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+--- Thread: Another New Member from NC (/showthread.php?tid=24140)
Another New Member from NC - Roughwater - 01-08-2022
Hi,
I am from NC now but I lived more than half my earlier life in Ohio. I think I was born loving to hunt even though no one but one uncle in my family hunted at all. I'm an Ex Marine, Semper Fi and served during part of the Vietnam era. I'm a member of a local Shooting club and the American Legion. I reload, Fish, collect rocks, minerals and coins to some extent. I also love to Elk hunt and am a life member of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
I'm not actually a owner yet of a 6.5 Grendel yet but that's in part why I joined this forum, to learn more about them. I did purchase one very recently (a AR upper and lower) which is also my first AR as well. I ordered if from Bear Creek Arsenal here in NC but haven't received it yet. I have several other guns most of which are heavy and are all bolt guns. But I wanted to keep this gun as light if possible. I wanted a 18" barrel but BCA only seemed to have them in a heavy barrel configuration so I ended up purchasing a 16" upper with what they call a M4 barrel which appeared to be the lightest barrel configuration they offered.
I did some research of course and know I won't be taking advantage of the full potential of the Grendel with that short barrel but I'm planning for it to be used for a varmint gun to shoot Coyotes and pigs most likely at ranges under 200 yards. A friend builds AR's and one of his AR's is a Grendel so I figure if I don't like the 16" barrel I'll swap it out later, well, my friend would swap it out.
I have a Pulsar Thermion scope I want to put on it with a QD mount for night hunting. I reload as I mentioned and I really like copper bullets. I use some hammer bullets and Barnes but I'm going to give the GS Custom bullets a go but I have never used this brand before. I want to try their 264095HV134 bullet which is a .264, 95 gn HV copper bullet in the Grendel. They (GS Custom) proposes a specific way of working up a load using their bullets. GS Custom relies on a Velocity range rather than a specific powder load to determine a max load however they do offer a starting load in grains. The starting load is 29.5 gn of AR 2219 for the 95 gn bullet. The max velocity for the 95 grain bullet I hope to use, when used with a Rifle using a 24" barrel has a MAXIUM velocity of 3125 but again that's a MAX load as well. I estimate my max velocity/load with the 16" barrel to be 2861 FPS. But that's the max hypothetical velocity using that specific powder and bullet combo. A safe, workup to that load/velocity in small increments is mandatory looking for pressure signs as you gradually work up. But since that powder is not available here that I know of, H322 is supposed to be it's equivalent. But I will communicate with the GS custom experts before reloading and get their opinion on what powder would be the best substitute for AR2219 as I'm assuming H322 would be a good substitute based on a powder equivalent table.
So anyway, the gun's ordered as well as new Forster dies, a Hornady 6.5 Grendel modified case, 100 Lapua cases, a Rock River arms 2 stage trigger (arrived already). GS custom insists on using magnum primers with these bullets which I already have a case of. I should have the gun and most everything I need to start reloading next week except maybe the bullets.
If any of you have used the GS custom bullets I would appreciate your advice? I may pick up some other bullets locally in the meantime just to break the gun in if I can find any. I plan to go to Greentop and Cabelas in Richmond VA Sunday to shop and maybe pick up some components there to get me by till the GS custom bullets come in.
I look forward to typing with you all very soon.
Roughwater
For what it's worth here is a pic of a pig I took last month in South Carolina. Had a fun 3 day hunt there.
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Another New Member from NC - peak98 - 01-08-2022
Welcome to the Horde, and thank you for service to our great nation. Youre gonna like the Grendel, and the 16 barrel might just be the sweet spot. I hope you have better luck accuracy wise with the BCA barrel than I did. What optic are you planning on going with?
peak98
Another New Member from NC - Roughwater - 01-08-2022
peak98 Wrote:Welcome to the Horde, and thank you for service to our great nation. Youre gonna like the Grendel, and the 16 barrel might just be the sweet spot. I hope you have better luck accuracy wise with the BCA barrel than I did. What option are you planning on going with?
peak98
Hi Peak,
Not sure what you mean by options for sure. I'm really new to AR's. I did purchase a Rock River arms 2 stage Varmint trigger and am buying a used Seekins ambidextrous safety in green. My friend who has built several AR's including a Grendel says it's the smoothest safety he has ever used. Aside from what came with the complete upper and lower receiver that's the only other items I've purchased so far. Of course I have a couple questions. What kind of accuracy problem did you have with your barrel and did BCA help you to correct the problem? Also what option/options would you suggest I purchase since you seem to have some experience with BCA AR's?
Another New Member from NC - just_john - 01-08-2022
Welcome to the clan, RW, from the great nation of Texas! Thank you for your service, sir!
Some of us have had great success with the BCA barrels. some not so much. Won't know 'till it goes bang ( more than once ) and see how the holes collect. As has been said many times across these pages, a lot depends on how well the upper is assembled. You will find the Grendel to be an absolute delight to shoot and teach with. With an optimized set of parts, there is almost no perceivable recoil, great for teaching grandkids and recoil sensitive people about the joys of shooting and hunting.
Also, as said in many other threads across these pages, the Grendel is a prolific breeder. Never put one in a dark place and leave it for a while as they replicate with "profound vigor"! The only way to prevent it is to keep the "one" very busy.
Enjoy - feel free to ask along the way and keep us posted on your grocery list and your successes - and maybe a picture or two as you go.
Another New Member from NC - peak98 - 01-08-2022
I meant to type optics but tired eyes/mind didnt catch that I typed options.... fixed now. Id imagine youre gonna be pleased with the RRA 2 stage and the Seekins safety. I personally prefer the 2 stage triggers myself and anything Seekins is normally top tier kit.
I was not impressed with the accuracy of my BCA barrel, although it did shoot Hornady Black okay, everything else was shotgun pattern groups. I gave mine away after putting 300 rounds through it, ammo too expensive to waste now. The better option for me was a barrel swap.
Hopefully yours will be a shooter!
peak98
Roughwater Wrote:Hi Peak,
Not sure what you mean by options for sure. I'm really new to AR's. I did purchase a Rock River arms 2 stage Varmint trigger and am buying a used Seekins ambidextrous safety in green.
Another New Member from NC - VASCAR2 - 01-08-2022
Welcome to the forum Roughwater!
Another New Member from NC - sundowner - 01-09-2022
Welcome to the horde from Wisconsin .
Another New Member from NC - Roughwater - 01-13-2022
peak98 Wrote:I meant to type optics but tired eyes/mind didnt catch that I typed options.... fixed now. Id imagine youre gonna be pleased with the RRA 2 stage and the Seekins safety. I personally prefer the 2 stage triggers myself and anything Seekins is normally top tier kit.
I was not impressed with the accuracy of my BCA barrel, although it did shoot Hornady Black okay, everything else was shotgun pattern groups. I gave mine away after putting 300 rounds through it, ammo too expensive to waste now. The better option for me was a barrel swap.
Hopefully yours will be a shooter!
peak98
Hey Peak,
I plan to put my Pulsar Thermion on it with QD mounts for varmint hunting so I can quickly change out to a dayscope for hunting game animals if need be. I'm still waiting for the Grendel to come in but here is a pic of the Thermion. Note the mount is installed in a unconventional way because I needed to get the scope closer to my eye. I now have a offset QD mount so can and have now installed it in a normal fashion. It did work fine and I killed a nice pig with it but I wouldn't want to have left it that way very long.
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