6.5 grendel upper by wolf

[79inpa]

I noticed that wolf has put it's name on a 6.5 Grendel upper with a 16 inch barrel. They are apparently made by Anderson arms. I've seen them go for 400 dollars. Has anyone flogged one yet?

[79inpa]

upper

https://www.classicfirearms.com/wolf-performance-65-grendel-16-upper-receiver

[VASCAR2]

This is interesting, picture of barrel shows 6.5 Grendel 1:8 and no 6.5 Grendel 1 which Anderson uses on their barrels. No indication if the barrel is chrome moly but assume it is as nothing else is specified.

[79inpa]

accuracy

do you guys think that this thing would shoot sub moa and give me 2400 plus with a 120 grain sst or ballistic tip?

[VASCAR2]

My 16" chrome moly barrel gives 2450 FPS with my 123 grain handloads and 2420-2450 FPS with 123 grain factory A-Max & SST. I figure the Wolf is a rack grade barrel. With a rack grade button rifled barrel I think it is luck of the draw on accuracy. My 123 grain Nosler CC handload and factory A-Max will shoot 1 MOA or less 5 shot groups out to 600 yards but my barrel is a SAAMI chamber. My 1:9 twist barrel also has proven accurate with 85-107 grain bullets. My 16" 6.5 Grendel is a heavy barrel carbine length gas system barrel with CAR hand guard and fixed A-2 front sight.

With the Wolf barrel being 1:8 twist it has a better chance of shooting the 125-130 grain bullets accurately than my 1:9 twist.

For $400 I think this upper would have enough accuracy for hunting but it looks like an M-4 profile light weight barrel which is not free floated.

[79inpa]

lbc

theoretically would the 6.5 lbc shoot faster or slower than the Grendel assuming bullets weights between 100 and 123 grains?

[VASCAR2]

The 264 LBC barrels can be cut rifled like Les Baer sells, button rifled or Caudle 3 land polygonal rifling barrel which Black Hole Weaponry sells. The polygonal barrels generally do show a slight velocity advantage over buttoned rifled barrels. Whether this velocity gain is significant enough to justify buying a polygonal barrel is something the consumer must decide.

The only thing I've read that is negative about the BHW 264 LBC polygonal barrels is they can be picky about which loads produce top accuracy. Bill Alexander says the steel cased ammo with bi metal bullets aren't an optimal bullet for polygonal rifled barrels or barrels with tight throats. Most 264 LBC barrels use a .295 neck whereas SAAMI 6.5 Grendel chambers use a compound throat with .300 neck. There are many shooters that have reported excellent accuracy with BHW barrels and who have used Steel Cased Wolf ammo without issue. Other Posters on this forum have also commented their BHW barrel didn't like Wolf Steel Case or were picky about which loads were accurate. I don't think there has been a definitive test which has addressed which is the optimum chamber for the 6.5 Grendel.

There are a lot of different 6.5 Grendel/AR-15 products on the market and I just researched the products on the market that were within my price range. I think it is up to the consumer to decide which features are most important and within budget.

[diddlyv]

My Barrier Defense 6.5 16 inch Upper shoots this with Factory ammo. We believe it is an Anderson Barrel. The bolt face is .135 vs the standard .136
Factory 123 SST
ES 45 AVE 2439
2429
2437
2433
2421
2437
2449
2442
2466

[79inpa]

thanks for the ballistics data. That was exactly what I was hoping for! How well does that upper shoot?

[diddlyv]

How does it shoot? So far not as well as I would like 2.5 min with 123 SST Factory and my best hand loads using that bullet. My trigger really sucks. Just put that upper on my Anderson Lower that has the Rock River National Match 2 Stage trigger.

There are about 60 plus rounds through the barrel now so it should be reasonably well broke in.

I hope to hit the range again Wednesday or Thursday and see if a decent trigger tightens things up any. Next week after I get the bushings for COAL and Head space I will start tweaking loads. I may also give up on lever and use the CFE 223, Varget or 2520