Grendel "Truck gun" is getting upgrades

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  • Kswhitetails
    Chieftain
    • Oct 2016
    • 1914

    Grendel "Truck gun" is getting upgrades

    Started two years ago or so, I wanted a behind my seat passenger to ride with me everywhere I went as a bug out option. Originally I had planned to mount a box under the back seat and stock it with this Grendel pistol, two mags (third in the gun), and a first aid kit/IFAK trauma kit. Things went well but I got a new truck, built a precision rifle, and plans changed. The bug out bag still holds the mags and options for this weapon, as well as more for the precision rifle. Both will go with me, as well as a shotgun which my son will carry and my Sig P226. The truck gun never actually served that truck duty -yet... Anyway, origionally this was a cheap build. Nothing fancy, besides maybe the MBT-2S and the quick change mount and glass.

    I've experimented with a Gen 1 PST 1-4 which I really liked for this. It was heavy though, and I wanted more magnification to take more advantage of the down range legs. I put an Aimpoint PRO on it a while, and it was great, and great fun at distance. Harder than glass, but much easier than irons. Worked well for a deer two falls ago. Next I found a Leupold VX-R 3-9x40 TMR SFP that was great. Reticle was fat, but that was perfect for hunting. I was blown away by the glass. Especially in low light. Leupold glass and weight is on point on their scopes above 600 bucks IMO. Their reticles however... ahem. Because the fat reticle wasn't all that great for shooting groups, and because I wanted to develop loads for this weapon in particular, I bought a Bushnell Forge 3-18x50 with the MIL Deploy reticle. It worked very well for the group testing, but it's heavy and long for the purposed weapon, so I've recently found an EOTECH VUDU 5-25x50 Mil scope to put on it. At 11.2", and 29oz, I'm hoping I've finally found the permanent optic for it. It will go into a LaRue 20moa LT745 QD mount with some 34mm ring halves to make it reachable and swappable among my rifles. I will report over in the optics section how it turns out. (The Forge in the picture is nearly 15" long and is a 30mm tube, to give an idea about the difference)

    Back to the weapon, it started with a 12.5" GB Faxon barrel that I traded for one of the next generations 12.7" Faxon group buys, so it would fit under the LaRue 11" quadrail better, to allow a bit more gap between handguard and suppressor. It worked well, and I've been pretty happy with it. It needs some TLC like the 12.5" got (chamber polished, ramps, etc...) but overall as long as I've done my part it's spat sub MOA groups almost on command. My load development is showing promise, but I need a few things yet to be more sure of my results. I have a hard time deciding if my groups are the ammo or the gear, or me....

    I started with a KAK blade brace, and an LMT Pistol tube. That has changed to the SBTactical SBA-3, which was not out at the time of my original build. I'm a very happy man. The only other real option I considered were the much more expensive and complex PDW braces which went well outside the original intent of the truck gun. Keep it simple and cheap, and throw it in the mud tough.

    The Atlas V8 swaps between this and the precision rifle at will.

    This has morphed from the original intent of a truck gun, which it most certainly can and probably will do more than any other weapon I've got, but it's been out of the safe more than any other gun I run, except maybe for the P226. They usually are paired... The next phase is to gain another suppressor, a TBAC U5 or 7. I'd like to save the weight of the Tranquillo for the precision rifle, as it makes more sense there. It works just fine until then however. And gets its paces in often, on every long gun less than .308...

    Anyway, figured I'd throw an update in and add a pic so into the pics section it comes.



    ETA: corrected 24 to 29 oz.
    Last edited by Kswhitetails; 05-07-2020, 04:09 AM.
    Nothing kills the incentive of men faster than a healthy sense of entitlement. Nothing kills entitlement faster than a healthy sense of achievement.
  • biodsl
    Chieftain
    • Aug 2011
    • 1718

    #2
    "Pistol". Gawd we need to repeal the NFA.

    Congrats on a very nice build. May I humbly suggest that the scope you really want is the new Razor. I mean, since you've gone this far, what the hell.



