Newborn Grrr

[SSTX]

Wanted to show the hunting Grendel (Grendel Jaeger?) that's taking shape, assembled the upper today. Never had an upper fight me like this one did, but I finally prevailed. I found that mixing my rusty 'smithing skills and red Loctite makes for an adventure in disassembly and re-assembly. Throw in an ejection port door damaged in shipping and it made for a perfect day in the shop.

Anyway, as it currently sits:

Group buy 16" Faxon mid-length barrel and bolt
Silencerco ACS brake (Omega still in jail)
Superlative Arms adjustable gas block
Toolcraft phosphate BCG (now I have a spare 5.56 bolt!), melonite gas tube
ALG 13" V3 rail - clears the gas block nicely, very light
Brownell's stripped upper - Splintered "A" forging - nice, tight fit to barrel and Stag lower
Mags are Elander 10 and 17 rounders from Brownells

On the way:

Larue MBT trigger
Leupold VX-R 4-12 Patrol and mount

I'll throw up some more pics as the gun reaches final assembly and heads to the range next week.

GRR.jpg

Stu

[SSTX]

Scope and mount arrived today, now installed. Trigger should arrive tomorrow, shakedown cruise on Saturday morning! Will post more pics of performance at the range then (assuming it doesn't pattern like a shotgun - . Besides basic sight in I need to adjust the gas block. I ended up on a different lower (PSA), with a Magpul STR and MIAD grip.

GRR1.jpg

Stu

[Bigs28]

Very nice

[VASCAR2]

Very nice, I really like the looks of that hand guard. I’ve got the ALG V0 hand guard on my 18” 6.5 Grendel and it is one of my favorites. Let us know how your 16” Grendel shoots!

[BCHunter]

Very nice, was it tired that you put it too rest on a pillow?

[SSTX]

Very nice, was it tired that you put it too rest on a pillow?

Well, it IS a newborn. Have to swaddle it a bit before I put it to work.....

[SSTX]

Range trip yesterday, the rifle performed to expectations. Revealed itself to be hunting accurate with factory ammo, sighted in with Hornady Black 123gr ELD-M, ran several rounds of 123gr SST through it for chrono readings and hits at 100 and 485 yards. The target below is rounds 15-20 of ELD-M down the tube at 100yds. Both types of ammo ran 2390-2410 fps, with essentially identical performance under 500 yards due to very close .506 (ELD-M) and .510 (SST) BC's.

case head.jpgcases.jpgdoggie.JPGtarget.jpg

At 8:30am at the range, the rifle ejected brass in a nice, tight 12" circle at about 3:30 with a carbine buffer and the gas block adjusted full open, but scratched the hell out of the cases down the body from the shoulder, suggesting something amiss in the chamber. Additionally, all cases fired yesterday morning showed ejector marks on the case heads. The two fired at a coyote and a pig (not recovered) at about 8pm yesterday evening showed no ejector marks. Range temp in the AM was about 92, on the evening hunt it was over 100. All in all, fun was had, first round fired at game took the coyote, still have a little work to do but so far I'm well pleased with the results. I'd welcome any feedback on the brass issues, and will post more work as I get to adjusting the gas block, further range work, etc.

[VASCAR2]

Thanks for the range report! The scratched brass looks similar to Faxon barrels that has residue left in the chamber from the salts used in the Nitride PQP finish. New E-Lander mags will leave long scratches on brass from the sharp feed lips. My E-Lander mags are very good mags but take use to wear in. The general consensus is the small scratches does not hurt the brass.

There are a couple of threads concerning a few Faxon barrels which mar the brass. A couple of forum members have polished their chambers. A couple members contacted Faxon who offered to polish the chamber. I was fortunate neither my 16” or 18” Faxon GB barrels had this issue.

[SSTX]

Thanks for the range report! The scratched brass looks similar to Faxon barrels that has residue left in the chamber from the salts used in the Nitride PQP finish.

Very much appreciated, sir! I searched and found the other threads, and believe that's my problem. I REALLY don't want to take the barrel off the receiver again, but may end up doing it to address the chamber issue.

[LRRPF52]

Very nice progress with first blood.

Ejector channel swipes are often the sharp edges of the channel opening on the bolt face, while there is some residual pressure on the empty case during unlocking.

Some more experienced AR smiths like to polish the bolt face and take off those edges just a touch, including the firing pin pocket ledge as well.

Faxon said something about salt bath nitriding residue on some of their chambers, so if you polish it up, the longitudinal scratches should go away.

Looks you have yourself a handy little fire stick there either way, great for anything from varmints to medium game.

Feel free to update the Game Knock-Down Survey in the Hunting Sub Forum with the appropriate format as well.

Looking great SSTX!

ETA: 123gr SST G1 BC turns out to be .462", not .510" as stated, unless you launch it at .260 Rem speeds, and even then, I think .510 is a bit high.

For the ELD-M, if you look at their doppler-banded Mach ranges for it, you'll get a good idea of what it is at Grendel speeds, but nothing game-changing at common distances either way.

[SSTX]

Really appreciate the feedback and info, LRRPF52. I'm a great fan of your work with the Grendel, and that of other regular posters, here and on Arfcom. All that info has greatly influenced and guided this build. I'm especially intrigued by your work with the shorter barrels, may have to try one of those eventually. I find my rifle to be very quick-handling in the confines of a box blind, which helped a great bit on the coyote. I'll be looking at the bolt face and firing pin pocket per your suggestion, many thanks.

I haven't had this much fun with a rifle in a very long time. The Grendel is shaping up to be the most perfect setup I've ever used, including some nice bolt rifles. I'll be exercising it and posting results quite a bit throughout this fall/winter.

[Popeye212]

They are fun no doubt very nice build.

[SSTX]

They are fun no doubt very nice build.

Thanks, Popeye, we need to meet up at the 31W range some weekend morning this fall for a visit and some shooting......

[Popeye212]

Fall? why wait when I get my barrel back I'll be going back again twice a week. I try to go once a week to practice with my shield. Missed this week it was a little warm.

[SSTX]

Fall? why wait when I get my barrel back I'll be going back again twice a week. I try to go once a week to practice with my shield. Missed this week it was a little warm.

Agreed, I was there this AM helping my hunting buddy sight his son's Savage .224 Valkyrie in. Usually try a Saturday or Sunday morning each week, depending on weather.

Minor update - ran a 10mm brass pistol brush in the Grendel's chamber and cleaned about 95% of the debris out, manually cycling rounds now produces easy chambering and extraction, only minor scratches in a limited 1/4" shoulder section of the cases now.

ETA - Rounds now also seem to seat fully with finger pressure (no bcg installed), and easily drop free when the muzzle is turned upward.