Form 1 sbrs are about a month

Cool gun. Honestly I've been stunned by how much better all around caliber the Grendel is over556

Very true

https://www.shootingtimes.com/editorial/6-5mm-grendel-the-round-the-military-ought-to-have/99097

I have a .300 blackout pistol already. So I need to pay $200-$300 to get a trust set up and then the $200 sbr form 1, correct?

AgLA06 said:

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I think I'm remember this incorrectly. Did someone say SBR wait times were down unlike the suppressor wait times?

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I got mine today. 20 day wait.

Capital Armory has trusts for $80.

D206 said:

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Looks awesome. I'm gonna build an SBR soon. What would you think about a Radian lower with the Balios upper? It seems like dropping the forward assist is the biggest weight reduction. I haven't actually put my hands on a radian but the ambidextrous catch is the draw to me.

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I don't have any experience with Radian lowers, sorry. Like their charging handles and ambi safeties a lot though. The 12" gun has their Talon safety on it.

It'd probably be a good mix. If you just want a no FA upper, Aero also makes one that is cheaper than the Balios. I have the Aero slickside on my 5.56 lightweight build and it's great.

cbr said:

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Cool gun. Honestly I've been stunned by how much better all around caliber the Grendel is over556

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If I was trying to find reasons to not get into Grendel, unique magazines, ammo costs and thinner bolt faces would be my talking points.

But it does offer a lot of advantages in exchange for those trade offs.

I still think everyone needs a 5.56 AR and that it's also a fine round and a fine rifle.

But if you wanted to build only one AR for hunting, self defense, etc....you'd be well served with an 18" Grendel and a boatload of ammo.

Or do it my way and get a 12" and a 20" instead. Ha.

BenderRodriguez said:

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Or do it my way and get a 12" and a 20" instead. Ha.

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The route i am going as well. 20" for thermal night hunting, 12" for daytime hiking, messin around in the woods for critters

This is the handguard I put on my 6.5 Grendel and love it. Odin Works Ragna.

Radian lowers are the real,deal. Ax556.

Have 5.

You will not find a finer lower that is true ambi for both lefty and righty.

If you're righty. Index finger Mag release also serves as bolt catch. Bolt release right finger

If you're lefty. Same thing.

Solid well built receiver

This is a great deal for only $240. Enter code Take15



For that price I bought 3 for gifts.

Bender,

Cane we get a report on how the gun is doing? I'm think I want a 6.5 Grendel pistol for a sub 150 yard deer gun and was curious to the accuracy and FT/LBS of energy you're getting.


I'm pretty sure it would break a neck or split an ear but those require precision. I'm pretty my kids/wife can hold minute of deer's shoulder but that takes energy.


Thanks a bunch

Fishin Texas Aggie 05 said:

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Bender,

Cane we get a report on how the gun is doing? I'm think I want a 6.5 Grendel pistol for a sub 150 yard deer gun and was curious to the accuracy and FT/LBS of energy you're getting.


I'm pretty sure it would break a neck or split an ear but those require precision. I'm pretty my kids/wife can hold minute of deer's shoulder but that takes energy.


Thanks a bunch

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Well, it sure looks pretty sitting here at home.

Shortly after I got it assembled the wu flu ammo panic hit. I've managed to buy a small variety of ammo to test through it. Plan was shoot a little of everything, find out what it likes and then buy in bulk. I've got a variety of 110-130 grain ammo from Prvi, Federal, Hornady etc all waiting to go shoot.

But the week before I was going to pick up the NX8 and SBR it, I lucked into a really great deal on gen 3 night vision and I've spent the last few months getting IR lights/lasers/helmet set up etc for NV shooting instead. I'm distracted easily.

Finally SBR'd it (and a couple other guns) on 6/27, and I'm about to buy a NX8, so hopefully next month I'll get out to the range and get some accuracy/velocity stuff done with it and the 20" gun to report back with.

I can tell you part of the reason I bought/built this gun was everything I've read from folks who are less easily distracted than I am who actually shoot their 12" Grendels is they have had a lot of success with deer and hogs so I think it would serve you well.

I'll hopefully have velocity numbers for you next month.

Fishin Texas Aggie 05 said:

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Bender,

Cane we get a report on how the gun is doing? I'm think I want a 6.5 Grendel pistol for a sub 150 yard deer gun and was curious to the accuracy and FT/LBS of energy you're getting.


