Based on some advice I received here along with some others' input, I'm going to put together an 6.5 Grendel AR. The ballistics are all-around better than the 6.8 SPC, and appear to even beat the .308 (although with a lighter bullet) at extended ranges. BC and SD are great... small platform... lighter than an AR-10... I think I'm sold.
I want to be able to use the same gun I practice with for extended ranges as a hunting rifle under some circumstances. I think there are some benefits to being that familiar with the gun/loads/optics up here where we can run into 500+ yard shots on big game because of the wide open spaces. Question is... do I want the 24" barrel or the 20" barrel? I think I can put together a 24" barreled unit that weighs somewhere in the 10# neighborhood with some of the optional accessories removed. It would appear that there is not enough weight savings by dropping 4" of barrel to justify the loss in velocity. I want to be able to get out to 800+ yards... 1k would be nice, but weight is an issue. I'm still kind of leaning towards the 24" though... am I on the right track? Maybe I've overlooked something with the 6.8 (just don't see anything close to the BC of the 6.5)? Any thoughts?
I want to be able to use the same gun I practice with for extended ranges as a hunting rifle under some circumstances. I think there are some benefits to being that familiar with the gun/loads/optics up here where we can run into 500+ yard shots on big game because of the wide open spaces. Question is... do I want the 24" barrel or the 20" barrel? I think I can put together a 24" barreled unit that weighs somewhere in the 10# neighborhood with some of the optional accessories removed. It would appear that there is not enough weight savings by dropping 4" of barrel to justify the loss in velocity. I want to be able to get out to 800+ yards... 1k would be nice, but weight is an issue. I'm still kind of leaning towards the 24" though... am I on the right track? Maybe I've overlooked something with the 6.8 (just don't see anything close to the BC of the 6.5)? Any thoughts?