Hi !

All I'm trying to do , is buy a reasonably priced 12" barreled upper in 6.5 Grendel , mostly for plinking.

As best I can tell these things are as rare as hen's teeth.... Lot's of long barrels but short barrels...good luck.

I would greatly appreciate suggestions !

Thanks, mike

PS: Yes, I have an SBR'd lower.

After hunting with 6.5 Grendel I have the same bug. I have found the same slim pickings you have. Lucklily getting an upper built is not hard, nor is rolling your own. For this one I would make your own. If that is a hell nah...look at Alexander Arms The issue with them is they make their uppers to no come apart, due to the high quality they have put on their own name themselves they don't want barrels and such changed making the gun not work while sporting their name.

By next year I am going to have my SBR finished in 6.5. I am looking at a light weight build with the plan being to swap uppers when in thick brush then when in position put on the longer barrel.

Ballistic Advantage also makes a 12.5" 6.5mm Grendel Barrel and bolts. Link I haven't used them, so I can't give any feedback on their quality.

I'm waiting for my 18" Larue 6.5mm Grendel upper to arrive in the mail.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: CD228,

It's looking like I stumbled onto a topic that is simply too rich for my tastes...

Alexander = $719 Ballistic Advantage= $745

I thought it would be nice to have a different cartridge to play with ( shooting Wolf ammo , like I do with my Howa in Grendel)

$700 + for an upper isn't going to happen at this house....

I do appreciate everyone's time, though ! mike

Do what I did....build your own with the BA barrel and bolt...and save money!

Get some Alexander Arms magazines and you’re good.

Unfortunately, the price I listed for the
Ballistic Advantage was just for the parts.

I'm not averse to assembling the gun ...but $750 ...... Why so expensive ?? My little Howa Mini action cost me $360 ( new)...

quote:

Originally posted by sjames:
Do what I did....build your own with the BA barrel and bolt...and save money!

Get some Alexander Arms magazines and you’re good.

Different types of rifles, components, manufacturers, target markets, and profit expectations. Pricing among firearms can be quite inconsistent.

Be happy you weren't thinking about Alexander's top of the line upper -- a cool $1,950 for it.

Dang. Was hoping to find a deal around $400. Might have to price everything separately and have someone cut a barrel down. Will have to try a cheapo place like Hardened Arms.

Nope. Cheapest is still just under five then add in cut and rethread and replace quadrail I'm back up around $700.

Someone find us the cheapest barrel out there, the rest I have parts laying around.

+1 !

quote:

Originally posted by Chowser:
Dang. Was hoping to find a deal around $400. Might have to price everything separately and have someone cut a barrel down. Will have to try a cheapo place like Hardened Arms.

Nope. Cheapest is still just under five then add in cut and rethread and replace quadrail I'm back up around $700.

Someone find us the cheapest barrel out there, the rest I have parts laying around.

Give it time, as the 6.5mm Grendel becomes more common you might see prices drop. I'd spend some time on a Grendel specific forum and look for group buys or deal announcements. You might find a value item or you might find out certain "value" items aren't worth it.

6.5mm Grendel has been slowly gaining popularity and we are seeing new vendors and skus coming on line.

quote:

Originally posted by fritz:
Different types of rifles, components, manufacturers, target markets, and profit expectations. Pricing among firearms can be quite inconsistent.

Be happy you weren't thinking about Alexander's top of the line upper -- a cool $1,950 for it.

Fritz,
While you are here, what's your opinion on the Grendel? Is it a good cartridge?

quote:

Originally posted by CD228:
While you are here, what's your opinion on the Grendel? Is it a good cartridge?

My thoughts are primarily based on precision/tactical steel match use. Hunters may have different views.

I have shot only a few rounds of Grendel, so I'm not a hands on expert. I've seen a few in precision/carbine matches -- the shooters did well with them. I like how the cartridge designers put some more oomph in the AR-15 platform. Unfortunately there are some downsides to this.

I don't like the magazine configuration and capacity issues, which seems like a shared issue with 6.8 SPC. There are webz reports of bolt strength issues, however I can't weigh in here.

I like the BC of the 123 grain bullets. Muzzle velocity is unimpressive, which has to be expected with the limited powder capacity of the cartridge. I wonder if a 6.0 Grendel would have made more sense, as there are some pretty high BC bullets in the 95-105 grain ballpark.

I keep comparing the AR-15 variants to determine if there's an advantage over heavy 223 bullets:
- 6.5 Grendel definitely has good wind drift figures, but the bullet doesn't fly all that flat
- 22 Nosler looks interesting. Last month in a team match, one shooter did really well with it.
- 224 Valkyrie is another new variant that looks interesting.

But for now I'm sticking with my "precision" AR-15. It has a SI Defense matched receiver, 20" Krieger barrel, Wilson BCG & trigger, and a PRS stock. Hornady's new 73 grain ELD-M ammo is quite accurate, and I'm showing improvement in drop and drift over my previous match ammo of Hornady 75 BTHP. I just can't justify the expense of a new high-end upper, high-end optics, and possibly magazines for ballistics improvements that don't really become material until 500-ish yards.

Thanks Fritz, that's a pretty good and honest assessment.

I'd been tracking the magazine issue for several years. I'm capped at 10 rounds (FUAC) so capacity didn't bother me, but for several years it was difficult to get a really reliable feeding one. I think we are past that now, but I'm still going to test all my mags.

I hadn't heard too much about the bolt issues. I'll investigate that further.

I'll definitely sit back down with the ballistics tables and relook the trajectory.

Thanks for the points to ponder.

Well, the adventure begins.... I've ordered a 16" barrel that am going to have shortened to about 12" . Also ordered a bolt carrier group from the same company to save shipping.
These two items are specific to the Grendel. Everything else ( except mags)....i can pick up as I go since they are more generic AR.
Wish me luck !

Which outfit?

quote:

Originally posted by CD228:
Which outfit?

Bear Creek Arsenal.....(I don't know anything about them)

Are you going to use ADCO to shorten the barrel?

Do you plan on suppressing it?

I've also been looking at Bear Creek barrels.

I also looked at a complete kit (minus lower and bcg) from 22mods4all. The 16" kit. I would get the kit since it has the 12" handguard and cut the barrel down to 12.5. the assembled upper has a 15" rail. Then again, I could just swap a shorter one and move the 15 to my 18" rifle.

quote:

Originally posted by mike28w:

quote:

Originally posted by CD228:
Which outfit?

Bear Creek Arsenal.....(I don't know anything about them)

That name rings a bell, but I've never laid hands on one. I'd recommend doing a search on the 6.5Grendel forum.

Congrats on the find.

Okay I gotta ask.
Is cutting down the barrel of a 6.5g not the same as doing it to a 5.56?
By that I mean killing the performance?
I get a short barreled .300blk as it was designed to perform as an SBR.
Now correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the real benefit of the Grendel it's down range performance & extended range (800+ yards) ?
Not knocking a persons choice to have a fun blaster (I have a 7.5" 5.56 pistol) but does the 6.5 perform well out of a short barrel enough to make it a better choice than the .300blk ?

I thought about that and was looking online at charts people made. Going from 24" to 14.5" is less than a 200fps lost at the muzzle.

But I think I might give up. The amount I will spend just to get up and running (complete upper, cut and rethread, suppressor mount, mags, ammo, etc.) would buy me alot of 300blk ammo. My 8.5" 300blk has been trouble free for a long time and I trust it.