AR Platform Calibers

[alamo5000]

Recently when I went shooting I was able to tag the 1000 yard gong. It was just awesome. I was really having fun out there. Next time around I am going to try to go past the 1000 yard mark.

In my poking around though I started looking at various calibers of rifles. I plug the info into a ballistics calculator to see what rounds will perform like downrange.

With that in mind I know people use the AR platform or variations of it for all kinds of things. For 1000+ yard shooting I could either go with the tried and true bolt gun, a semi auto, or I could look into something that uses the AR platform.

For the sake of this conversation does anyone know of 1000 yard or 1000 yard + calibers that are currently in production as an AR style?

Just from looking around I would think a 7mm AR would be awesome. But what about things like the 6mm variants? Or really anything for that matter that can reach to 1000 at least.

Since this is Weapons Evolution what do you think would fit the bill?

[toolboxluis00200]

.308. Or. .338 lapua

[alamo5000]

.308. Or. .338 lapua

I hit the 1000 yard with a .308 bolt gun. That said I think we were stretching our gear getting there.

The .338 lapua is something else entirely... however it does shoot $5 bills out the barrel.

Of course you have the SI Defense .300 WM...

[SINNER]

Semi's lack the accuracy to shoot consistent at 1000+. 6.5 Creedmoor or a 7 WSM in a Remington 700 or Savage 110 would be my choice if I had to pick a starter long range gun.

[BoilerUp]

Take a look at the .260 Remington. You could have some fun with the 7mm-08, too.

[WHSmithIV]

6.5 Grendel will do it for an AR-15 platform.

[GOST]

Like others have said if your into distance I would go with a bolt rifle over a semi. 260 Remington and 6.5 Creedmoor are two good options, 300WM is another good option but has more recoil. 338 Lapua is great but very expensive even for reloaders.

[din]

6.5 Grendel will do it for an AR-15 platform.

A-yup. Go spend some time poking around on 65grendel.com, plenty of folks are shooting past 1000 yards consistently, and an AR has plenty of accuracy for it. The guy doing some Cerakote for me right now has pretty much quit shooting his AR in .260 Rem since he gets performance that's close enough with less weight and recoil.

[GOST]

Go spend some time poking around on 65grendel.com, plenty of folks are shooting past 1000 yards consistently, and an AR has plenty of accuracy for it.
Depends on how accurate you want to be. For me when I occasionally shoot 600 or more I prefer a bolt rifle.

[Txfilmmaker]

I would like a 6.5 Creedmoor. (Bolt) Good long distance capability, mild recoil.


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[velocity2006]

With high end parts you can get a pretty accurate AR-10 in 6.5 Creedmoor. For a bolt action I would be looking at the 28 Nosler, 280 AI, or 7mm Remington Magnum, something about that 7mm projectiles BC is just awesome.

[alamo5000]

For true bolt gun long range rifle, if I ever have the dough to invest in that I will want to go with something that can breeze past the 1000 yard mark, but that the components are relatively easy to come by. I don't want to have some crazy caliber that has all these proprietary parts only to find out that they really didn't sell so I can't get a replacement barrel or whatever.

That all said, I was reading about a 7mm-300WM... that sounds really awesome. I was watching some videos where they were making 1 mile shots with that rifle. It's 300WM case necked down to a 7mm bullet. After reading on that one... that would be awesome. It would be pretty expensive though. Probably $7-$8000 bucks tip to tail to get into that one (including premium optics). Still pretty steep. (I was basing that around some of the comments on the discussions from an owner)

The 7mm so far seems like it would be a good choice for 'off the shelf' although the idea to be able to shoot a mile is still fascinating.

As for the AR platform it might be neat to have a 1000 yard AR. A 6mm variant would be cool.

Overall whatever it would be it would be nice to be able to afford to shoot it.

[mustangfreek]

Im still in the 6mm variants camp..Ive shot a few different 6.5 guns and all laser beam accurate as far out as we had access to.

If i ever do a small frame it will be a grendel , if on a ar10 frame creedmoor or .260 rem which is essentially a necked down 308 case for the .260's 6.5 bullet. (243,260,7mm-08,308 are in the same family kinda...;) )

My choices are as they are plenty capable rounds of hitting steel at 1000+, along with being capable of damn good hunting rifles. Also these calibers are not to expensive ammo wise and even better when reloading, and componets for these are not too expensive compared to say the 300 WM,lapua,etc..Obviously things would change if competition and such was involved..

[WHSmithIV]

A-yup. Go spend some time poking around on 65grendel.com, plenty of folks are shooting past 1000 yards consistently, and an AR has plenty of accuracy for it. The guy doing some Cerakote for me right now has pretty much quit shooting his AR in .260 Rem since he gets performance that's close enough with less weight and recoil.

I'm seriously thinking of building this stripped lower receiver that's on it's way into a 6.5 Grendel rifle. Found 6.5 Grendel barrels for right around $200 too.

[SINNER]

6.5 Grendel's should have never been chambered in a AR15 pattern rifle. There is a reason LMT and AR Performance among others have abandoned the Grendel for the 6.8 SPC. The case diameter is far to large for the bolt face dimensions in the AR15's. Broken bolts are common at the pressures the Grendel needs to perform correctly. The LMT bolts were to only ones surviving past 200 rounds and people using the 7.62x39 bolts are lucky to get 100 rounds out of the bolt.