    Edit: BTW, nice mat. I have one and I love it.
    Last edited by biodsl; 04-19-2020, 07:21 PM.
    Paul Peloquin

    Did government credibility die of Covid or with Covid?

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    • FLshooter
      Chieftain
      • Jun 2019
      • 1380

      #3

      Comment

      • Kswhitetails
        Chieftain
        • Oct 2016
        • 1914

        #4
        I thought about the razor, but found this one at a more than fair price, and can't touch the razor for what I paid for the EOTECH. Add to that the curiosuty I've had regarding the VUDUs and it was a no brainer. Originally, I was looking for a Leupold 3.5-18 Mark 5. I've never seen glass as good as my Mark 5 5-25 for the price, and really wanted to upgrade the Grendel optic to fit all four of them well enough. I've used the LaRue mounts enough to know now that RTZ is real, and repeatable among several rifles and rails.

        I DO like the 1-5x optic range I'll be losing out on completely, but I've got a set of offsets for that part if it ever becomes an issue, which I am starting to doubt it will.

        The VUDU has 15x more on the top end, is only 1.1" longer, and 8 more oz. Not to mention that the Gen 2 razor 1-6 I looked through at the range was nowhere near where I want my optic to perform in low light. The 500 dollar Leupold VX-R beat it hands down, even the guy next to me was blown away. The VX-R and the Mark5 both have glass they shouldn't have at the price. Well, the mark5 has gone up quite a bit when you see a used one listed now, go figure. I guess Leupold is starting to fix the issues they've had for the last 5 or so years among the PRS/NRL crowd they're becoming much more popular over the last year on the firing line at matches.

        The 1-10 checks a lot of boxes, for sure. For me though, the VX-5HD 2-10 was almost everything it is, and it was MUCH better in low light evening visibility and it had externally adjustable turrets. Well, I haven't looked through the 1-10 so I can't say that. I'm assuming the 1-10 has similar performance glass wise to the gen 2 1-6. If only they'd release a VX5-hd 2-10 in mils with a decent reticle, I think it'd be the PERFECT Grendel optic.

        I'll gove the VUDU a good thrashing and see what comes out. If it isn't up to snuff, I'll let you know. It's got quite a few interesting features for Grendel, chief among them in my mind are: the over 18x magnification on station when needed, and the XC glass(HD glass, in league with all the top end optics), the 34mm tube for strength and adjustment room on the erector, a tremendously generous eyebox, and a 50mm objective for low light performance. We shall see. The exciting thing for me is that later, since it's so short, there's plenty of room in front of it to set up a clip on. This was my real interest in the 2.5-18 Leupold, right after the weight and glass quality.

        There was also the S&B PMII US, but it was just out of my price range. The VUDU clicked all the same boxes, so it was worth the shot...
        Nothing kills the incentive of men faster than a healthy sense of entitlement. Nothing kills entitlement faster than a healthy sense of achievement.

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        • tdbru
          Warrior
          • Dec 2019
          • 749

          #5
          i have learned the same thing as KSW. Leupold OPTICS are unrivaled at their price points. and by the way KSW, if you want a reticle swap, Leupold does that. call 'em up and discuss it. i've had several swapped for what i wanted. back when i was shooting high power silhouette almost ALL the scopes on the line were Leupold. absolute repeatability on the knobs with no apparent wear, and great optics. i then got transferred and haven't had the opportunity for HP Silhouette since, but Leupold scopes still rock. and they're made here and not in China. for what its' cost many of us for China releasing one of their virus' out of the biological weapons lab there in Wuhan you could have a stable of Leupolds. buy American. quit funding the PRC's biological weapons lab.

          back to the subject, nice truck rifle KSW. too nice actually, LOL. but it should serve you well.
          -tdbru

          Comment

          • Kswhitetails
            Chieftain
            • Oct 2016
            • 1914

            #6
            Thanks, tdbru. It is. Which is why it probably never served that duty. I built a blackout with quality parts I got off the EE that is quickly becoming the HD and truck gun this never became. My biggest problem so far is that I just can't build on junk parts. It makes it too hard not to be worried about scratches and dents down the road. Ha. I guess that means I'm still not really a shooter... It's a bit different when you're running everything in the ground on duty and someone else is footing the bill for everything you wear out or break. Not to mention it's diet...
            Last edited by Kswhitetails; 04-19-2020, 10:38 PM.
            Nothing kills the incentive of men faster than a healthy sense of entitlement. Nothing kills entitlement faster than a healthy sense of achievement.

