Maybe want a new barrel

[603Country]

For the sake of weight savings, I’m thinking about a new barrel 16” or 18” for my Grendel. I want good accuracy with the light weight. Should I go with fluted or just thin? And, who makes the barrel that best fits my need? I’m a fan of cut rifled barrels, but don’t have to have that. And I don’t need to go with “best cheap barrel”.

[grayfox]

A very common dilemma.
Some of it depends on what bullets/weights you shoot and performance you need.

I would say fluted, and 18" minimum... me personally, I haven't gotten the MV out of 16" that I'm comfortable with, hunting wise. At my age I don't do a lot of "walking/stalking" so I can take one a bit longer to get performance.

For middle of the road barrels, ballistic advantage, faxon, BFT's monster barrels (don't know if he has fluted).
If your budget can handle it go to the lilja website and see what they have in stock -- can't do much better.
These are all I use or have used, so I can recommend them.

Now if you have some 129 Ablr's (for shooting yds and stopping power down to 1300 ft/sec) then a 16" is plenty of length, I'm using them however in longer tubes. Of the 100's (again, for speed), the ttsx in a 16" will only give you ~2600 ft/sec so effective distance is minimum. And not too many other 100's out there. 123's in a 16", give you about 2415 +/-, so you can decide if that's enough for you. 18" will give you about 60 more ft/sec.

the 129 Ablr, 16" 2325, 18" 2400, so ranges (to 1000 ke), for 16" range ~300 yds, for 18" range, 350 yds.
Some guys are using this bullet with a 12/12.5" so there's a lighter package, if you want to go there (200, maybe 225 yds).

123's, even down to 12.5" can get you out to 200 yds give or take.

There are definitely some options...

[Wyrd]

I have chosen the Faxon heavy fluted 18" barrel with the same goal in mind. Good accuracy and velocity but not too heavy. I don't have the barrel yet so can't say if it turns out like I want but in any case that was my thought process.

[Old Bob]

I see you've chosen a Faxon's 18" barrel for your new 6.5 Grendel AR. Just curious, is the Wilson Combat 18" Fluted barrel above your price range? It would have been my first choice for such a build.

https://wilsoncombat.com/barrel-6-5-gren...d-1-8.html

[biodsl]

I see you've chosen a Faxon's 18" barrel for your new 6.5 Grendel AR. Just curious, is the Wilson Combat 18" Fluted barrel above your price range? It would have been my first choice for such a build.

https://wilsoncombat.com/barrel-6-5-gren...d-1-8.html

That is nice and priced well. Specs say it's a little heavier than the Faxon, but it's got a rifle length gas system.

[603Country]

As for bullet use, right now and for the foreseeable future, I’ll be shooting 123 gr SSTs. Never anything heavier. Lightest bullet I’ve used is the 95 gr V-Max, and my long term hope is to use Nosler 100 gr Ballistic Tips. For daytime deer hunting, I use my Tikka 260, but when deer season is over and I’m after hogs and coyotes in dim light or darkness, I switch to the Grendel and night vision. It’s very likely that my longest Grendel shots will be out to 250 yards. The feeders I hunt are at 150 yards. My reloading powder for then Grendel is H335.

What do you think of Wilson Combat barrels? I wonder who actually makes them.

[Wyrd]

I see you've chosen a Faxon's 18" barrel for your new 6.5 Grendel AR. Just curious, is the Wilson Combat 18" Fluted barrel above your price range? It would have been my first choice for such a build.

https://wilsoncombat.com/barrel-6-5-gren...d-1-8.html

That barrel isn't available in Germany, Faxon, BA and Brownells barrel (don't know who makes those) are all you can choose from unless you go >1000 Euros, then there's proof research, BSF or a custom barrel from Lothar Walther.

Btw, the Faxon is 600 Euros over here.

[ocharry]

603..

i have a B Kings barrel on my grendel...18" rifle gas meadium heavy profile...this vet owned place has these barrels made for them to thier spec...out on a limb here but i am pretty sure they are Ballistic Advantage made barrels.....you should check them out

i have 4 different bullet work ups for this rifle...95gr hornady 105gr sierra 120gr sierra pro hunter 129gr hornady....think the 95 is with H335...the 105 and 120 is with AR-Comp and the 129 is with varget.....i do have some of the 120 sierra tipped (game changer) bullets to try but the cold around here has been brutal and deer season got in the way..lol

my point here is that this barrel has worked up all of these loads to right at 3/4" exept the 105 and it is around 3/8-1/2...i shot a group at 200 with that load and it measured right at 1 1/4....and i can tell ya it is a coyote killer

it might be a little heavier than you want but i am convinced they are making or having made good barrels

i just built a 556 for my daughter in law with one of the B King barrels and it looks like it is gona be a good shooter too

also there is the https://www.opticsplanet.com/larue-t...ed-barrel.html. ...but it is around 46oz and a 1-7 twist...so there is that

lol...but that wilson barrel looks good too...not sure but i think they make thier own barrels...you should check that ...but i think i saw a video on that a while back

so many choices...lol...guess it just comes down to what you want and what you want to spend

anyway...good luck with your choice

my .02

ocharry

[603Country]

If I wanted heavy and accurate, I’d just stick with the barrel I have, which I may do. The light 223 AR that I like so much weighs 7.3 pounds with no loaded mag or scope. The Grendel weighs 8.4 pounds naked. It appears that about the best I can do is drop a pound off the Grendel…maybe.

