Budget 1st Grendel upper build

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  • lamrith
    Warrior
    • Sep 2014
    • 189

    Budget 1st Grendel upper build

    1st off what a great forum. The shear volume of information here is.. well.. a bit daunting! I have been trying to dig thru some of it, specially the barrel information.

    I looked around and just ordered parts to start my 1st 6.5grendel build! I will see combined range and possibly hunting duty.

    Built my 1st AR about 2 years ago and been looking to build another upper. Considered 300blk quite a bit and still may build one, but 6.5Grendel looks like a much better all around round and is big game hunting legal here in WA and other states.
    Here is my 556 currently:

    IMG_0377.jpg


    I already have all the parts for an A3 flattop build so the plan is to reconfigure the 556 into a A3 configuration and use the free float handguards for the Grendel. I even have a midlength gas tube in the closet to match the grendel gas system.

    Here is what I ordered.
    REDX (free shipping)

    BROWNELLS (Found coupon for $50 off on $300+ orders!):
    ALREADY HAVE
    • Troy Alpha 13" Free Float with barrel nut and lowpro gasblock
    • BSA 6-24x40 AO scope and rings
    • Mid-length Gas Tube
    • all parts to convert current 556 upper to A3 config with A2 front sight and handguards.

    Total cost $572 to my door.
    Anderson lower with ALG Combat trigger and Ergo F43 stock:
    18" 1:8 6.5 grendel barrel, 13" troy alpha free float, Mbuis, PA 4-14x44 FFP ACSS scope.
    SAA lower(Form 1 in process)
    16" 1:9 5.56 barrel, A2 sightpost, GI Handguard, Eotech XPS2.0 w/ 1.5-5x magnifier.
    Anderson Pistol lower:
    16" 1:8 300BLK Free Float, Eotech XPS2.0
    6" 9mm with 7" free float and KAK muzzle device, Magpull MBUIS
  • Blacklab
    Warrior
    • Mar 2012
    • 365

    #2
    Man that is a sweet looking build. Congrats!

    Welcome to the world of Grendel...........wink
    Hey I'm not a complete idiot I have parts missing. Though some times I wonder.

    Grendellizing predators as of the fall of 2012.

    Small bullets that go really fast, make me giggle...........

    Comment

    • LRRPF52
      Super Moderator
      • Sep 2014
      • 8569

      #3
      With the scope rings on two separate planes, you will end up with walking groups, since there is considerable flex between the upper and handguard. I would strongly consider getting a mount that only attaches to the upper receiver.

      Also, make sure the carrier key is attached securely on the bolt carrier, as this was a notorious problem for Bushmaster before they were bought by Freedom Group. It also might be an old DPMS bolt carrier group, and you might be able to tell if there is a "D" on the left side of the carrier.
      NRA Basic, Pistol, Rifle, Shotgun, RSO

      CCW, CQM, DM, Long Range Rifle Instructor

      6.5 Grendel Reloading Handbooks & chamber brushes can be found here:

      www.AR15buildbox.com

      Comment

      • lamrith
        Warrior
        • Sep 2014
        • 189

        #4
        Originally posted by LRRPF52 View Post
        With the scope rings on two separate planes, you will end up with walking groups, since there is considerable flex between the upper and handguard. I would strongly consider getting a mount that only attaches to the upper receiver.

        Also, make sure the carrier key is attached securely on the bolt carrier, as this was a notorious problem for Bushmaster before they were bought by Freedom Group. It also might be an old DPMS bolt carrier group, and you might be able to tell if there is a "D" on the left side of the carrier.
        Thanks for the heads up on the scope mounting and BCG! That picture above is an older picture (2yrs). I found that issue with it wandering and also needed more rise so I installed a one piece riser and also set the rings back so they are all on the upper.

        The long term optics for this 6.5 rig will be this:
        Primary Arms 4-14x44 FFP mil/mil
        Primary Arms Deluxe AR Mount


        OHH and it is all your fault Blacklab, don't think you are getting out from under the bus anytime soon. I need someone under here to keep me company!
        Anderson lower with ALG Combat trigger and Ergo F43 stock:
        18" 1:8 6.5 grendel barrel, 13" troy alpha free float, Mbuis, PA 4-14x44 FFP ACSS scope.
        SAA lower(Form 1 in process)
        16" 1:9 5.56 barrel, A2 sightpost, GI Handguard, Eotech XPS2.0 w/ 1.5-5x magnifier.
        Anderson Pistol lower:
        16" 1:8 300BLK Free Float, Eotech XPS2.0
        6" 9mm with 7" free float and KAK muzzle device, Magpull MBUIS

        Comment

        • VASCAR2
          Chieftain
          • Mar 2011
          • 6219

          #5
          If you plan on shooting long range you might consider a 20 MOA scope mount. On my 16" 6.5 Grendel I run out of elevation at 800 yards. A friend's Brownell's 18" barrel was shooting MOA out to 900 meters when he went to visit his son at Ft Campbell. My 16" stays supersonic past 1000 yards with factory A-Max at 350' ASL.

