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6.5 Grendel Upper

fcsurvivor

Private
Full Member
Minuteman
Nov 23, 2008
50
0
Hey All,
Looking for the opinion of the experts out there. I have finished an AR-15 Lower, and would like to build it in something a little different this time. I have built many in .223/5.56, so this time I thought something a little more long reange. A friend suggested (and gave me a quantity of cases) the 6.5 Grendel. After researching quite a bit, it looks like a good deal. I currently shoot bolt guns in .260 Rem and 6.5 Creedmore, so I am in love with the 6.5.

So here it is. What do you all think of the Grendel, and is there a reason why a 18"-20" barrel would be too short? It seems as this one is based on the 6mmPPC ctg, and all the local Benchrest guys tell me that a 20" is the way to go for that cartridge.

Thanks in advance.
 
Re: 6.5 Grendel Upper

Thanks for the lead, I searched before posting, but must have entered the wrong term's because all I came up with was the 6.5 Creedmore and the like.
 
Re: 6.5 Grendel Upper

Thanks for the good info all. I have no problem building the upper myself, so where would you all recomend I buy a barrel from? I would like a match grade barrel. I usually use Shilen Select Match Grade's on my bolt action builds, but anything of that quality would be great.

Second question: will a standard AR upper reciever work, or will it need relief done in the ejection port etc.?
 
Re: 6.5 Grendel Upper

The upper thing is good news as I have several flat-top uppers laying around waiting for a home. If you don't mind me asking, what did you pay for the Saturn ?
 
Re: 6.5 Grendel Upper

regular AR upper will do fine, though people like going with thicker billet receivers for increased rigidity.

Black Hole Weaponry makes nice polygonal rifled barrels for the .264lbc (for all purposes, same as 6.5 Grendel)
 
Re: 6.5 Grendel Upper

I got mine last spring, think I paid around $550 for it then. But I believe they have come down now. No offence ThomasA but I think I would stay away from Black Hole, Iv not heard to many good things about their barrels. I just wouldn't take a chance. I think your fine with a standard upper, there is not much recoil with the grendel or twist of the upper. The 264LB has different throat than the grendel.
 
Re: 6.5 Grendel Upper

I have Alexander arms 18.5 inch and Midwayusa AR stoner 18 inch they shoot equal and are low cost, both are stainless and both are threaded.
most accurate is 120 grain, but I get great accuracy from BLC and 123 Grain Amax rounds

Stoner
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AA
P1380464.jpg
 
Re: 6.5 Grendel Upper

I really like my 18.25" SPR-type Grendel. I'm seeing 2511fps using the Hornady 123gr Amax factory loads. Shoots great with the can, too (Surefire FA68AR). No problems with the rifle-length gas system (so far!). I'm also using a Geissele DMR two-stage trigger, which is just right for this type of rifle (IMHO).

ETA: I'm using C-Products 6.8SPC 25 round mags with ISMI springs. They work just fine with 6.5G.

65_spr_1000.jpg

65sprsfbrake_1000.jpg

65sprsfcan_1000.jpg
 
Re: 6.5 Grendel Upper

Here's my review of the JP 6.5 upper, I could not be more happy with it.

http://tacticalgunreview.com/2011/11/05/jp-ctr-02-5-grendel-review/

<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-size: 11pt">My review of the JP 6.5 Grendel </span>
<span style="font-style: italic">By: GlockandRoll</span>
</span>

DSC_4039.jpg


I didn’t know exactly what to expect with this cartridge, but hoped it would be a great alternative to the larger and heavier AR-10 platform; yet provide a more economical round with less recoil yet still formidable at long range.

As the range reports were so favorable from others testing the waters with this promising round, I decided it was best to contact JP rifles, who sent me a CTR-02™ upper with their cool howitzer themed JP Recoil Eliminator.

I am previously a JP customer due to their incredible workmanship and accuracy, not too mention I love their adjustable gas blocks and triggers and they have a reputation for unsurpased customer service and fast shipping.

So with the upper mounted on a completed lower assembly liberated from a match .223 upper with a JP trigger, and some purchased Hornady 123grn A-MAX rounds, I topped it off with a a spare scope (MIllet LRS-1) and headed out to Best of The West shooting sports in Liberty Hill, TX for a test drive.
I adjusted the gas system while zeroing it in just a few rounds and then the fun started. It was instantly obvious that the gun was accurate and flat shooting as head shots on the LaRue auto-reset targets at 250 yards were so close together that the paint splatter made it hard to see where the next round was going, so after 3 rounds I decided to move out to 500. Using the ballistics data I found online, I put 10MOA on the elevation knob, held center mass, and put one right on the LaRue’s forehead. A SWAG correction to 8.5MOA elevation put it dead center mass and then 3-4 follow up shots were in a small sub 3&#8243; group. On a good day I’m a .5MOA shooter on paper at 100 yards and I always giggle when I get lucky and pull something like this off.

What’s even more interesting is that it really smacks the crud out of the steel at 500 yards, I mean you FEEL it impact.. hard to believe from such a small cartridge. And just to give you an idea what I am talking about here, compared to the 175grn SMK’s I shoot in my custom .308 it’s going 200fps faster at 500 yards with 90% of the energy, yet 10-15% less wind drift and bullet drop.. but the best part is that its cheaper to shoot than the .308 and has nearly HALF the felt recoil. Oh, and it’s a higher BC bullet so it even becomes more interesting at longer ranges.