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            • FRB6.5
              Warrior
              • Oct 2018
              • 415

              #7
              The Vudu are nice scopes, made in Japan by Light who makes many Nightforce models.

              Comment

              • Kswhitetails
                Chieftain
                • Oct 2016
                • 1914

                #8
                Nothing kills the incentive of men faster than a healthy sense of entitlement. Nothing kills entitlement faster than a healthy sense of achievement.

                Comment

                • Hattrick
                  Bloodstained
                  • Jan 2014
                  • 80

                  #9
                  Looks really nice

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                  • BluntForceTrauma
                    Administrator
                    • Feb 2011
                    • 3901

                    #10
                    Wow. Yes.
                    :: 6.5 GRENDEL Deer and Targets :: 6mmARC Targets and Varmints and Deer :: 22 ARC Varmints and Targets

                    :: I Drank the Water :: Revelation 21:6 ::

                    Comment

                    • Kswhitetails
                      Chieftain
                      • Oct 2016
                      • 1914

                      #11
                      Nothing kills the incentive of men faster than a healthy sense of entitlement. Nothing kills entitlement faster than a healthy sense of achievement.

                      Comment

                      • Kswhitetails
                        Chieftain
                        • Oct 2016
                        • 1914

                        #12
                        Updates to this thread consist of the fact that this weapon no longer has dibs on the ZULU 5-25. It's officially lost that battle with mr LaRue. Now, the goal is to find a gen 1 PST 1-4 in MIL and put the mods to bed. The load is worked. I've settled on some 2220 FPS 107 SMK loads that routinely group at sub moa, in different weather, and show only 10 fps of adjustment from 45 degrees to 90. I can deal with that. They're both within the node, with no real POI shift, so I'm calling that done. I recently shot a group at 200 that was under an inch in 5 rounds, fired slowly. The following 10 rounds were at 5x as fast as I could re-acquire and were under 3.5 inches. It'll hunt.

                        The SBR idea has been put on hold, I can't decide if I want to register this thing permanently, and for now, there is no reason to. Which would be the only real reason to. I'm assuming one day that pistol builds will be killed, and getting ahead of the curve would be the only benefit. Maybe I should listen to my gut...
                        Nothing kills the incentive of men faster than a healthy sense of entitlement. Nothing kills entitlement faster than a healthy sense of achievement.

                        Comment

                        • biodsl
                          Chieftain
                          • Aug 2011
                          • 1718

                          #13
                          Best of luck on the scope. I have an MOA version on my AR15-22 and like it. They show up on Ebay from time to time. A mil version sold a few weeks ago for more money than I wanted to spend.

                          I don't know if this fits the bill, but SWFA still sells a 1-4 mil scope. Similiar weight and build quality I'd guess. Likely 20% off if you can wait all the way til Black Friday
                          Paul Peloquin

                          Did government credibility die of Covid or with Covid?

                          Comment

                          • Jake TN
                            Bloodstained
                            • Nov 2019
                            • 97

                            #14
                            The PST is an awesome scope for the money. I also think the 1-4 is better suited for a shit hit the fan gun. A 5-25 will weigh more and be slower to acquire close targets fast. Offset sight do work, but are more of a backup for a long range rig. True 1x are great and can be used for cqb like a red dot with good practice. 4-6 power is more than enough to reach out and touch something at 500 yards. If you need a set of cheap lightweight rings, I went with aero precisions and haven't had any problems.

                            Comment

                            • 808hoghunter
                              Unwashed
                              • Jan 2020
                              • 19

                              #15

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