6.5 Grendel Build: Reviews/Opinions

[KenLee]

You could go 6 Grendel…

I have a 6.5 Grendel and love it. When I had a lease in west Texas it was all I carried for the most part. It’s been a hammer for me. Recoil is negligible and it’s a sweet shooting rifle when suppressed.

Suppressed Grendel? Maybe if I was shooting hogs or had a depradation permit.
All I did to mine was chunk the brake.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Suppressed Grendel? Maybe if I was shooting hogs or had a depradation permit.
All I did to mine was chunk the brake.

Yeah it was so fun to shoot. Killin mostly pigs here in Tx

 

[General RE LEE]

6mm ARC

18 or 20" barrel in AR platform?

 

[wirehead]

6mm ARC

18 or 20" barrel in AR platform?

I'd go 20" - Its a lot easier to take material off then to add it. I fancy an M4 profile or fluted heavy barrel. I've found straight heavy profiles to be just too dog gone heavy and not worth any potential added benefit. Just one guys opinion,,,

 

[bbell]

If your not shooting a long ways 16” is nice. I’m above 1800fps till around 425yds. 6.5 Grendel 2450fps muzzle velocity with hornady black eldm ammo

 

[General RE LEE]

View attachment 651459
If your not shooting a long ways 16” is nice. I’m above 1800fps till around 425yds. 6.5 Grendel 2450fps muzzle velocity with hornady black eldm ammo

Is that a 44 or 50mm objective?

 

[redneckbmxer24]

6 ARC is superior to the Grendel in every way. You can get brass and ammo. Is it everywhere? Not yet, but it's available. Starline just released the stuff 6 months ago and it's been selling almost as fast as they can make it but you can get it if you look around. The reality is that it's probably a few months from being well stocked after the initial surge of sales. I've had no problems finding any flavor of factory ammo I want for good prices, I just ordered several more cases too at $1.20/rd for ELDX.

I've had Grendels and was never impressed. I was on the fence about the ARC for a while and finally bit and it's awesome. I'm planning another lightweight Proof barreled build for hunting and I'll probably do a 22" heavy barrel variant of some sort too.

 

[bbell]

Is that a 44 or 50mm objective?

40mm

 

[wirehead]

View attachment 651459
If your not shooting a long ways 16” is nice. I’m above 1800fps till around 425yds. 6.5 Grendel 2450fps muzzle velocity with hornady black eldm ammo

And what is the hand guard? Looks light weight.

 

[seand]

6mm ARC

18 or 20" barrel in AR platform?

There is no magic, 2” of barrel is only 40-50fps. That doesn’t extend your range much.

What I would pay close attention to is gas system length vs barrel length, it matters. Too short of gas system with too long of a barrel and you are going to have premature bolt unlocking/extraction. Too long of a gas system and too short of a barrel won’t be reliable with lighter/different loads. These are not 5.56 ARs and there isn’t as much of a “standard”.

 

[General RE LEE]

There is no magic, 2” of barrel is only 40-50fps. That doesn’t extend your range much.

What I would pay close attention to is gas system length vs barrel length, it matters. Too short of gas system with too long of a barrel and you are going to have premature bolt unlocking/extraction. Too long of a gas system and too short of a barrel won’t be reliable with lighter/different loads. These are not 5.56 ARs and there isn’t as much of a “standard”.

Super 101 question from a bolt action guy but when you buy an upper from a place like Grendel Hunter, isn’t the gas operating system part of the upper? Or is it part of the lower?

 

[ARK_Ginger]

Super 101 question from a bolt action guy but when you buy an upper from a place like Grendel Hunter, isn’t the gas operating system part of the upper? Or is it part of the lower?

Upper

 

[redneckbmxer24]

I would steer clear of shit from Grendel hunter. Their stuff is extremely hit or miss and they’re not using the right gas system lengths for ARC. An 18” should have rifle gas and a 20” should have rifle +1 to have correct dwell time. You’re just asking for problems with those gas system specs, even more so if you’ll be shooting suppressed.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

I put one together last year and love it for the low recoil and legality to use for deer here in WA (.223 not a legal caliber for big game). The 123 SSTs seem to be it's top choice. I bought a bunch of different cartridges for it to build up a brass supply (new brass was almost as much as loaded ammo) and will start loading some this winter. Didn't get to try it out hunting this last year but next year, Yee-Ha!

 

[wirehead]

I put one together last year and love it for the low recoil and legality to use for deer here in WA (.223 not a legal caliber for big game). The 123 SSTs seem to be it's top choice. I bought a bunch of different cartridges for it to build up a brass supply (new brass was almost as much as loaded ammo) and will start loading some this winter. Didn't get to try it out hunting this last year but next year, Yee-Ha!

123 ELDMs are great

 

[General RE LEE]

I would steer clear of shit from Grendel hunter. Their stuff is extremely hit or miss and they’re not using the right gas system lengths for ARC. An 18” should have rifle gas and a 20” should have rifle +1 to have correct dwell time. You’re just asking for problems with those gas system specs, even more so if you’ll be shooting suppressed.

Doesn’t their upper come with an adjustable block? Or does that alleviate the issues?

 

[seand]

Yes, it’s part of the upper. I checked thier website and they are using mid length gas on 18” barrels.

From my limited experience building a total of (1) 6arc gas guns:

1. don’t trust the manuf knows WTF about gas systems, find out for yourself. My barrel is a Wilson combat and I trusted they knew what was appropriate. So mine is a mid length gas on an 18” barrel. Brass length after extraction is inconsistent, ejector swipes, and the brass and action are just beyond filthy after low round counts. (Silencer with adj gas block). Extremely accurate barrel though, for a gas gun.

2. Resist heavy long barrels if you care about weight and packing the thing around. These rifles get heavy as hell quickly, I built mine for my 12yo first hunt and it was realistically too big for her to handle at 10#

3. The aero M4E1 upper receiver w/ free floating handguard (attached to upper, not barrel nut) is fantastic for this kind of rifle. Not sure why they aren’t more popular.

 

[seand]

And your question about spotting hits - my 12yo watched her bullet impact on her first buck at 300yd and watched the buck drop through the scope. 6arc is pretty badass.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Doesn’t their upper come with an adjustable block? Or does that alleviate the issues?

That only regulates the amount of gas going to the action, has nothing to do with dwell time. Dwell time is based on the length of barrel from port to muzzle. An 18” mid length is going to have issues, most good 18” 223 barrels are even rifle gas. Hornady did a lot of R&D to come up with what works best and mid length isn’t it. That’s not even appropriate for a 16”.

 

[wirehead]

Yes, it’s part of the upper. I checked thier website and they are using mid length gas on 18” barrels.

From my limited experience building a total of (1) 6arc gas guns:

1. don’t trust the manuf knows WTF about gas systems, find out for yourself. My barrel is a Wilson combat and I trusted they knew what was appropriate. So mine is a mid length gas on an 18” barrel. Brass length after extraction is inconsistent, ejector swipes, and the brass and action are just beyond filthy after low round counts. (Silencer with adj gas block). Extremely accurate barrel though, for a gas gun.

2. Resist heavy long barrels if you care about weight and packing the thing around. These rifles get heavy as hell quickly, I built mine for my 12yo first hunt and it was realistically too big for her to handle at 10#

3. The aero M4E1 upper receiver w/ free floating handguard (attached to upper, not barrel nut) is fantastic for this kind of rifle. Not sure why they aren’t more popular.

I 2nd your 2nd point.