Ended up with a scratch build in 6.5 Grendel. That caliber was chosen after a lot of research and the desire to stay in the AR15 platform. I'm in the process of leaning eight friends and family members through the building of sixteen AR15 rifles. I did all the wheeling and dealing with suppliers to do group buys on lowers and other parts to try to save some money. We ended up getting Aero Precision lowers for $60 each delivered and uppers for $64 each delivered.
I then went on to use information that I've leaned from m4carbine.net to obtian the rest of my parts from Palmetto State Armory, BCM, Brownells, MidwayUSA, Satern Custom Machining and a few others. Preferance was given to site supporters of m4carbine.net and all of the venders did an excellent job fulfilling my orders and providing good customer service.
I'll be headed to my 100 yard indoor range to shoot it for the first time on Wednesday. The goal with this build was to build an AR15 platform rifle that could be used for hunting as well as Long Range Practical rifle compeitions that require hits on steel targets from 250-875 yards. Hopefully I've set this gun up to get me going in the right direction. I'm sure there will be a stiff learning curve and I will end up replacing some parts as I go, but that's how these things go.
To keep things simple I've decided to order a bunch of Hornady 123gr AMax ammo that I will then hand load after shooting. I'm going to try to match the Hornady round best I can with my handloads so I can fall back on factory loads if needed at times. All of my needed reloading parts are on the way. This will be my first attempt to reload anything outside of .223 and 9mm. So if anyone has tips on reloading the 6.5 Grendel for precision use, please post them up here.
Special thanks to Dflores22 for the suggestion on the YHM Todd Jarrett hand rail. This is the first item I've bought of YHM and I must say I'm EXTREMELY impressed. Nice design, excellent quality barrel nut and locking system. I would have to say that this is MUCH better than the quality of my Troy Extreme rails on my other two ARs. I'll be headed back to YHM for future builds and for the parts on my fellow builders guns.
Here's the break down on the parts that I used for the build. If anyone has questions about the build or about how to build their own 6.5 Grendel, please ask away. I'll be posting update on it's function on Wednesday. If it shoots as good as it looks, I'll be extremely happy. So far it's hand cycled loaded ammo without issue and everything seems to fit together very well. Hopefully it actually works and shoots well...
Lower Build
- Aero Precision Stripped Lower
- Palmetto State Armory Lower Parts Kit
- DSA Ambi Safety - Would not recommend as it's a full auto safety that will rotate 180*. Not sure why they did that and didn't state it on the PSA website.
- Houge Grip - I prefer the Ergo Grip in the large size and will be switching this one out.
- DPMS A2 Buttstock - Very nice quality
- Chip McCormick 3.5 Pound Trigger - Very nice for $140. I will buy more for my other guns. Not quite as crisp as my Wilson Combat TTU but for $100 less I like it more!
Upper Build
- Aero Precision Stripped Upper
- 18" Satern Machining Barrel, Bolt, with Bead Blasting
- Vortex Flash Hider
- DPMS Mid-Length Gas Tube
- Yankee Hill Todd Jarrett hand guard - Wow!
- Bravo Company Bolt Carrier, Firing Pin, Firing Pin Retaining Pin, Cam Pin
- DPMS Upper Build Parts
- Troy Gas Block
Optic, mount, bipod and Sling
- Harris Swivel Bipod with Notched Legs in 6"-9" length on a YHM mount.
- Blue Force Gear - Victory Sling
- Vortex Viper 6.5-20x44
- ADM Recon-S Mount - I ran into an issue with getting the right eye relief with this optic. I initially ordered the normal Recon as I was expecting to need the extended eye relief. I was wrong. After playing with the Recon for a while I decided that this optic actually has shorter eye relief that most. Most likely because it's a cheaper optic, but also because it's build a little different than most. The rear section of the optic behind the turrets is pretty short. This requires the mount to be a little more rearward than most optics. Combine that with the 3.1" eye relief and you need it really far back. The way it is in the photos is as FAR as it can get it and still feel like I can use the optic. I may end up moving it back some while at the range the first time, but I wanted to start it out as far as I could and work it back from there as I shoot.
There are more photos at THIS LINK for those that are interested.
Sorry for the long post, but I try to give back as much as I can to others on the forum when I have the opportunity.
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