PSA 18" Rifle-Length 6.5 Grendel 1:8 Stainless Steel 15" Lightweight Opinion?

[WSAR15]

Has anyone tried the PSA 18" Rifle-Length 6.5 Grendel 1:8 Stainless Steel 15" Lightweight M-Lok Upper? They are well proces at $319
How do their barrels shoot?
Would you recommend them?
Any body elese to recommend?
Thanks

[Big Dog]

[WSAR15]

Thanks Big Dog. I am also interested in 20" - is it much better than 18"

[Sixoeight]

Thanks Big Dog. I am also interested in 20" - is it much better than 18"

There is very little difference between 18 and 20 inch barrels. Unless you are trying to squeeze 50 extra yards out of the rifle before it goes trans sonic you will never notice the difference. These are not exact numbers but it's a difference in velocity of something like 1-5%

[MaineAR]

My buddy got the 18” and we zeroed it over th Thanksgiving week. The rifle length gas system makes recoils very minimal and the gas block didn’t need adjustment. With factory SST ammo it produced one ragged triangle hole writ the last 3 shot group. That’s after firing approx 30 rounds with no cleaning, mainly Wolf. And a standard GI trigger. In my opinion, that setup is G2G.

I would get one if they had a nitride Barrel option. I don’t want stainless is my neck of th woods with our humidity.

[TraderRik]

[ I would get one if they had a nitride Barrel option. I don’t want stainless is my neck of th woods with our humidity.]

Interesting. I haven't heard that stainless and humidity don't mix well; what's the reason please?

[MaineAR]

In my experience, stainless steel isn’t “stainless”. But I do have a basement where my firearms are kept and my gun cabinet doesn’t have a dehumidifier. I have one for the basement and I circulate the air as best I can but that only works so well. So if I can get my barrels nitride finished, it’s an extra layer of protection for me. I suppose I could aluma-hyde the exterior of the barrel and spray some sort of lube/oil in the barrel to keep corrosion/rust at bay.

[Sturmgewehr]

The various SS alloys have varying degrees of rust resistance.
316 is very rust resistant. 304 is cheaper but will spot and rust slowly in a normal outdoor environment.
409 used in factory automotive exhaust will rust a lot quicker but still make the required longevity for warranty. And is cheaper than 304.
I haven't looked at 410 to 416 since it's not used in my industry or other hobbies.

I grew up in the desert so my rust prevention habits are very poor since it was almost a none problem in my youth.
I've had no issues with my 3 yr old SS 92FS with very little maintenance that's "indoors" most of the time but not sealed up or anything.

[tag2501]

i bought one, but took a while to get it to the range. Then had to compete with a couple of other new builds for attention.
The upper is really nicely finished and pretty light. looks very good. fit with an AeroPrecision lower is good.
at the range, the recoil was modest, accuracy wise its a bit early to really judge, but at 100 yards it was around 1 to 1.5 inches with Hornady 123 Black

[bj139]

The "stainless" name is correct. It is not named "stainfree".

[SpinyNorman]

But in German it is "rostfrei" My new PSA 18" upper is well put together also, but am waiting on ammo to break in the barrel.

[1Shot]

Hang you a old fashioned light bulb in your gun cabinet and leave it on all the time. This really helps with moisture problem.

[Klem]

In my experience, stainless steel isn’t “stainless”. But I do have a basement where my firearms are kept and my gun cabinet doesn’t have a dehumidifier. I have one for the basement and I circulate the air as best I can but that only works so well. So if I can get my barrels nitride finished, it’s an extra layer of protection for me. I suppose I could aluma-hyde the exterior of the barrel and spray some sort of lube/oil in the barrel to keep corrosion/rust at bay.

There are a number of current-tech solutions for that.

Anti-corrosion impregnated material that protects within a certain distance.

• Vapor tabs
• Plastic gun bags
• Tube strips in your barrel.

Zerust/Excor makes this stuff for guns and other industry applications. They call the technology 'VCI' (Vapor Corrosion Inhibitor). Basically it gives off nano particles which coats the metal and prevents surface corrosion. All their products are a yellow in colour. They also make those yellow plastic tabs you find in die boxes. You can buy the same tabs in bulk from Brownells. I live near the beach with plenty of salt water in the air and a couple of vapour tabs in the safe work fine - no corrosion on any stainless barrels. Spare barrels get wrapped in impregnated plastic sleeves for longer term storage.

There's also a product called Montmorrilonite clay dessicant that works in conjunction with copper. Draws corrosive vapour away form the gun and neutralises it. Intercept Technology are moving into the firearms industry with this. I think they also work with a company called PreservAll.

Just buy a couple of Zerust VC2-2 vapour capsules from Amazon. Stick them on the inside wall of your safe and forget about it for a couple of years.

[MaineAR]

These are great ideas/solutions that I was unaware of. So, perhaps the PSA 18” upper is in my future after all. Not to hijack the thread but thanks for the tips everyone!

[LOTO]

I'm a 6.5 Grendel wanna-be and have been watching PSA closely for the 20" uppers to go on sale but I'm re-thinking to possibly an 18" upper