Ruger ranch 6.5 Grendel project

[Jmccracken1214]

Bought this 16” Grendel to play with, and have as a medium range do it all style rifle.
I hated the stock, put a cheek riser on it but that didn’t do it for me. After a range session, I was getting decent groups, .8-1” but wanted better.
I got tired of waiting for magpul to release the stanag stock so I could use my AR mags.
Ordered a magpul hunter and MdT 6 arc aics mag. Feeds awesome!!!
Threw a timney trigger in it and an anarchy outdoors titanium bolt handle. Super happy with how this thing turned out. Range time will be next week.

Can’t wait for my nomad 30 to get out of jail. The nomad L is sooo long on these short rifles

 

[Campguy308]

I love the short general purpose rifle concept. I've got a Ranch 5.56 and have thought hard about getting the Grendel version.

Are you reloading for it?

 

[Jmccracken1214]

I love the short general purpose rifle concept. I've got a Ranch 5.56 and have thought hard about getting the Grendel version.

Are you reloading for it?

Yes, using 123 and 8208, at 28.6, I haven’t seen pressure yet but that load was putting me at around .75” 5 shot groups and 2415-2420fps.
I’m going to try 28.8 and 29 and see if it tightens up.
Just changing the stock may tighten it up.

 

[Campguy308]

Yes, using 123 and 8208, at 28.6, I haven’t seen pressure yet but that load was putting me at around .75” 5 shot groups and 2415-2420fps.
I’m going to try 28.8 and 29 and see if it tightens up.
Just changing the stock may tighten it up.

I had a Grendel AR once and i had the best luck with CFE223 and 123 AMAX.

How was the feeding with the factory stock and AR mags?

 

[Jmccracken1214]

I had a Grendel AR once and i had the best luck with CFE223 and 123 AMAX.

How was the feeding with the factory stock and AR mags?

It fed ok with the stock mags. A little rougher than the aics mag, but if you run the bolt like you would in a match, I never had issues with the AR mags either

 

[Jmccracken1214]

Didn't get a pic of the group, but seated my bullets out longer than AR mag length, since Im running the mdt 6arc aics mag.. Velocity isnt where I want it, but not bad I guess for 8208 in a 16" barrel... Ive got 16lbs of it, so its what I have to run.. Would like to see if CFE223 got me more, but probably not worth the extra fps to spend cash on new powder.

Shot 5 rounds in a dime sized group at 100 yards.
2392 FPS
SD: 7.5
ES: 19

 

[Dead Eye Dick]

I thought about doing a conversion with Brenda's Ranch Rifle in 300 BO. When I causally brought it up in conversation, she causally mentioned that she would shoot me first. What can you say when you Best Friend/Wife loves (one of) her rifle(s)

(she said I could do whatever I wanted with her early 70's era Remington 700 in .243 with the beautiful wood and the better than one MOA accuracy and the action / fit and finish were all but custom grade....boy what a change Remington made; to the worse. The only thing I would do to That Rifle is put on a better scope, which we did.)

 

[FuhQ]

In the coming months I will be buying 2 of these...in 6.5 Grendel & .300 BLK. Also, maybe a 3rd one in .350 Legend, if I feel like screwing with a whole new cartridge... As if I need THAT on my plate right now.

I already load for 6.5G and .300 BLK, and have well-established AR loads for them. My 20" Faxon 5R Match barreled 6.5 Grendel shot a .3xx" 3-shot group at 100 last time I went to the range, so I'm pleased with how it's doing. And my .300 BLK 220 sub load is pretty consistent, as well...But subs are a bit tricky to get consistency from in a gas gun. I'd be willing to bet they would do phenomenal in a bolt-action, because I hand-weigh each charge, and only allow up to 0.0025" for COAL variance.

 

[Jmccracken1214]

In the coming months I will be buying 2 of these...in 6.5 Grendel & .300 BLK. Also, maybe a 3rd one in .350 Legend, if I feel like screwing with a whole new cartridge... As if I need THAT on my plate right now.

