Something Different

[v1911]

Disclaimer: This was an upper build that was purpose built to be placed on my competition AR.

This was built with the intent of stalking on my friend's lease.

Over the past 3 months I've had a hunting itch. My good friend and neighbor is an avid hunter and will be inviting me out to his lease next month. This will be my 1st hunt so I've been soliciting advise from him. While the primary purpose of the lease is for him and his father-in-law to hunt deer, turkey and coyotes, there has been an unwanted increase in wild pig population. In anticipation of this hunt, I bought my 1st 308 in December. It was an PSA special that I upgraded to suit my tastes. But it was still a pig in comparison to my AR15. I knew I didn't want to hump this 308 around a lease. So I got to researching and in talking to my neighbor about building a 6.8SPC upper, he asked why I would want a nerfed version of the 308 and instead turned me on the to idea of the 6.5 Grendel. Well, after researching the round and finding this site, it didn't take me long to develop an irrational need to have this caliber and over the course of 2 months I set to buying parts here and there until I had everything to build my upper. The pics show a cheap 1.5-5 scope I picked up years ago and never used. So it is a place holder until my Vortex Strike Eagle 1-8x arrives this week. Little to no wolf ammo will be shot through her. Instead I will be running handloads using Hornady brass, CFE223 and Nosler HPBT for paper punching and Hornady SST for hunting. The upper I used is nickle boron coated same as my .22 plinking upper and my usual competition upper. But because it doesn't have 6 years of oil, dirty and abuse, there is a slight difference in appearances in comparison to the lower.

With no further ado, the build sheet to my 6.5 Grendel:

UPPER:
WMD upper
RTB lightened carrier
RTB titanium firing pin
Monster bolt
Faxon 16" Gunner barrel
AP Custom 15" Carbon Fiber handguard
SLR series 7 adjustable gas block
Seekins ATC comp
Brunton 1.5-5x

LOWER:
Henderson Defense billet lower
Ace ARFX stock
JP SCS
Ergo deluxe grip
Geissele SD3G trigger
AA/E-Lander 6.5 Grendel mags







Still researching a 1 point sling and will be updating this thread once I get out to the range and get some shots on paper. I'll get to the range once I receive the Strike Eagle and get an accurate account on the build weight.

Since this build was intended for stalking, my recently purchased 12# pig of a 308 will be pulling blind duty.

[BCHunter]

Very nice build! What is the weight difference between the two?

[v1911]

If I were to guess, 5-6#. And that doesn’t include the bipod I’ve installed since the photo of the 308 was taken.

[Bigs28]

That is a beautiful rifle. Their is an app called wish that has 1 point slings for $3.

[NugginFutz]

That is a beautiful rifle. Their is an app called wish that has 1 point slings for $3.

Derp?

[biodsl]

That is a beautiful rifle.

+1. Congratulations on a classy build!

[Kswhitetails]

Ill raise, +2. Nicely done.

[v1911]

Very nice build! What is the weight difference between the two?

So I decided to put them on the scale.

.308: 11.8#
6.5Grendel: 6.8#

So there is a dramatic difference in weight. This includes a bipod on the .308 that isn't picture and the 1-8x strike eagle on the Grendel.

I also swapped out the gen1 AP Customs handguard that had a glossy finish with a gen2 which has a matte finish. I'll update with pics for comparison after I get some range time next week.

[just_john]

v1911, a beautiful assembly! Very well done! How does it group? What part of the world are you in?

[v1911]

Just finished loading 3 different charges using CFE 223 under Hornady 123gr SST and Nosler 123gr HPBT. I have a JP SCS and LMOS on the way for the 308 then I’ll head out the range. I’ll report grouping and take pics.

Currently I live just south of Fort Worth. But I’m looking to moving in a few weeks towards south of Dallas.

[v1911]

Did some initial test firing yesterday at a local indoor range. I’m currently out on a friend’s lease for my 1st hunt but will post a pic when I get back. So far 30gr of CFE223 seems to be giving me 1moa with the Strike Eagle at 100yd. That was a 7 round grouping excluding a called pulled shot. I’ll continue to play with the charge and seem if I can squeeze anything under 1moa. But I’m very pleased with the results thus far.

More to come......

[Tcrocker]

Love it that's a very nice looking rifle.

[v1911]

Updated pic:

Here you can see the Strike Eagle 1-8x and 15" matte finish handguard.

Here's a 7 shot grouping I was able to get using CFE223 and 123gr SST. Still more work to come:

This is with the pulled shot

And this is minus the pulled shot


So far I'm very pleased with how this upper build came out. Very light, balanced and 1moa if not better with the right load. Just what I wanted for stalking pigs and coyotes.