The new barrel I’m thinking about is the 16” Wilson Combat at 26 ounces. What I don’t know is what the 20” Ballistic Advantage barrel on the Grendel weighs. A couple of the BA barrels I googled up weighed about 30 ounces, so if I spend a few hundred bucks to save 4 ounces, it’s not worth it.

Just to say it, the scope on the 223 AR weighs 17 ounces. The night vision scope and the IR light on the Grendel weighs about 2 pounds. Like I said, maybe 1 pound off is the best I can do, other than replace the NV gear.

Edit: just looked at 20” non fluted BA barrels, which appears to be what I have, and the weight is 46 ounces, or 20 ounces over that 16” Wilson Combat barrel. There’s my pound+ savings.

[muvef]

I would suggest a Black Hole Weaponry slim profile barrel, but they are a 12 - 24 week lead time. I have a 6mm LBC and it really shoots well.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]20221[/ATTACH]

[LRRPF52]

For the sake of weight savings, I’m thinking about a new barrel 16” or 18” for my Grendel. I want good accuracy with the light weight. Should I go with fluted or just thin? And, who makes the barrel that best fits my need? I’m a fan of cut rifled barrels, but don’t have to have that. And I don’t need to go with “best cheap barrel”.

My Lilja 16” Wasp is probably what you’re looking for. Superbly-light, more accurate even than my 17.6” Wasp.

It just bugholes no matter what was shot through it. Barrel profile is only .650” under the handguard, MLGS, .750” journal, .740” fore end.

It’s wrong because I never shoot the thing, but I can’t bring myself to get rid of it.

I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever shoot a 16” Grendel in the next 5 years or more.

Right now, I normally grab the 17.6” and the 12” every time I do intermediate to long work.

[Koda]

For the sake of weight savings, I’m thinking about a new barrel 16” or 18” for my Grendel. I want good accuracy with the light weight. Should I go with fluted or just thin?

The lightest barrel is going to be pencil thin. Flutes don't really remove that much weight on a heavy barrel, but it can help a little on medium weight barrels which might be a good compromise.
What I would also consider is barrel temperature, thin barrels heat up the fastest affecting POI, in my experience at little as 3 shots (but that was with a hotter caliber)
Keep in mind flutes have a "net neutral" effect on barrel cooling, as the more material removed from a barrel the faster it heats up. IMO how fast a barrel heats up is more important than cooling since firing the gun is the critical moment of need. So then obviously with light thin barrels is they will heat up the fastest affecting POI sooner. This should be considered in a semi auto, especially if multiple shots are common like a group of hogs. On a positive note, pencil thin barrels cool down the fastest. Of course the accuracy (actually its precision) of a barrel is how the bore is made not the profile, but I'm uncertain how having a gas block attached affects barrel harmonics on thin barrels. Something to consider though and maybe someone can chime in on that.

[603Country]

I think I’m gonna go with a Wilson Combat barrel. A 16” non fluted, which weighs 26ish ounces. I did some looking on the Ballistic Advantage site, and it appears that the 20” barrel I have now is 46ish ounces. I’ll lose a 100 fps I suppose, but this is my night hunting gun, and shots will be 250 yards max and 150 yards usual (distance to the feeders is 150 yards).

As for multiple rounds being shot and the barrel heated, that shouldn’t be an issue. Coyotes won’t need a second shot. Hogs sometimes do, but two rounds usually seals the deal.

[montana]

I think I’m gonna go with a Wilson Combat barrel. A 16” non fluted, which weighs 26ish ounces. I did some looking on the Ballistic Advantage site, and it appears that the 20” barrel I have now is 46ish ounces. I’ll lose a 100 fps I suppose, but this is my night hunting gun, and shots will be 250 yards max and 150 yards usual (distance to the feeders is 150 yards).

As for multiple rounds being shot and the barrel heated, that shouldn’t be an issue. Coyotes won’t need a second shot. Hogs sometimes do, but two rounds usually seals the deal.

I have seen poorly made chambers in many rifle barrels including some of the ones mentioned here..
I have never seen a poorly made barrel from JP and they head space their excellent bolts to their barrels..https://www.jprifles.com/buy.php?item=JPSM6.5G-18L8R7