Considering Piecing together a 6.5 Grendel..your thoughts

[OFDCaptain681]

First of all, thanks for the add. I have been trolling the forum for a while trying to get as much info on the grendel as I can before I start my 1st build. I was considering trying my luck at building one from scratch, but then I decided that since I do not have the tools to do so, I might as well look at complete uppers/lowers and just putting them together.

As of right now, I really like the Spike's Punisher "Enhanced" Complete lower and the Grendel Hunter 20" Stainless Steel Fluted Complete upper (with bolt carrier group and charging handle.) The total cost would come in at just about $1000 (plus FFL costs)

But I have a few questions. 1. will these two marry up nicely together? 2. Should I go with the 20" barrel or 18" one? 3. Will this gun be accurate out to 300yds or so. I will mainly be using this for Deer and Hogs (and letting my daughter shoot deer with it). 4. Are there BETTER options out there?

Thank you for any help with this. It is Hard to "pull the trigger" on this as I do not know much about either of these companies or the 6.5 grendel in general. (all my other research has shown it them to be good companies to deal with and the grendel appears to be an awesome round for what I have planned for it)

Thanks again,

Shoot Str8 and Stay Safe,

Jeff
Omaha Fire Dept

[Kswhitetails]

Spikes makes good stuff in the AR world. The typical "mil-spec" upper should work fine on any spikes lower, as to whether they will "marry up nicely", that's a risk of buying from different companies. From my experience, typically any upper and lower that fit look decent together. Be aware that in all things, no two peoples colors are the same, this also counts for black. A black that is slightly shinier than another in finish becomes rather obvious when placed in concert with another.

Have you decided against building your own? I was like you, and found the prospect of building my own rather daunting since I didn't have the tools, or the expertise to piece an AR together. Then, for some reason I can't remember, I bought an armorers wrench and haven't looked back. If you can rebuild a carburetor, you can build a top notch AR. Heck, if you can change the oil in your truck, you can probably build one. They aren't anywhere near as much of a project as they seem. The benefits you gain from doing so will make your experience much sweeter as well.

Grendel Hunter has a following, and I don't hear many negatives.

I haven't looked in a few weeks, has Youtube begun to pull the "weapons" related videos? That is a place where you can find many many good tutorials for how-to instructions toward building and accurizing your own Grendel. Or any Armalite 15 you might find interest in down the road. It may be a good idea to save your video finds local so that they remain available to you.

All in all, I'd say building one yourself could save you in the area of about 3-400 bucks. That's quite a bit of ammo and accessories toward your end goal. If you don't want to build though, and can swing it, you'll have some kind of customer support behind your parts.

For 300 yards and in, the FAXON group buy 16" barrel would be my suggestion. That and a bolt. I know lots of guys give reasons why a longer barrel is beneficial, and it is - but for the sake of argument - if your maximum anticipated range is 300, you don't lose anything at all going shorter. Except weight and the extra cumbersome length when trapseing around in the woods.

Regarding accuracy, this one's hard to make blanket statements about. Grendel is definitely accurate. Is the shooter? I own a high end Grendel rifle from a reputable maker, and when I'm off, surprisingly so is my rifle. However, good parts from known makers go a long way into creating a weapon that makes your good days shine. GH uppers are pretty middle of the road from what I have seen (which I admit isn't as much as I'd like to make judgements about them) and hold their own on the forums and FB. I doubt you'd be too disappointed in performance given cost.

Note here: remember that the barrel is the absolute heart of your new gun, and the better the barrel you can afford, the better the overall performance down range. If you decide to build your own, start here, and wrap it in as high quality parts as you can. You're looking for SAAMI Grendel, .136 headspacing, and a 910 metal bolt. (This combo, as long as it's real, pays rewards for accuracy and longevity, as well as interchangeability).

One more note: The ballistic performance of the Grendel is such that it can really take advantage of the distance game. On that, Grendel really can take full advantage of good optics. The barrel is the heart, the receiver set the body, and the optics become the brain. The three together of quality, well, you get the gist.

Good luck, and enjoy your new rifle. Welcome to the board, sit down and stay a while!

[kpswihart]

Hey Jeff. This caliber is pretty amazing to shoot with its low recoil and inherent accuracy. I've heard good things about Grendel Hunter on other forums, but don't have any experience with them. Lots of great info on this site, so it may be worth doing some research here if you have not already. 300 yards won't be a problem with a Grendel in almost any barrel length - with quality components and decent optics. Most folks here will probably tell you there isn't a real advantage for for 20" over 18". I have an 18" and it shoots great. I've taken deer with it at just over 400 and was able to ring steel out to 760.

There are a ton of options out there. If I was looking at a complete upper and this price range, I'd look hard at Larue's kit and have them assemble it.

[Kswhitetails]

If I was looking at a complete upper and this price range, I'd look hard at Larue's kit and have them assemble it.

Yessir. Good call. Glad it was someone else's idea.

Buy this, then buy your stripped Spikes lower. The UU kit comes with a complete rifle except for the stripped lower. Can't be beaten by anyone for the $$.

