Tonight after dinner I head out to the cabin. Tomorrow is opening day of late whitetail season. I finished the Grendel build just in time. It is going to be compared to my AR10 in 308. Both were exactly 9 pounds with optics. Which is light for an AR10 but a bit heavy for an AR15. The Grendel though has a longer barrel and a larger scope. The AR10 has a 40mm scope and the Grendel has a 50mm, both Redfields. The AR10 has a 16 inch barrel and the Grendel has an 18 inch barrel. The AR10 has a lighter carbine stock, but that has a bad habit of removing facial hair so I really prefer the rifle stock that is on the Grendel. The AR10 also has an aluminum barrel nut which is surprisingly lighter than the Grendel's steel barrel nut.
Last night I decided to swap out the lower receiver on the Grendel to bring down the weight a bit. It was a very last minute decision, but it did bring down the total weight to 8lbs 13oz. The forged aluminum receiver was stripped and all the parts were re-assembled onto a Polymer80 that I milled out. I've been using the Polymer80 AR15 and AR10 lowers on my personal builds for over a year now and they really get abused in my Jeep and in the woods. I have no concerns about it holding up. That is actually how I got the AR10 to be so light. It uses the Polymer80 WarrHogg lower. Shot a bear with it this year in fact.
My goal is to have a 250 yard hunting gun that is as light and handy as my 30-30, at least as close as I can get to that. The 308 is about as light as I can get it and it's still too bulky and heavy. The Grendel at 8lbs 13oz is still too heavy as well (at least I think it is). It is getting close though to my ideal hunting rifle. Next move may be to swap the barrel out to either a 16" Odin lightweight or an AA 16" lightweight. Then change the barrel nut from steel to aluminum.
The test tomorrow is to see how it handles compared to the AR10 and how much extra daylight do I get out of the 50mm scope (is it worth the extra weight and bulk?). Of course the other test is how well does it work on deer
My 300 blackout uses the Odin 16" lightweight barrel, Polymer80 lower, aluminum barrel nut, light carbine stock and a red dot. It's about 6.5 pounds. It is supper nice to carry in the woods, but lacks the range, light gathering, magnification, and still pulls out my facial hair.
One of these days I'll get it figured out....
Last night I decided to swap out the lower receiver on the Grendel to bring down the weight a bit. It was a very last minute decision, but it did bring down the total weight to 8lbs 13oz. The forged aluminum receiver was stripped and all the parts were re-assembled onto a Polymer80 that I milled out. I've been using the Polymer80 AR15 and AR10 lowers on my personal builds for over a year now and they really get abused in my Jeep and in the woods. I have no concerns about it holding up. That is actually how I got the AR10 to be so light. It uses the Polymer80 WarrHogg lower. Shot a bear with it this year in fact.
My goal is to have a 250 yard hunting gun that is as light and handy as my 30-30, at least as close as I can get to that. The 308 is about as light as I can get it and it's still too bulky and heavy. The Grendel at 8lbs 13oz is still too heavy as well (at least I think it is). It is getting close though to my ideal hunting rifle. Next move may be to swap the barrel out to either a 16" Odin lightweight or an AA 16" lightweight. Then change the barrel nut from steel to aluminum.
The test tomorrow is to see how it handles compared to the AR10 and how much extra daylight do I get out of the 50mm scope (is it worth the extra weight and bulk?). Of course the other test is how well does it work on deer
My 300 blackout uses the Odin 16" lightweight barrel, Polymer80 lower, aluminum barrel nut, light carbine stock and a red dot. It's about 6.5 pounds. It is supper nice to carry in the woods, but lacks the range, light gathering, magnification, and still pulls out my facial hair.
One of these days I'll get it figured out....
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