          Comment

          • lamrith
            Warrior
            • Sep 2014
            • 189

            #6
            Originally posted by VASCAR2 View Post
            If you plan on shooting long range you might consider a 20 MOA scope mount. On my 16" 6.5 Grendel I run out of elevation at 800 yards. A friend's Brownell's 18" barrel was shooting MOA out to 900 meters when he went to visit his son at Ft Campbell. My 16" stays supersonic past 1000 yards with factory A-Max at 350' ASL.
            Thanks for the tip!
            Is there any problem using those and shooting closer distances? While I would like to shoot 800+, the farthest I know of locally is once a month 600yrd. Aside from that for now I am looking @ 100-200yrds day to day.
            Anderson lower with ALG Combat trigger and Ergo F43 stock:
            18" 1:8 6.5 grendel barrel, 13" troy alpha free float, Mbuis, PA 4-14x44 FFP ACSS scope.
            SAA lower(Form 1 in process)
            16" 1:9 5.56 barrel, A2 sightpost, GI Handguard, Eotech XPS2.0 w/ 1.5-5x magnifier.
            Anderson Pistol lower:
            16" 1:8 300BLK Free Float, Eotech XPS2.0
            6" 9mm with 7" free float and KAK muzzle device, Magpull MBUIS

            Comment

            • VASCAR2
              Chieftain
              • Mar 2011
              • 6219

              #7
              My 20" 6.5 Grendel zeroed at 100 yards and I have one complete revolution on the turret going down before I bottom out. This is with a Vortex Viper 6.5-20X50 mil dot 30 MM scope. I haven't read where anyone had trouble zeroing at 100 yards with a 20 MOA mount. I knew I wanted to push out past 800 yards so I opted for the 20 MOA mount, just something to consider.

              Comment

              • lamrith
                Warrior
                • Sep 2014
                • 189

                #8
                I will definitely consider it, thanks again. I need to research typical zero for this caliber and ballistic trajectories for factory and handloads once I make them.

                I like the mean battle range zero concept on my other rifles. Zero set so the bullet stays +/- an amount equal to 1/2 your target "kill zone". You have a 6" target you want to hit, zero it so bullet peaks @ a max of 3" above POA. Then just calculate were the bullet will have dropped 3" under POA. Say that calculation comes to 300yrds. Now you know from 0-300yrds you can hold center and be in the money on the vertical plane to hit your 6" tall target, beyond that it is time to work out your Mil/MOA and start dialing or holding over.
                Anderson lower with ALG Combat trigger and Ergo F43 stock:
                18" 1:8 6.5 grendel barrel, 13" troy alpha free float, Mbuis, PA 4-14x44 FFP ACSS scope.
                SAA lower(Form 1 in process)
                16" 1:9 5.56 barrel, A2 sightpost, GI Handguard, Eotech XPS2.0 w/ 1.5-5x magnifier.
                Anderson Pistol lower:
                16" 1:8 300BLK Free Float, Eotech XPS2.0
                6" 9mm with 7" free float and KAK muzzle device, Magpull MBUIS

                Comment

                • Slappy
                  Warrior
                  • Feb 2014
                  • 711

                  #9
                  That scope from Primary for the money is a good ole scope, but my eyes are not that good anymore. If you get on their list they will e-mail you when they have sales and sometimes they have things on there for a very good price, plus those guys in Pearland are are always willing to help and they ship fast too. BANG BANG!!

                  Comment

                  • lamrith
                    Warrior
                    • Sep 2014
                    • 189

                    #10
                    Originally posted by Slappy View Post
                    That scope from Primary for the money is a good ole scope, but my eyes are not that good anymore. If you get on their list they will e-mail you when they have sales and sometimes they have things on there for a very good price, plus those guys in Pearland are are always willing to help and they ship fast too. BANG BANG!!
                    I am the same way with my eyes. I tend to overglass my rifles, I am actually "concerned" the primary is only a 14x. Case in point the scope in the picture on my 556 AR is a 6-24x30. It is nice not needing a spotting scope to see .22 hits on paper @ 200yrds+
                    Anderson lower with ALG Combat trigger and Ergo F43 stock:
                    18" 1:8 6.5 grendel barrel, 13" troy alpha free float, Mbuis, PA 4-14x44 FFP ACSS scope.
                    SAA lower(Form 1 in process)
                    16" 1:9 5.56 barrel, A2 sightpost, GI Handguard, Eotech XPS2.0 w/ 1.5-5x magnifier.
                    Anderson Pistol lower:
                    16" 1:8 300BLK Free Float, Eotech XPS2.0
                    6" 9mm with 7" free float and KAK muzzle device, Magpull MBUIS

                    Comment

                    • lamrith
                      Warrior
                      • Sep 2014
                      • 189

                      #11
                      Got my parts in Yesterday. Unfortunately no prebuild "parts on the table" pictures.
                      But tonight I got a chance to take some "glam shots"..