The next berm at BOTW is 750 yards. They have a hanging gong, 2 more LaRue reactive targets and a large steel plate that looks to be about the size of a bedroom door. Pardon this pic but it’s through the scope of my Mk4 LR/T using my BlackBerry. I put in 24 minutes and hit the berm on top of the target, windage was dead on. I put in 22 and still went high, so I put in 19.5moa and hit one of the LaRue’s smack dead center.
(Pause for more giggles.)

So before I swung the muzzle over to the 1000 yard berm I decided to play with the gas system a bit to see if I could squeeze any more FPS out of the JP upper so I loaded 1 round at a time into the mag and bled it off until it would just barely lock back on the empty mag and the brass was in a nice little pile just over my right shoulder.

The environmental conditions were perfect for shooting as it was 67 degrees with a winds gusting from 5-7 my from my 4 o-clock position.

Best of the West is a great place to practice 1000 yard shooting in the wind, becuase the berms are dry and there seems to be a near constant vortex and mirage is exaggerated there compared to other long-range targets I am used to. I was able to get dialed in with just around 33MOA elevation and engaged steel – a dream come true to me as I’ve always wanted a standard mag length cartridge that could do that from an existing stoner rifle… and now I’ve got it.

I will upgrade optics and swap out for a lighter trigger and test my skills again at 1000 yards with it and take some more pics and video of it next weekend hopefully.

Link to rifle manufacturer:
http://www.jprifles.com/1.2.1_CTR02.php
 
Re: 6.5 Grendel Upper

So I called around and did some surfing looking for a 6.5 Grendel AR barrel. I came across Christensen Arms site. I havn't talked to them yet, but has anyone here had any PERSONAL experience with the Christensen AR's?
 
Re: 6.5 Grendel Upper

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: country888</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I got mine last spring, think I paid around $550 for it then. But I believe they have come down now. No offence ThomasA but I think I would stay away from Black Hole, Iv not heard to many good things about their barrels. I just wouldn't take a chance. I think your fine with a standard upper, there is not much recoil with the grendel or twist of the upper. The 264LB has different throat than the grendel. </div></div>

No offense taken sir, but I would like to know where you gathered your info. From all I can find everyone is getting 3/4 or 1/2 MOA with the BHW barrels. I'll be putting finishing touches on mine and shooting it this weekend. I guess I'll have my pudding at that point.
smile.gif
 
Re: 6.5 Grendel Upper

ThomasA, BHW hasn't a great name around this forum because of Caudle's less than stellar quality control or customer service. It really doesn't take long for a company to get a bad name if some shoddy barrels ship to customers and the problems aren't fixed promptly. Now fortunately, I bought a barrel from him when he was basically a one man shop and was only making barrels and hadn't expanded that much, that barrel is a tack driver, a lot of good builders here on the Hide used to use Caudle's barrels until his problems, plus the price was a lot less than $550.
 
Re: 6.5 Grendel Upper

Well I can't speak for their history. But I can share my experience I guess, which was stellar.

They had my barrel in stock, threaded it before the end of day and had it shipped out same day as I ordered it. They also gave me a discount. They did ship it to the bill to instead of ship to. But as soon as I called them they refunded me the shipping cost. They were fast to call me back when I had to leave a message. There's nothing about BHW that would convince me to not buy my next barrel from them.

I believe people and companies can turn around. Looks like they have. I think that's worth something
smile.gif
 
Re: 6.5 Grendel Upper

I am by far no expert, but the Grendel is fantastic to shoot. I have a 24 in AA that shoots great and is easy to reload for. Wish I had gone with something shorter. The only problem with Grendel is SS media gets blocked inside of case which is only minor discomfort. You probably will get better info on 6.5 grendel forum, build a GRENDEL and do not look back.
 
Re: 6.5 Grendel Upper

I hope BHW has turned it around. I have never owned one, just from what iv heard around here. Just google search them here on the hide. There are a few reviews on them. I will say, one of my friends got a BH barrel couple months ago & he says it shoots great!
 
Re: 6.5 Grendel Upper

I bought a hand-me-down Kreiger from Joel Pendergraft (about 100 rounds on it) and couldn't be happier.

For hunting purposes, I use a 16" Liberty chrome moly, but you're not going to win any accuracy contests with it.
 
Re: 6.5 Grendel Upper

Built a 6.5 Grendel using a 20" barrel from SI Defense. The barrel was chambered in .264 LBC (Les Baer's Grendel) I got a consistent 2650 fps with 123 gr A-max. Very accurate.

That should make it a 1000+ yard semi with a 20" barrel, very interesting concept. However, I have the .308 bug bad so it hasn't seen much range time recently and I'm considering letting it go.
 
Re: 6.5 Grendel Upper

What can I say, good BC, good velocity, plus I'm shooting at 5800ft elevation, 1000 is definitely possible with this cartridge, even in an AR.

Have to say the LBC chamber might give an edge, because it seems like I got the extra fps they claimed.