6.5 Grendel AR slow Build

[BBReezen]

So I have been really looking into starting a build for a 6.5 Grendel and I’m not much of a AR build pro so I really don’t know where to look for good deals other than Midway, Brownells and local places or the lovey GunDeals.com email I get from time to time. One thing that started my interest is I can get a PSA upper complete through gundeals and they’re close to $340. Whether these are good or not not sure. So here are some of the questions I have if you seasoned vet gun builders and 6.5 G gurus may have some pointers.

I have a 223 AR, this is going to supplement my occasional need for an AR platform for a all around cartridge and my RRA 223 will stay at my moms for her to use for coyotes and such.

6.5 Grendel questions:
Are the PSA complete uppers OK? Don’t need a 1000 yrd tack driver. Just a killing machine.
Barrel length? Thinking 18”? Pros/cons?
Twist? Seeing 7-9 but not sure what to get. I would rather lighter bullets than heavy.
Parts shopping? Good places?
Aero/Anderson? Decent stripped lowers or should I go more toward Spokes?

I’ll get more as I go along. This should help kick start this thing.

[ctom87]

tagging.

[sierracharlie338]

6.5 Grendel questions:

Are the PSA complete uppers OK? Don’t need a 1000 yrd tack driver. Just a killing machine.

Barrel length? Thinking 18”? Pros/cons?

Twist? Seeing 7-9 but not sure what to get. I would rather lighter bullets than heavy.

Parts shopping? Good places?

Aero/Anderson? Decent stripped lowers or should I go more toward Spokes?



I’ll get more as I go along. This should help kick start this thing.

Ok here goes

If you have no experience building an AR platform don’t start on a G.

PSA makes decent guns/uppers/parts for the money. I have a PSA upper 223 that shoots a one inch group at 100 yards with open sights. Acceptable accuracy for 99.98 percent of people.

18 inch barrel is the sweet spot IMO and will get you to 500 yards easy. A shorter barrel is always doable. 1:8 twist is preferred

Part shopping is where you can find things. I’ve used Brownells, midway, Cabela’s, Natchez shooter supply, mid south shooter supply, etc over the years and been able to accomplish most builds. Barrel quality is more important that receiver quality.

I have had better results out of spikes than any other “budget” manufacturer so they get my vote. I had to return and Anderson upper receiver because it wasnt cut to correct spec. If you want better quality spend the money. If you don’t care and it will be a truck gun any piece of **** should suffice just don’t expect it to hold groups.


Sierracharlie out…

[Black-N-Red]

I’m not a pro but I believe I would spend the money in a good barrel. I just put a 12.5” barreled Grendel together with an aero upper Radical bolt carrier group & a Ballistic Advantage barrel. Running a Radical lower. I’m getting sub 1” groups at 100yrds with the American Eagle 90gr TNT rounds. Best part is the American Eagles I’m getting 2580fps out of the 12.5” barrel.

[lglidewell]

I’ve built more than a few AR’s, still don’t consider myself a pro, but I’m big on ballistic data and my 6.5 Grendel is my go to. I’ve been running a pair of 12.5” SBR’s for several years now and have taken a LOt of pigs, 2 of which out to almost 400yds. The furthest I’ve taken a deer (175 lbs) is 210yds - DRT. The 123gr Hornady Black has been bad medicine for animals and I’m getting a little over 2300 fps at muzzle.
A PSA upper would probably suit you fine, but like mentioned above the Ballistic Advantage barrels are awesome. I have 4 of them on different rifles. I used an Odin BCG and have about 4-5 Spikes Tactical uppers/lowers as well as 1 or 2 Aero Precision uppers. I prefer the Spikes. I’ve put CMMG, DPMS, Colt, RRA lower parts kits in a bunch of lowers and all are about the same. Just get a decent trigger and you should be good to go.

[redneck82]

I built mine. PSA complete lower and BCA complete upper.

Still haven't shot it yet, but should be 1" or less at 100 yards.

Sent from my SM-G928T using Tapatalk

[Kenner97]

I would go with a quality upper. I wanted to go cheap and it wasn’t worth it. I ended up having to spend some more money to replace barrel.
I would go with an 18” or 20”.

[cbd10pt]

I used a 18 odin and a aero precision enhanced upper.
Sub moa with cheap h black ammo.
Very good med for deer and pigs
The Aero Precision upper makes lining up your gas tube & Barrel tightness extremely easy

[Terran28]

I built my own. I used an AR15Performance.com Grendel 18 inch barrel, rifle length gas port. The only issue I had was I had to send it back to have the chamber honed because the Hornady Factory Ammo was getting stuck. AR15Performance mic'd the brass and it had a bulge. The owner specified that Hornady's sizing dies were not quite to specs. I have not yet fired it again, but built my own from a barrel from AR15Performance and an Anderson Upper, then just a rifle length free floated barrel guard and a compensator.

[bmc09]

just got all my parts together for a Grendel build. I also went with the AR15performance barrel.
I priced parts for a long time. shopping sales and other deals. luckily I'm about 20 minutes from primary arms.
I went with and 18" barrel. Wanted a little extra length, but not the added weight. 18 seems to be the sweet spot.
Check out bigdaddyunlimited.com. I know...its a stupid name, but they have good deals. I found mags, scope rings, gas block, buffer assembly, stock, and other stuff for the best price there. It's $10 per month to join, but you can join for 99 cents for the first month.
I'm not a huge fan of PSA, but it should be fine for deer at 100 yards.
I'm finishing my paint job right now and will put it together this weekend.

[bearintex]

I built mine. PSA complete lower and BCA complete upper.

Still haven't shot it yet, but should be 1" or less at 100 yards.

Sent from my SM-G928T using Tapatalk

You'll be in the minority if the BCA barrel shoots good, I'm afraid. I had 2 of them, both were horrible, like 10-12" at 100 yards horrible.

[KX500]

I also went the 'cheap' route for my 6.5 Grendel - Bear Creek Arsenal. I went with an 18" stainless barrel. It looks sharp and shoots well. I've only tried the Wolf 100 Grain FMJ, but groups were 1 5/8" at 100 yards & a little less than 3" at 200 yards - and I didn't even shoot up a full box yet. I have no complaints with mine. I would think I could get even better groups with ammo that cost a little more and had bullets in the 'normal' weight range (around 120 grains). The Bear Creek website talks about a great warranty, but I don't know of anybody who has had to try it out.

[KX500]

Forgot to mention - price. I looked at the PSA uppers too. Had one in the 'shopping cart', ready to buy. And then I found the BCA website.

If you look, you'll find complaints about the PSA uppers too. The BCA upper was around $250-$270. I figure its kind of a 'luck of the draw' sort of thing. Most uppers from most manufacturers will be good. Some small percentage will be garbage. Whoever you buy it from, hope you don't get the garbage. Of course the more you spend, the less likely you are of getting garbage - at least that is how it is supposed to work!

[MnM]

Your location shows Bullard. I just got a complete 6.5 Grendel upper from Superior Firearms in Tyler a couple of weeks ago for $360. SOTA build 20 inch SS barrel with SS muzzle brake. Got it zero'd this weekend. Took about a box of shells. Happy with it so far, still breaking it in.

[tribute06]

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