I'm pretty sure it would break a neck or split an ear but those require precision. I'm pretty my kids/wife can hold minute of deer's shoulder but that takes energy.


Thanks a bunch

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Take a serious look at the 6.8 SPC II. It was designed for the shorter barrel. I have a 6.5 Grendel with a 20" barrel and a 6.8 with an 11.3" barrel. The Grendel was designed for a longer barrel (you'll get a huge fireball come out of a pistol), and I actually get better groups out of my 6.8 at the distance you talk about. You'll also get better ballistics out of the 6.8 in a pistol format. The only reason I see to choose the 6.5 over the 6.8 in a pistol is if you are trying to consolidate cartridges and have or want a longer Grendel as well.

DatTallArchitect said:

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It was designed for the shorter barrel.

You'll also get better ballistics out of the 6.8 in a pistol format.

The only reason I see to choose the 6.5 over the 6.8 in a pistol is if you are trying to consolidate cartridges and have or want a longer Grendel as well.

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And 5.56 in an AR-15 was designed to shoot 55 grain loads from a 20" barrel. Original design parameter doesn't nullify performance in other set ups.

Since I haven't tested mine yet, I borrowed this from someone who has:

12.5" 6.8 SPC with factory 120gr SST, 2375fps mv

275yds 1835fps 897ft-lbs
300yds 1790fps 854ft-lbs

12.5" 6.5 Grendel, factory 123gr SST, 2350fps mv

300yds 1842fps 926ft-lbs
325yds 1803fps 888ft-lbs

In similar barrel lengths with similar bullets, the ballistics are basically the same at short ranges. If you go further at all, the higher BC of 6.5 kicks in and starts outperforming the 6.8 even before you hit 300 yards, with less wind drift and drop to boot.

The only reason I can see to choose 6.8 over 6.5 in a pistol is if you're going shorter than the barrel length the 6.8 was designed for (12-16"), because it will do a little better than 6.5 Grendel in barrels shorter than 12".

But then, once you're talking shorter than the 12" the 6.8 was designed for, I guess logically we have to stick to a caliber designed for a shorter barrel, like 300 Blackout instead, right?

There may be less wind drift and drop out of the 6.5, but I'll guarantee you I get better groups out of my 6.8 than I do out of my 6.5. It surprised me when I first took my 6.8 to the range. The 6.5 has a 20" Shilen barrel and the 6.8 has an 11.3" Wilson Combat barrel. They both have Elftmann triggers, but the Grendel has the better trigger. The Grendel has a Rudolph 3-9x scope, while the 6.8 has a Riton 1-4x scope. I spent a lot more money on building the Grendel than I did building my 6.8. It frustrates me that I don't get better groups out of the Grendel, and am planning on taking some shooting courses to hopefully improve them.

The 6.8 is fine but it runs out of gas at 300 meters regardless of barrel length. The Grendel gets it done up close and is still sonic to ridiculous ranges, even from short barrels. One round does two jobs. And, unlike with most things, does both really well.

I put a Howa mini action (20" what they call the heavy barrel) in an MDT chassis and with Black it shoots 3/4" all day long and is sonic to 1900 yards. Not a typo...1900. Even my short barrels will get to 1000. Amazing performance in such a small package. That Howa is 8.5 pounds with the Vortex PST on it.

You all that are looking at integral suppressed stuff be sure to check out Suppressed Weapon Systems in Houston.

They are building a couple of rifles for me right now and it doesn't get more state of the art than they are. Amazing product and they are awesome folks. DO NOT click the link if you don't have disposable income. You have been warned...

https://www.suppressedweaponsystems.com/

Need another nv monocle....if you come across one pm me please

that's Nice!

FunkyKO said:

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that's Nice!

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Thanks! Excited to wring it out.

Wish I hadn't gotten into a new caliber during the Year 'O Panic.

Oh well.

Nice looking Grendel! Is the ALG handguard light weight or was there a different motivation in selecting it?

DatTallArchitect said:

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Nice looking Grendel! Is the ALG handguard light weight or was there a different motivation in selecting it?

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Good mix of weight/durability. Just like using the 2A receiver set instead of a polymer lower. If pure weight was priority, I could have gone lighter on a lot of parts, including the handguard.