[Armadillo66]

I just finished an 18" heavy fluted barrel on a Aero Precision slick side upper. I paid $90 for the barrel from Classic Firearms. The barrel was dimpled for gas block, nitride fluted. and I got the Aero upper from Right to Bear for $60. I bought a 6.5 bolt head on sale from Bear Creek for $20, got the Gas block, tube, extractor, ejector, pins, springs & gas rings and a H2 Buffer & Wolff heavy carbine spring from Midway USA. My total bill at Midway was around $80 I am using my bolt carrier out of the DPMS Oracle that I use for the lower on this gun. Sometime down the road I will buy a complete 7.62x39 bolt carrier group, then maybe round up a 16" M4 contour 7.62 barrel that I can use on the Oracle upper which is a 16" 5.56.
I picked up a knurled tube forearm and barrel nut from Ebay for like $25 shipped. I bought a cool .308 muzzle brake that has "smile & wait for flash" laser etched on it for $20 on Ebay too. I got a Sig Whisky 3 scope 3-9x50 and already had a set of 1" P series scope mounts.Grendel project.jpg
Functions real good, so far accuracy with Hornady Black is ok but not great. I actually had the gun function and accuracy better with the Wolf steel ammo.
I can't wait to reload for it. My goal is to be able to use the 125gr Nosler Partition pushed to 2500fps for a hunting load. I may try some 127gr Barnes loaded longer than magazine length for first round out hunting load if they are more accurate than the Partitions.

[CVCOBRA1]

Videos, yes-boobtube is your friend.
Rock River Arms also has videos of every step towards your build. Professional help.
Wheeler Engineering has armorer's kits from $100 to $260 that has just about everything you need to build and maintain your AR. You can catch them on sale for less too.
I would suggest buying an upper and lower from the same company. Good barrel and better trigger.
If you can open a can of soup you can build an AR.

[StoneHendge]

I don't read a lot about Spikes on here but I'm a big fan. The quality of their receivers is about as good as it gets in the forged world. I recently couldn't resist this lower myself

IMG_20180331_164509_crop_611x343.jpg

I ordered a matching T-shirt from them and I actually got a sticker worth using!

IMG_20180402_115839_crop_464x259.jpg

[Popeye212]

Brownells has excellent videos step by step along with parts lists and instructions. The have a "build list" you can check what you have and what you need. AR15.com has a build your rifle app also. Brownells also has the tools you need. The wheeler mag catch punches are apparently a one shot deal mine bent with one installation. Next build I will get a better set of punches.

[BCHunter]

Welcome to the forum,

all the advice so far is spot on but may be overwhelming, you just get deeper down the hole.

To answer your questions:
1) most likely but no quarantees coming from different sources,....it would be very rare for not to matte up,...but Mr Murphy is always present.

2) as for 20", 18" or 16" you will get a little more velocity with the longer barrels but for hunting inside 300 it doesn't matter, you need 1800fps at target distance to get most hunting bullets in this class to open properly. The velocity is more useful for target shooting beyond 500. also with the longer barrels you have to be conscious of shoving the barrel into the dirt/snow/ground with a single point or front carry sling.

3) What do you consider hunting accuracy? 1" at 100yards? are you using factory ammo or reloads? Again no guarantees but your choice should be capable of this. Using factory ammo only limits your options with the grendel to a handful of choices.

4) There are a lots of good choices out there,...the short answer is you get what you pay for,....you should set a budget for the rifle inclucing optics and that will sort out many of choices out there.

As far as building most suggest building your lower and buying a quality complete upper the first time out. You don't need many tool for the lower, and many just make it easier but aren't necessary. Roll pin starters, roll bin punch,standard punch set with small mallet, Armors wrench for castle nut, pivot pin installation tool. you should be able to pick these up for 50.00 give or take and you will find them useful for maintenance or other projects. By doing this you can save a couple hundred dollars to put towards optics, accessories or ammo. And customize the stock, grip and trigger to your liking which are the main things people change out.

Ohh and when you catch Black Rifle Disease you will have to the tools on hand to continue your addiction,..I mean hobby.

[OFDCaptain681]

Wow..thank you to everyone that took time to respond to my post. I really appreciate it. I am not starting to rethink my build..and starting my search over. LOL

I have been a little hesitant on building a rifle that I am going to be shooting..lol.. not sure I trust myself in making sure I got all the nuts tightened down right and have the whole thing blow up in my face. But, I just may have to look at starting with building a lower and then take some baby steps and go for an upper.

Here is another thought process...if I buy the tools, I will have to build more than 1 rifle ... so that is definitely a plus! lol

Thanks again.. I am sure you will be seeing me post on here more often as I start this process!

Shoot Str8 and Stay Safe

Jeff

[1Shot]

Harbor Freight Tools is your friend for tools. You can get torque wrenches in 1/2" foot pound and 1/4" inch pound for $19.99 each and if you look around you can get a 20% off coupon and save more. These work fine. You can also pick up a set of punches cheap there and a vice if you don't have one. I got one of the kits that came with the vice blocks and combo wrench it is cheaper that way lost of places have them. I just built a Grendel and this is what I used.

