
Good luck, it's a lot of fun and like I said, my favorite rifle, but note that right now due to not being able to source AA Lapua brass when it goes on sale for $60 per 100, the actual Lapua brass goes for around $95-$99 per 100. Some people like the Hornady, but I prefer the Lapua by far. And due to limited ammo availability in this cartridge and the fact it is a high performance one at that, you'll never see maximum performance without handloading and customizing rounds for your rifle.