I already load for 6.5G and .300 BLK, and have well-established AR loads for them. My 20" Faxon 5R Match barreled 6.5 Grendel shot a .3xx" 3-shot group at 100 last time I went to the range, so I'm pleased with how it's doing. And my .300 BLK 220 sub load is pretty consistent, as well...But subs are a bit tricky to get consistency from in a gas gun. I'd be willing to bet they would do phenomenal in a bolt-action, because I hand-weigh each charge, and only allow up to 0.0025" for COAL variance.

I prefer a bolt over an AR for certain calibers. I don’t have to chase my brass all over the place, and I’m not as tempted to squeeze off a bunch of rounds quickly lol.

Def. Look into anarchy outdoors for a different bolt handle. Like I said in my first post, I’m not crazy how mine ended up looking, wish I went with black now but with the action not being that smooth, getting rid of the tiny factory bolt handle made cycling this action way easier and smoother. Best upgrade besides the trigger

 

[Campguy308]

I prefer a bolt over an AR for certain calibers. I don’t have to chase my brass all over the place, and I’m not as tempted to squeeze off a bunch of rounds quickly lol.

Def. Look into anarchy outdoors for a different bolt handle. Like I said in my first post, I’m not crazy how mine ended up looking, wish I went with black now but with the action not being that smooth, getting rid of the tiny factory bolt handle made cycling this action way easier and smoother. Best upgrade besides the trigger

Some people have suggested using flitz metal polish to smooth out the actions on tge ruger americans. I'm pretty pleased with mine so i have not tried it.

 

[Jmccracken1214]

Some people have suggested using flitz metal polish to smooth out the actions on tge ruger americans. I'm pretty pleased with mine so i have not tried it.

I think that’s more for the zipper noise they make. The AR mag style Ruger has a different cut on the bolt, and with the AR mags, feeding isn’t as smooth as the others, but with me using an aics mag, it feeds much smoother than the ar mags

 

[mark5pt56]

That's pretty cool! Keep this in mind down the road.

 

[Islas82]

So am currently waiting for the RA gen 2 in 6.5 Grendel to drop. I think the MDT field stock or KRG bravo would be a good addition. I just want something fun to shoot and I owned a RA 6.5 Grendel in the past and liked it.

Glad I found this post since my concern was AICS mags which is what the MDT/KRG stocks use and what I would prefer.

 

[Jmccracken1214]

So am currently waiting for the RA gen 2 in 6.5 Grendel to drop. I think the MDT field stock or KRG bravo would be a good addition. I just want something fun to shoot and I owned a RA 6.5 Grendel in the past and liked it.

Glad I found this post since my concern was AICS mags which is what the MDT/KRG stocks use and what I would prefer.

I have the Gen 2 16” now and even though I like the stock, I hate the mags, so I’ll be switching it to something with AICS.
I’m using benchmark this go around and have tested 100 eld and 123 eld.
I had solid .75” groups with the 100’s at 2583fps
And the same with the 123 at 2350. I’m going to bump up the charge and see if I get more speed.

Here’s 27.4 and 27.6gr of benchmark with the 123

 

[Jmccracken1214]

To save some money, I called Ruger and ordered the aics bottom piece for the Ruger ranch creedmoor, since it’ll match my Grendel ranch stock. $27 shipped. Beats buying another stock. I actually like this factory stock for what it is.

 

[Jmccracken1214]

Got my aics piece from Ruger today. MDT aics mag for 6mm arc feeds much smoother than the ar mag.

Also, Gen 2 triggers are different than Gen 1. I ordered a timney, it won’t fit. Have to get the specific Gen 2 timney

 

[morning would]

Love my RAP Grendel. Little bit longer barrel than the Ranch, but I am getting 2540fps with the Norma 130GTX bullets with 31gr of CFE in a Lapua case. Just in case anyone is looking for a starting point to mess with a little heavier bullet.

 

[Jmccracken1214]

5 shots with my 107 smk load of 29.2 gr of benchmark.
Amazing to me from this $530 rifle.