I have a friend that is a FFL dealer and I saw that Primary Arms had a sale on stripped Anderson lowers for $39.99 so I had my FFL friend send them his information and I bought 3 or these lowers and they shipped to him. He charged me a small fee and the background check so out the door price was $53 each. I ordered from joeboboutdoors.com my parts for the lower including the stock for around $150. I also got from them an Anderson stripped upper for $44.95 and parts to complete it for $31. I also got from them a package deal that contains an OdenWorks 18" stainless barrel that is guaranteed MOA accurate and it comes with a tunable gas block and gas tube and complete bolt carrier group for $439.99 which is much better price compared to individual parts. They also had a POF drop in trigger 3.5lb pull with KNS anti rotation pins for $139.99 that is a great trigger, since then I bought two more.

I also got a Kaw Valley Precision Linear Comp from them for $39.95. This muzzle device projects the muzzle blast and sound down range while almost completely eliminating muzzle rise and I feel it does lessen what little recoil the Grendel has a little. I wanted this type of device for times when hunting that you don't have time to put in ear protection so it does not deafen you like a break comp does. I got from stngr.usa my 15" float tube hand guard shipped for $124.99 . This is a great lightweight but strong tube and is made in USA. They have different style tubes that range between $125-40. These tubes are a snap to install, no timing for gas tube and they come with the crow foot wrench attachment for installing the barrel nut.

Taking my time and viewing the process on the computer start to clean up was less than 3 hours for the build. Let me tell you IT IS A SHOOTER. It has not mattered what ammo I have shot even just middle of the range powder charges with 100 to 123 gr bullets that I know will function but not be anywhere near max used just to break in the barrel have all been under 1 1/2" groups at 100 yards with most 3/4" or under and this was in a 15-20 mph wind. As soon as I finish this post I am heading out to the range to do some serious load work up because it is going to be a GREAT day. Get the tools and build your own because these things have a habit of multiplying.

[diddlyv]

Assembling an AR is pretty easy with a couple of exceptions. I have had both good and bad times putting the pin into the trigger guard. Getting a lower with sold trigger guard will eliminate that problem. The other quasi tricky job is getting the pin driven into the Bolt Catch/ Release. Starter punches and lube help a lot. In a pinch you can actually tap one in with a nylon cleaning jag that has been cut off 3/8 to 1/2 inch from where it threads into a rod. One thing that I did that I believe helps accuracy is true the face of the upper receiver. I bought the Brownells tool and enough lapping compound to do 10000 rifles. Brownells also has a tool to insert into the barrel extension to hold things when tightening the barrel nut. I used a piece of wood in the mag well and a 165 lb son to push the upper against the table as I torqued the barrel given the large torque range that will work for an AR this is not rocket science. In my case the Key Mod upper came with shims one used to make sure the upper lined up properly and the hand guard was square when you got into the proper torque range 30 - 80 lbs. I actually used a 10 inch cressent wrench pulling hard enough to know I was well past 30 lbs and given that short of a wrench I can't pull hard enough to get to 80 anymore. I subsequently have acquired 2 crowsfoot wrenches that should work on most barrel nuts and I do have a couple of torque wrenches.

Purists will tell you to use a barrel vise when tightening barrel nuts and flash hiders / compensators. I don't disagree but don't have a barrel vise. A regular vise with blocks of wood and a leather strap from an old boot tounge or belt will work. You can take a 4 inch section of 2x4 drill a 1/2 to 5/8 hole in the center of a flat side all the way through then cut straight across the center of the 2x4 from the end grain side. put the leather around the barrel and use the vise to clanp the assembly together tight enough the barrel does not turn.

[VASCAR2]

Easist way to install the roll pins in the trigger guard and bolt catch pin is to use vise grips with black tape on the jaws so I don't mar the finish.

[Joseph5]

Building AR's is fun. I would recommend the Larue Ultimate Upper Kit. Premium parts that are all matched and I think you would have a hard time beating the price, and certainly not for the quality. LaRue can't be beat. You might be able to get the parts cheaper but you want a good barrel and if you do a lot of reading here, some of the discount/inexpensive barrels turn out good and some are shit. You will not have any doubt or question about anything LaRue makes and their triggers are every bit the equal to Giessle. It will greatly simplify the acquisition of parts going with LaRue and give you a worry free build of excellent quality!

[1Shot]

It is also easy to make roll pin punches if you have access to a drill press and a vice for it. All you need is a piece of round metal appropriate size about 4 inches long. Drill a hole just a little bit larger than the roll pin diameter and only about half as deep as the roll pin is long. Put a little dap of grease on the roll pin and stick it into the hole in the punch and it will hold it fine. I also made a front take down pin installing tool out of a piece of round brass stock of appropriate size to fit into the lower. Just drilled a hole through one end just a hair larger in diameter than the spring and detent. It works like a charm. That little table top $50 Harbor Freight drill press I got a number of years ago has paid for it's self many times over.