.308 bd 6.5 Grendel AR

ChickenHawk

ChickenHawk

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I am wanting to build another AR and these calibers seem to have similar ballistics. I’m leaning towards the 6.5 Grendel right now since you can throw the upper onto a standard lower instead of needing one built for a larger caliber. The ammo seems very close in price to each other, and steel case wolf 6.5 is cheaper than steel case .308 on ammo seek right now. I’m not big into precision currently since I don’t have the range distance for it. Any suggestions? Is there something I’m missing or not thinking of?
 
ChickenHawk said:
I am wanting to build another AR and these calibers seem to have similar ballistics. I’m leaning towards the 6.5 Grendel right now since you can throw the upper onto a standard lower instead of needing one built for a larger caliber. The ammo seems very close in price to each other, and steel case wolf 6.5 is cheaper than steel case .308 on ammo seek right now. I’m not big into precision currently since I don’t have the range distance for it. Any suggestions? Is there something I’m missing or not thinking of?
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I got zero real knowledge, but love my CZ 527 Varmint in Grendel. The Wolf shoots pretty good for the cost. The Hornady Black makes one ragged hole when I behave. I hope to add a Grendel AR at some point. Other than ammo availability there doesn't seem to be a downside to the Grendel. But my local gun store stocks the Wolf for $9 a box and the local Academy stocks the Hornady so I am good for now. I also found a box of Federal Fusion locally.
 
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CZfool68 said:
I got zero real knowledge, but love my CZ 527 Varmint in Grendel. The Wolf shoots pretty good for the cost. The Hornady Black makes one ragged hole when I behave. I hope to add a Grendel AR at some point. Other than ammo availability there doesn't seem to be a downside to the Grendel. But my local gun store stocks the Wolf for $9 a box and the local Academy stocks the Hornady so I am good for now. I also found a box of Federal Fusion locally.
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Thanks for the info. I was browsing ammo seem and saw how much the cost had come down which is what sparked my interest. When I looked at ballistics the 6.5 seems like a no brainer for a handy rifle that can also reach out a bit. Just trying to see if there is anything I’m missing as I haven’t ever been much of a long gun shooter, but am trying to get into it more.
 
ChickenHawk said:
Thanks for the info. I was browsing ammo seem and saw how much the cost had come down which is what sparked my interest. When I looked at ballistics the 6.5 seems like a no brainer for a handy rifle that can also reach out a bit. Just trying to see if there is anything I’m missing as I haven’t ever been much of a long gun shooter, but am trying to get into it more.
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If you ever want to meet over in Haw River at DPRC and shoot the Grendel bolt let me know. I've got no skills, but you could get a feel for the round a little. Not much recoil and accurate as heck. Just enough thump to let you know it's there.
 
CZfool68 said:
If you ever want to meet over in Haw River at DPRC and shoot the Grendel bolt let me know. I've got no skills, but you could get a feel for the round a little. Not much recoil and accurate as heck. Just enough thump to let you know it's there.
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I’m in Burlington so that’s not too bad of a drive. I appreciate the offer and may take you up on it.
 
ChickenHawk said:
I’m in Burlington so that’s not too bad of a drive. I appreciate the offer and may take you up on it.
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Just let me know. My rifle is pretty new so I've only shot at 100 with it. Next trip I'll work the 200 yard range and maybe play with some steel at 300-350 for fun.
 
Get a good name brand barrel ( I like ballistic advantage) and good mags ( I use ASC mags). The 6.5 is a light recoil accurate round. Mine did good on steel out to 600yds.
 
So for a 6.5 would you want an 18” or 20” barrel? Does it not matter between the two?
 
I built an 18” to begin with. Very accurate. However was a little long when hunting with supressor so I built a 12.5” pistol upper to try out this season.
 
Daleo8803 said:
If you are going for distance I would get the 20 inch.
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How much extra distance will the extra 2” realistically get you? Like I said, I’m a noob in the distance world.
 
ChickenHawk said:
How much extra distance will the extra 2” realistically get you? Like I said, I’m a noob in the distance world.
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Probably 100 more fps. If you are shooting off a bench and not going to hunt with it get the longer barrel. The more fps you can squeeze out of the round the better. I believe Alexander arms favorite barrel length is 19 inchs so.... ;)
 
Daleo8803 said:
Probably 100 more fps. If you are shooting off a bench and not going to hunt with it get the longer barrel. The more fps you can squeeze out of the round the better. I believe Alexander arms favorite barrel length is 19 inchs so.... ;)
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Thanks for the info. From all of the answers in here I see no reason to go with a .308 over the 6.5 Grendel. Y’all are all a bunch of enablers.
 
ChickenHawk said:
Thanks for the info. From all of the answers in here I see no reason to go with a .308 over the 6.5 Grendel. Y’all are all a bunch of enablers.
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I own both and a few more 'boutique' caliber uppers. The .308 is an entire different heavy platform than the Grendel.

The Grendel will give you more oopmh than a 5.56 AR, flatter shooting than just about everything in a standard AR platform.
Get the Alexander Arms elander mags because regular 6.8mags can be iffy. I've had to modify regular mags to function in the platform.

