First time Grendel buyer, need some pointers from experienced users please.

[gophernuts]

This is my first post. My real name is Shawn, but you can call me gopher if you like. I'm looking to purchase an upper directly from Alexander Arms. I'm looking to the 19.5 AWS. My reason for buying one direct is that I get a military discount and money doesn't grown on trees for this guy. That being said, I'm buying a grendel to be accurate out to about 800 yds. But not be such a heavy bitch that I can't carry the damn thing around, hence why I'm getting a grendel and not another heavy barrel .308. I have a .308, I like it. But it's heavy. So the goal is keeping it under 9 lbs with the scope, grip-pod, and rifle. But I'm getting off topic. My main questions are these.

Is the shilen barrel a worthwhile upgrade for 150 bucks?
What kind of accuracy can I expect out of an this AA upper?
Accuracy with the 19.5 in barrel?
Quality of the AA uppers?

This is going to be my go to gun for North Dakota deer, and Antelope of Eastern Montana. I need the range. Thanks for the help guys and gals...look forward to more posts on this forum.

[bwaites]

Welcome Gopher!

Go to gun for what distance?

The AA uppers are top quality. The Shilen (or Satern) barrels are worth the money if you are looking for best possible accuracy. The 20" barrels shoot well out to 800 yards, but this is not an 800 yard deer or antelope cartridge. Of course the .308 isn't either!

My 19.5 inch AA upper shot .25MOA groups, so I would expect a Shilen barreled rifle to shoot sub MOA at 100 yards.

[longdayjake]

800 yards is doable even with a 16" barrel. AA barrels will easily get the job done.

[gophernuts]

I want to be able to make ethical kill shots out to 800. That's the goal anyways, but not have to carry around a 14lb .308, which I already have. The goal is around 8 lbs....hopefully under 9, with the full unit. I think I am going to go with the Shilen barrle, because I do expect a lot of performance out of my rifles. It's going to be my main deer blaster and I will have it for ever and ever so I'm willing to spend the extra few clams. I am very curious about penetration at those extended ranges. Time will tell though, and testing will be thorough when I get it built. The end goal is a Pelican 1750 case, with a 5.56, 6.5 and a .45 or .500 Beowolf upper nicely put in and of course my home-made lower. A box of pure beauty, I'm really thinking about that beowolf for a black bear gun. Anyways, getting off topic here.

[JohnOD]

Gopher on deer size critters "ethical kills shots out to 800" and any cartridge in an AR-15 platform is a contradiction. The ability to make a good hit at that distance aside, even the fastest 6/6.5mm pills in an AR-15 are lacking in velocity for dependable bullet performance and retained energy at that distance. 400 Yards is pushing it for deer with the Grendel. The accuracy may be there but there is simply not enough bullet weight or velocity to constantly get the job done. Find a ballistic calculator and figure out how far you can carry ~2,000 FPS with a 100/120 grain pill and thats about your max performance range. For my Grendel thats less than 400 yards... and I'm pushing em fast. I'm barely over 1,800 FPS A 500 yards. I love my Grendel and hunt deer & antelope with it but compared to the 30/06, 7mm Rem mag class of cartridges the Grendel is an anemic round. The 6.5 WSSM in the AR-15 platform would give you a step up in performance on game but still falls short or your goal.

John

[bwaites]

Gopher,

Nothing short of the Magnum and very large normal cartridges probably carries enough energy for ethical game kills at 800 yards. The Grendel with the most aerodynamic bullets will barely carry 500 lbs. energy to that limit, and most do not consider that sufficient.

I certainly would endorse the Shilen, but I wouldn't endorse considering the Grendel a game cartridge at 800 yards, and I love my Grendels!

OOPS, John beat me to it!

[gophernuts]

Y'know I hear that a lot. But I have had 3 hellaciously long shots with my .308 on big does back home. Well not super long but still, a 600, 653, and one just under 700. With my .308. Some people say it won't work well, but they all dropped like a stone immediately minus the 653 yarder, where he ran into a bunch of trees and bled out therein. I guess I don't buy it, and I mean no disrespect whatsoever. I see you say "constantly get the job done", and I guess I see where you are coming from. It may do the job, but necessarily every single time. Thanks again guys. I think I will get the shilen barrel, this thread is traveling horribly off course and it's absolutely my own fault but many thanks.

[JohnOD]

No worries Gopher. I like your description of a Pelican case "of pure beauty". I have tricked out AR's in 226, 6.5 & 458 Socom and want to add a few more uppers

John