But I was looking for a good mix of durable/lightweight/high performance on this build. ALG rail is light (and uses a proprietary lightweight barrel nut), has ambi QD cups for my favorite sling, and has a little bit of pic rail up front for easy light/laser attachment.

What ammo have you been able to test with it?

TheVarian said:

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What ammo have you been able to test with it?

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Set the adjustable gas blocks on both 12" and 20" Grendels using Hornady 123 gr HPBT American Gunner last week. I'll zero both guns with the same ammo this week because its what I have the most of.



If I can get both guns zerod and chrono'd easily enough with that load, I also have smaller amounts of the following I want to chrono and shoot.

Prvi 110 gr FMJ
Prvi 120 gr HPBT
Federal 130 gr Hybrid OTM
American Eagle 120 gr OTM
Hornady 123 gr SST
Hornady 123 gr ELD

I have some 100 gr Wolf too, but I'm holding off on shooting steel case until I get to see how the guns shoot. If the PSA 20" is a medicocre shooter I'll blast some Wolf with it.

Got some velocity numbers for you shooting the "cheap" stuff (Hornady American Gunner, 123 gr HPBT).

12" 5 shot average: 2239 fps

Ran same ammo through the 20" to get a comparison point.

20" 5 shot average: 2523 fps.

Only lost 284 fps for 8" less barrel.

Some interesting gel test info on one of the specific rounds I've also chrono'd:



Interestingly, I had less SD and higher velocity averages from my two groups out of a 12" barrel than he did out of a 16" barrel.

But of course, altitude, temp, etc all plays a part, and who knows....my chrono could be off.

Either way, gel info might be interesting for you.

ARFCOM: dude muzzling himself with a loaded rifle...

It's the competition shooter that makes my head explode when I see this. I know the gun isn't going to go off by itself...

Okay, so don't take safety advice from the guy.

Thought it was interesting to see a budget round like the AG tested in gel. Based on people I trust and their experiences, I'd use SST or ELD on something fleshy over this, but more data is always useful.

I raided the NX8 from the 12" grendel for a rifle match in November, so nothing new to report for the 12" gun. I was getting some chrono numbers from the 5.56 guns I'll shoot at that match today though and brought the 20" grendel out to play.

Used the same lower for all three uppers, so same trigger, shooter, and distance. Weather was fun today, 10-15 mph sustained wind with some 20 mph gusts. Not great for group shooting, but I was mostly there for chrono data. Also keep in mind I'm a flat mediocre rifle shooter, so the group sizes are probably all my fault regardless. All shots were taken from the bench using a single bag. Since I was collecting chrono info I was putting the rifle down between every single shot to record. I did notice that the 6.5 Grendel did handle the inconsistent wind much better than the other two guns did, as you'll see in a minute. All groups shot at 100 yards.



I was shooting Federal XM193 55 gr in the 5.56 guns.

Average Velocity from the 16" PSA gun (bottom upper) was 3073 fps, with a SD of 38.6. Shot a 3.92 MOA 8 shot group (1 called flyer that I disregarded because it was the single worst trigger pull of the day).



AV for the 14.5" pencil barrel pinned to 16" (middle upper) was 2993 fps, SD of 21. 3.07 MOA 9 shot group.



I need to rezero the 20" Grendel. The 5.56 guns are both using a 200 yard zero and hitting above POA at 100 yards as they should. The 20" 6.5 should also have been hitting high from a 200 yard zero, but wasn't. But I was running out of time after I shot the Grendel, so that's a problem for another day. It has a cheap scope and cheap mount on it, so either could be the culprit.

AV for the 20" was 2510, with a SD of 13.8. I was shooting the same 123 gr Hornady American Gunner I posted about earlier in the thread. It shot a 1.92 MOA 9 shot group today in the wind.



I really should just shoot 3 shot groups and lie about how awesomely accurate my gun is. 7 of the 9 shots were in a pretty good little group there. Tempted to slap it into a lead sled and see what it can do, because I know I wasn't helping the group size with my shooting.

Either way, thought it was interesting to compare the 9 shot groups I was getting from my 5.56 and 6.5 Grendels today in the wind.

In before everyone who shoots Sub MOA every time, no matter the ammo or weather.

If we could combine talents we'd have a pretty decent shooter that still couldn't figure out a shotgun