Wandering into the 6.5 world

[Mdstevens]

I am contemplating getting a grendel upper for deer season. I built a 308 AR, but it just wound up too heavy. My question is about barrel length. Most of my shots are less than 300 yds. Would an 18 inch barrel be worth the extra weight and length over a 16 inch, or would 16 be sufficient?

[rabiddawg]

Welcome aboard!

I don't have a 18" but if I have a 300 yd shot possible I'm probably carrying one of my 20"s. I wouldn't hesitate to take a 300 yd shot with my 16's but would rather have the length.

If you only gonna have one gun, go with an 18" fluted. I wish I had fluted one of my 20".

[Arkhangel5]

MD,
I run an 18in Grendel. I think it is more than enough for you described.

I use my rifle in NRA matches out to 600yds. That is primarily what it was built for. I went 18in because I was not interested in waiting for a custom barrel and had a 20in max barrel length for the matches, so anything longer was out.

I shot 2 does last Thanksgiving with my Grendel and was more than enough. My post on it includes pics with exits using factory hunting ammunition. It is posted in the hunting section after Thanksgiving '16.

My rifle weighs in under 10lbs with scope, bipod, and a 5 round loaded magazine. When I built it, weight was not a concern since it was primarily for competition.

Hope that helps.

SY

[Dcommoncents]

I just built my first gren for the same reason. I went with a bear creek 18" heavy barrel but with flutes. It's pretty handy if you ask me. Definitely lighter than the 18" 223 wylde Hanson profile barrel from ballistic advantage that i use on my only other precision oriented upper.

[LRRPF52]

Welcome aboard. I have both, and have had several samples of each barrel length, to include AA 16" and Lilja 16", AA, Satern/AA, and Lilja 18" barrels.

After chronographing these over the years, there just isn't much of a difference in speed between them I've found.

With 123gr Hornady factory AMAX and SST, I've always been in the mid-2400fps range with all of them.

With hand loads, I can reach 2500fps under a 123gr SST with them, without exceeding maximum loads using CFE223.

With 8208XBR, 2700fps is obtainable with the 100gr Nosler Ballistic Tip from both 16" and 18" Grendels without exceeding the book max for that powder/bullet combo as tested by Hodgdon's.

If you want a handy, lightweight gun for hunting within 350yds, the 16" makes a lot of sense.

I like them both, and have been shooting my Lilja 318 almost exclusively for the past several years for all of my rifle work at distance.

17.6" Lilja barrel:
123gr Hornady SST factory 30JUN2015
2441
2467
2477
2489
2481
AVG: 2471fps

123gr Hornady SST factory 17MAY2016
2451
2449
2473
2456
AVG: 2457

120gr Scenar-L Precision Firearms Factory Load
2505
2504
2532
2518
2498
AVG: 2511

90gr TNT Federal American Eagle load
2882 2900
2886 2922
2875 2903
2878 2893
2883 2904
AVG: 2892fps

Federal 120gr OTM MATCH 11MAR2017
2441 2339 2473 2522
2494 2460 2495 2530
2492 2505 2470 2474
2506 2501 2504 2488
2491 2466 2494 2539
AVG: 2484

18.5" Lilja barrel:
123gr Hornady SST factory 30JUN2015
2468
2441
2421
2495
2453

16" AA/Shaw barrel:
123gr Lapua Scenar Precision Firearms factory 03APR2012
2447
2451
2454
2450

123gr Hornady A-MAX factory 25MAY2013
2365
2470
2422
2470
2460

100gr Nosler Ballistic Tip
30.4gr 8208XBR 2675fps

120gr Sierra Match King
28.8gr TAC 68˚-72˚F
2481 2477 2439 2473 2479
AVG: 2470fps

These have all been with a Chrony Beta model, 15ft from the muzzle. The 6.5 Grendel Reloading Handbooks have a ton of data and barrel length estimator graphs.

[Mdstevens]

Thanks guys. I'm buying one of the 18" group buy barrels and starting my build this week.