What do you think of this bore?

[teppou]

What do you all think of this bore? I finally got a little endosnake borescope and poked it down the bore of my Grendel. I've had the Grendel for a couple of years, but haven't had much luck; it doesn't like any factory ammo that I've tried - most Hornady is 1.5 moa or worse, and I haven't found a load it likes yet with 8208xbr, AR-Comp, or Benchmark. I'm thinking it's time to try another barrel. I'm favoring 18" medium/heavy contour, something along the lines of the Lilja 319. Any thoughts/suggestions?

sheepdog grendel 191224_132151.jpg

For comparison, here's the bore from my M&P 15.
SW AR-15 191224_132337.jpg

[Herzo]

If it were mine, I might try lapping it with a lead lap and a series of compounds from about 220 to 600 grit. You have nothing to lose.

[Wheelhorse]

I might show that to the manufacturer.

[grayfox]

Who is the mfr? looks like a lot of cross-striations...

[teppou]

It was a little outfit called Sheepdog Gunworks, which evidently was only in business for a short time. The guy didn't do the barrels himself, but didn't divulge the manufacturer. He said they were made in Iowa, but said it wasn't Satern.

[ricsmall]

I would fire lap and JB polish if needed. If it wouldn’t shoot then I’d start over

[Wheelhorse]

I wouldn't waste any more bullets and powder on that thing.

Would make a good tomato stake.

[VASCAR2]

For $161 you can get a Green Mountain Group Buy Monster logo barrel with 1:8 twist. Reviews on this batch of group buy barrels has been very positive. If they were junk there would be threads describing the problems. You can search the forum and check for range reports. If I were in your shoes I?d cut my losses or delegate this barrel to Wolf steel case and use it for short range blaster.

With the price of ammo the barrels are expendable component just like brakes on your car. If you could buy 8,000 rounds of Wolf steel case for $5 a box of 20 you?d spend $2000 to wear out a typical Nitride AR-15 6.5 Grendel barrel. Shoot brass factory ammo at $16-$18 a box of 20 and you see how much you spend on ammo to wear out a barrel. I like having accuracy when shooting most of my 6.5 Grendel firearms and I think it makes good economic sense to buy a good barrel.

http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthread.php?17741-OPEN-MONSTER-20-Barrel-149-12-161

Link to google 6.5 Grendel custom search.

https://cse.google.com/cse?cx=016368947416500061353:paqd_0xcu1o&hl=en

[teppou]

Thanks for the link to the Group buy. I've monitored the board off and on for 3 years, but hadn't checked the group buys as much, hoping to find a load that this barrel likes. I've been through most of the threads on the reloading forum, stickied ones especially. Time to broaden the horizons, I think. I'm somewhat partial to 18" barrels as a (hopefully) happy medium between muzzle velocity and accuracy vs weight and maneuverability, particularly if I put a can on it.

[VASCAR2]

If your going to use a suppressor on an 18” 6.5 Grendel I suggest you look at barrels with rifle length gas system. Several members have been very satisfied with Criterion 18” RLGS barrel sold by Brownell’s. Lilja, Criterion, Shilen, Douglas, Wilson Combat and Bartlein barrels get very good reviews but they cost more for a reason.