6.5 Grendel Build

[RaceBannon42]

My muzzle device showed up today, and I still need to properly mount it, but my build is pretty much done for now.

Mega Arms forged receiver set
Geissele 2-Stage Trigger
B5 System P Grip- FDE
Magpul PRS Precision Rifle Stock - FDE
Rainier Arms Raptor Ambi 5.56MM Charging Handle
Fail Zero Carrier
Black Hole Weaponry 18" Barrel
Diamondhead VRS-T 15" handguard and T Brake .30cal Muzzle compensator
Model 1 Sales 6.5 bolt
Harris HBRMS bipod
Vortex 6.5-20 x 44 Viper optic
Magpul Mbus sights

Now to find somewhere to get out it shoot it. Winters in Minnesota has disadvantages.

[Stickman]

Very nice. Not many out there using Diamondhead handguards and brake. Interested to see the range report.

[alamo5000]

Looking very nice. I am going to have to read up on this Grendel cartridge.

Why did you choose that round vs a .308 or a .300? Is there any inherent advantage to one vs the other? Where does the Grendel excel where the others do not?

[din]

Very good long range ballistics out of the AR-15 platform. 300 BLK is a fairly close range cartridge, .308 you have to build on a heavier platform. 6.5 Grendel is also supposed to have better performance than .308 at long distances and stays supersonic past 1000 yards.

[din]

http://www.6mmbr.com/65grendel.html

[WHSmithIV]

Very nice. Not many out there using Diamondhead handguards and brake. Interested to see the range report.

I second that. I'd really like to know how it performs at distance of around 800 yards or so.

[WHSmithIV]

Very good long range ballistics out of the AR-15 platform. 300 BLK is a fairly close range cartridge, .308 you have to build on a heavier platform. 6.5 Grendel is also supposed to have better performance than .308 at long distances and stays supersonic past 1000 yards.

It's still supersonic at 500 yards. Effective accurate range is listed as 800 yards but it should easily be able to hit the target at 1000 yards. the ammo isn't cheap - that's for sure.

[WHSmithIV]

Looking very nice. I am going to have to read up on this Grendel cartridge.

Why did you choose that round vs a .308 or a .300? Is there any inherent advantage to one vs the other? Where does the Grendel excel where the others do not?

At 500 yards the Grendel bullet will pass a .308 bullet in flight and is still supersonic. That is, with both bullets being fired from barrels of the same length. The effective accurate range for the Grendel is 800 yards. The cartridges are still expensive though and until there is higher usage of them, the price won't likely come down. The ammo isn't all that easy to find at some local store either. IT's easy enough to order on-line though.

SAAMI in the last couple years took on the 6.5 Grendel cartridge as a an official SAAMI cartridge. When they did that, Alexander Arms agreed to release their trademark on the cartridge. Up until Alexander Arms released the trademark, they were pretty much the only place to get barrels and bolts. I think we will start to see more 6.5 Grendel builds getting made and the popularity of the cartridge will increase. One of the big benefits with it is that you build on the AR 15 platform, not the AR 10 platform.

[WHSmithIV]

Which barrel did you get for this? There aren't a lot of companies that make 6.5 Grendel barrels. Part of the reason for this is that until about 2 years ago they had to pay licensing to Alexander Arms.

Lilja Precision Barrels in Montana makes 6.5 Grendel barrels 22" long threaded for a muzzle device. I think that's what I'll be looking to get when I plan a 6.5 rifle. I'm a bit torn between building a 6.5 Grendel or a .308 so I can retire my venerable .303 Lee Enfield as my hunting rifle.

[RaceBannon42]

Which barrel did you get for this? There aren't a lot of companies that make 6.5 Grendel barrels. Part of the reason for this is that until about 2 years ago they had to pay licensing to Alexander Arms.

Lilja Precision Barrels in Montana makes 6.5 Grendel barrels 22" long threaded for a muzzle device. I think that's what I'll be looking to get when I plan a 6.5 rifle. I'm a bit torn between building a 6.5 Grendel or a .308 so I can retire my venerable .303 Lee Enfield as my hunting rifle.

I ended up getting a barrel from Black Hole Weaponry. I found a dealer that had one in stock, and it was much less expensive than a Lilja