[din]

6.5 Grendel's should have never been chambered in a AR15 pattern rifle. There is a reason LMT and AR Performance among others have abandoned the Grendel for the 6.8 SPC. The case diameter is far to large for the bolt face dimensions in the AR15's. Broken bolts are common at the pressures the Grendel needs to perform correctly. The LMT bolts were to only ones surviving past 200 rounds and people using the 7.62x39 bolts are lucky to get 100 rounds out of the bolt.

LOL. That's just adorable.

[WHSmithIV]

6.5 Grendel's should have never been chambered in a AR15 pattern rifle. There is a reason LMT and AR Performance among others have abandoned the Grendel for the 6.8 SPC. The case diameter is far to large for the bolt face dimensions in the AR15's. Broken bolts are common at the pressures the Grendel needs to perform correctly. The LMT bolts were to only ones surviving past 200 rounds and people using the 7.62x39 bolts are lucky to get 100 rounds out of the bolt.

This doesn't make much sense for a few reasons. 1) 7.62x39 bolts aren't interchangeable with 6.5 Grendel bolts. 2) Alexander Arms has been making bolts that last over 5000 rounds for some time now. 3) 6.5 Grendel was specifically developed for AR15's......

[SINNER]

LOL. That's just adorable.

Did you come up with that all by yourself?


This doesn't make much sense for a few reasons. 1) 7.62x39 bolts aren't interchangeable with 6.5 Grendel bolts. 2) Alexander Arms has been making bolts that last over 5000 rounds for some time now. 3) 6.5 Grendel was specifically developed for AR15's......

I think you need to look into the Grendel a little more before you make assumptions. Both versions of the Grendel chamber use a 7.62x39 bolt pattern. One has a .136 pocket and the other is the standard .125 pocket but it's still a 7.62 bolt. AA Arms claims to have a proprietary bolt for the Grendel but it's a cut 7.62 with balanced lugs. The one opposite the extractor is removed. Both LMT and AR Performance made really good bolts as far as the Grendel goes but both discontinued any Grendel offerings. Not many people realize when the Grendel was SAAMI approved they cut almost 10K psi off the maximum pressure allowed due to failures during testing. That is per AA Arms.

I own 2 rifles chambered in 6.5 Grendel and both shoot very well. In the Ar Performance barrel'ed one I have a early design Colt 7.62 bolt that has survived about 300 rounds. More than any other bolt I tried. The other one has a Lilja barrel with a proprietary chamber known as the 6.5 Grendel-8 with a Underground Tactical bolt that is specific to the Lilja barrel. I only have maybe 60 rounds through that one but it's deadly accurate. The very slight gain over the 6.8 and the known issues with the bolts prevent me from recommending that cartridge. Honestly it's been a few years since I played with the Grendel so I am sure some issues have been addressed.

Here is a link to some highlights of the pissing contest at 6.5grendel.com.

http://www.ar15performance.com/6_5_grendel

[SINNER]

This thread made me curious as to if anyone had addressed the bolt breakage issue and it seems there are a few new products out to combat the lack of material left in the bolt. The Young bolts seem like the best solution going right now other than machining a LMT 7.62x39 bolt.

http://www.rainierarms.com/young-mfg-chrome-6-5-grendel-bolt

[din]

The fact that you're advocating AR performance for anything is very telling. Lie down with vindictive tards, get up with derp. Also, who is AA Arms? I didn't know Bill W. made guns too!

[Dstrbdmedic167]

Well I'll back Sinner up on AR Performance.. He may not be a big name to some but his product outperforms a majority of those out there.... had several products from them I purchased long before I came here... You want performance... *insert catchy phrase here*

[SINNER]

My guess is din hangs with those dimwits over a 6.5grendel. Judging by his worthless posts he would fit right in with that collection of lead paint victims.

I have 3 AR Performance barrels and the fact is they hang with $5-600 barrels from Lilja and Satern. I could care less if he is vindictive to a bunch of douchebags or not. His company, his comments. Unlike a lot of people if I comment on something in particular's functionality I own it and have used it. The fact is the Grendel platform has suffered the same issues as 7.62x39 rounds in the AR15 platform from it's inception. Broken bolts and poor feeding. You certainly do not need to believe my opinion on that. It's a very well documented and published fact.

[Tyrannosaur]

The fact that you're advocating AR performance for anything is very telling. Lie down with vindictive tards, get up with derp. Also, who is AA Arms? I didn't know Bill W. made guns too!

Bill W, that's great

[mustangfreek]

Hey now fellas...


Back to topic..there is a bunch of info over here on 6mm variants cartridge info,reloading all kinds of stuff , good for a read/info if you get some time...but take it for what its worth.....[BD]


http://www.accurateshooter.com/tactical/6-5-creedmoor-for-tactical-competition/

[Aberration79]

IMO I am as happy as a puppy with 2 peters with the 300BLK in a 8.5" barrel. So far its doing everything I want out of a carbine, in an amazing size. Going longer obviously there are other choices.