                      Not the final scope, just the only one I have for it right now. Has a one piece riser bridging the handguard, so hopefully rigid enough for now.
                      IMG_3667.jpg
                      IMG_3665.jpg
                      IMG_3670.jpg
                      Anderson lower with ALG Combat trigger and Ergo F43 stock:
                      18" 1:8 6.5 grendel barrel, 13" troy alpha free float, Mbuis, PA 4-14x44 FFP ACSS scope.
                      SAA lower(Form 1 in process)
                      16" 1:9 5.56 barrel, A2 sightpost, GI Handguard, Eotech XPS2.0 w/ 1.5-5x magnifier.
                      Anderson Pistol lower:
                      16" 1:8 300BLK Free Float, Eotech XPS2.0
                      6" 9mm with 7" free float and KAK muzzle device, Magpull MBUIS

                      Comment

                      • lamrith
                        Warrior
                        • Sep 2014
                        • 189

                        #12
                        Ammo arrived yesterday. 100rnds of Hornady Amax 123Grn. I managed to remain under control and only shot 20rounds of it...

                        This was my 1st experience with the 6.5Grendel and I must say I love it!! Smooth shooting, neglegable recoil, accurate! I started @ 25yrds to get the optic dialed in, set it to be low @ 25yrds then went to 100yrds. I will admit at 1st I was disappointed at the initial 3 shots @ 100yrds They were high and left almost off paper, looking thru the scope they looked really spread out.
                        After that I worked on bringing the shots back to center and a hair low @ 100 so the rest of the target looks like a mess, but here is that initial 3shot group I did to see where she was grouping. These were the 5, 6, 7th shots thru the barrel.
                        target1.jpg
                        What I realized on walking up is that this was a decent group, especially since I am not that great a shot and was only shooting thru a $65 scope off a gripod and my shoulder, no sandbags. Turned out to be Sub MOA! .863 MOA WOOT!
                        Anderson lower with ALG Combat trigger and Ergo F43 stock:
                        18" 1:8 6.5 grendel barrel, 13" troy alpha free float, Mbuis, PA 4-14x44 FFP ACSS scope.
                        SAA lower(Form 1 in process)
                        16" 1:9 5.56 barrel, A2 sightpost, GI Handguard, Eotech XPS2.0 w/ 1.5-5x magnifier.
                        Anderson Pistol lower:
                        16" 1:8 300BLK Free Float, Eotech XPS2.0
                        6" 9mm with 7" free float and KAK muzzle device, Magpull MBUIS

                        Comment

                        • lamrith
                          Warrior
                          • Sep 2014
                          • 189

                          #13
                          Been a fun couple weeks, and about time I did a bit of an update with changes to "DaGrendel" and it's newborn cousins.

                          Month or so ago I finally saved up and put better glass on the Grendel build. I was pretty locked on the PA 4-14x40 FFP scope. But when I went to order they were out of stock. I started looking around and found they had a new version with advanced Ret on it. Looked around, spoke with Dimitri @ PA and pulled the trigger. Dimitri looked at grendel BC/velocity and said the BDC would be very very close. That said the extra features of the Ret without BDC made it seem a no brainer for a long range and hunting scope.
                          Primary Arms 4-14X44 FFP Scope with 308BDC

                          Mounted everything and did a rough boresight @ home, then headed to the range a few days later.


                          Scope dialed the rest of the way in pretty quick, then I went to put a 5shot group in to end the day. Pretty happy with the results, 1st 4 shots were .522MOA, then I jerked the trigger and sent #5 flying for a 1.093. This gun LOVES the Factory 123G Amax


                          About the time I bought the scope, I stumbled on a unfired 10" 300blk upper for a steal. That prompted a form1 SBR submission with my current lower since it was the only one I had. To "cover" myself and ensure that I was legal and no issues with anyone claiming "intent" by having only a rifle lower and a 10" upper I just "HAD" to buy a new lower to build up as a pistol and another to replace the grendel lower on the grendel. When going thru the closet seeing what parts I needed to complete them I realized I had parts to build 1/2 another upper.. So I just "HAD" to build the 9mm shorty upper for the 9mm AR pistol I always wanted...

                          Took my original lower up for Engraving for NFA a week ago and found out he also does graphics. So this week I took my new lowers up to him to have some work done. Last few parts for the 9mm are still in transit (muzzle flashcan, magwell, mags) but everything else is installed and waiting.

                          My wallet feels like a boulder rolling down a mountain but man it has been fun and I am pretty happy with the end results!
                          Anderson lower with ALG Combat trigger and Ergo F43 stock:
                          18" 1:8 6.5 grendel barrel, 13" troy alpha free float, Mbuis, PA 4-14x44 FFP ACSS scope.
                          SAA lower(Form 1 in process)
                          16" 1:9 5.56 barrel, A2 sightpost, GI Handguard, Eotech XPS2.0 w/ 1.5-5x magnifier.
                          Anderson Pistol lower:
                          16" 1:8 300BLK Free Float, Eotech XPS2.0
                          6" 9mm with 7" free float and KAK muzzle device, Magpull MBUIS

                          Comment

                          • danm
                            Warrior
                            • Aug 2014
                            • 498

                            #14
                            Nice stuff right there! Thanks for sharing

                            Comment

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