The .308 will give you a 10lb non-milspec battle rifle that will shoot milspec XM80 ammo for .50 cents a round, PMAGs are available in 10-25rd capacity,
and the ability to hold off mobs of body armor wearing attackers at 300yds+
 
I have a sweet 6.5g AR.

Lower is a Bushmaster I’ve had forever, Larue MBT trigger.

Upper from John Boyette, 20” TBOX barrel made in NC, Spikes upper. JP BCG.

Pings steel all day long.
 
Chuckman said:
Just a muddy the waters, take a look at .224 Valkyrie. Cheaper than shooting 308, with better ballistics than 6.5 or 6.8 with the similar distance and terminal ballistics of 308.
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I plan to look at the .224 in the future, but the price of ammo was the main reason I looked at the 6.5. I ordered an upper yesterday with an 18” barrel. I figure it’s the best compromise between ballistic performance and handiness.
 
MadMardigan said:
It was only a 1.1 mil drop from 100 to 300. So that’s pretty good on drop.
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Are you talking about drop compared to 308? If so I think I’ll be happy with it.
 
@ChickenHawk did you ever get that 6.5 Grendel built? For some reason, I have the 6.5 Grendel bug. Was talking to a coworker today at lunch about wanting one but have been trying to fight the urge. Just wondered what I was missing.
 
Average Joe said:
@ChickenHawk did you ever get that 6.5 Grendel built? For some reason, I have the 6.5 Grendel bug. Was talking to a coworker today at lunch about wanting one but have been trying to fight the urge. Just wondered what I was missing.
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I snagged one when PSA was having a sale on Black Friday. I figured I’d go budget to see if I like the round first. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to make it to the range yet.
 
Which barrel length did you go with? And keep me updated as to how it shoots.
 
Average Joe said:
Which barrel length did you go with? And keep me updated as to how it shoots.
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I went with an 18” barrel. I don’t have any long ranges to hit right now, and I like the little bit of extra handiness to it. If I like the round I’ll probably end up with a higher end brand 20” rifle at some point. The PSA feels solid though, especially for the price. I’m sure someone reading this thread has turned their nose up at the PSA upper though. Lol. It will be getting a more suitable scope for its capabilities once I find some rings or a riser I like.


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ChickenHawk said:
I went with an 18” barrel. I don’t have any long ranges to hit right now, and I like the little bit of extra handiness to it. If I like the round I’ll probably end up with a higher end brand 20” rifle at some point. The PSA feels solid though, especially for the price. I’m sure someone reading this thread has turned their nose up at the PSA upper though. Lol. It will be getting a more suitable scope for its capabilities once I find some rings or a riser I like.


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dude kotaboy on youtube was smacking bowling pins at 600 and 700 yards everytime with the psa grendel and factory ammo! very impressive from psa barrel!
 
jmccracken1214 said:
dude kotaboy on youtube was smacking bowling pins at 600 and 700 yards everytime with the psa grendel and factory ammo! very impressive from psa barrel!
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It is definitely in a different league than the cheap 5.56 I got from them. I’m looking forward to taking it for a test drive.
 
ChickenHawk said:
It is definitely in a different league than the cheap 5.56 I got from them. I’m looking forward to taking it for a test drive.
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I was tempted to order last night but spoke with the guy on here i sold my last ar grendel to and i think im going to buy it back. Ive been torn between AR and bolt gun but think Ill just get my ar back.

Heres the video. I might get the same scope he used and put on mine.

 
The 6.5 Grendel was a great round before other better rounds came out. Now it's a middling performer. It's awesome out to 750, maybe 800 yards and for certain applications, but with 224 Val it's being replaced as a precision round. but I do love the fact that you can use it with a standard lower receiver and to swap out uppers and for that reason I would like to have an upper.
 
Chuckman said:
The 6.5 Grendel was a great round before other better rounds came out. Now it's a middling performer. It's awesome out to 750, maybe 800 yards and for certain applications, but with 224 Val it's being replaced as a precision round. but I do love the fact that you can use it with a standard lower receiver and to swap out uppers and for that reason I would like to have an upper.
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The main two reasons I went with the 6.5 Grendel. I was able to slap it on a standard lower, and the ammo is able to be found cheaper than a lot of other similarly performing rounds.
 
ChickenHawk said:
The main two reasons I went with the 6.5 Grendel. I was able to slap it on a standard lower, and the ammo is able to be found cheaper than a lot of other similarly performing rounds.
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Yeah, that is the main reason I am not getting a 6.5 Creed AR. I love the caliber, but at this point just trying to get multiple caliber uppers and use the same lower.
 
jmccracken1214 said:
I was tempted to order last night but spoke with the guy on here i sold my last ar grendel to and i think im going to buy it back. Ive been torn between AR and bolt gun but think Ill just get my ar back.

Heres the video. I might get the same scope he used and put on mine.

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That appears to be the same upper that I went with. Definitely gives me a bit more confidence, especially if everything he said about ammo variances was true. I was actually looking at that Magpul bipod as well.
 
Chuckman said:
Yeah, that is the main reason I am not getting a 6.5 Creed AR. I love the caliber, but at this point just trying to get multiple caliber uppers and use the same lower.
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Yes sir. It is convenient that I can just throw it on my 5.56 until I end up building out or buying a dedicated lower for it.
 
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