AA Grendel Lightweight

[blofeld42]

Does anyone have experience with the Alexander Arms Grendel Lightweight upper?

http://www.shopalexanderarms.com/Uppers-6.5_Grendel_-_18_Lightweight_Complete_Upper.html

How accurate was it?

I like the idea of a reasonably accurate rifle but I don't want to be lugging around an extra pound or two of steel on the front end, either. Are there any free-ish lunches to be had?

[jurassic]

There's a review of one of his lightweight guns in the Shooting Times Guide to Long Range Accuracy magazine, lots of info about the 6.5 Grendel and Alexander's rifles. A lightweight barrel can shoot very, very well, but it may only do it for 2 or 3 shots before it heats up and starts spreading them. This is totally acceptable for hunting, if you want to punch paper at long ranges a heavier barrel is a better choice. My Model 7 in .308 would put 2, sometimes 3 shots into a 1/2", the forth and fifth would always open the group up to 1.5-2 inches or more. If I missed the first time shooting at a deer, I probably was not going to get a 2nd let alone a third anyway. I like lighter for carry and hunting, for mag dumps I'll find a chrome lined barrel made from machine gun steel.

[stokesrj]

I have one and love it. I haven't seen it open group sizes as it heats up, in fact I've shot several ten shot groups under .5 MOA with it. I was shooting it yesterday at the range and with it's preferred load every group I shot with it was less than .5 MOA and most were .25-.3 MOA. However I will say it can be picky about what loads it likes and some loads are really bad, in the 3-5 MOA range.
A few weeks back I shot it prone from a bipod at 300 yards and five shot groups were around one inch. I think the largest was 1.5".
Bob

[Bill Alexander]

The lightweight guns are not the same as our original ultralight system.

When I rewrote the barrel specs to slim everything down I essentially split the barrels into two groups Our heavy 20" and 24" barrels have 0.906" gas blocks and run 0.925 to the block and 0.775" in front.

The light barrels use a 0.750" gas block and run 0.845" to the block and 0.725 in front.

Everything is set up so it can be fluted with an 8 and 6 0.250" pattern.

The light barrels are quite capable of absorbing higher round counts

[vanguard138]

I just had a friend assemble a 20" fluted with the Mk-10 handguard. Nice rig. I would post a pic, but I need a younster to show me how:-)

[stokesrj]

Thanks Bill, I was answering for the Ultalight, which had a Satern 14.5" fluted barrel with integral flash hider and heavily milled bolt carrier.
Bob

[jurassic]

Thank you for setting my record straight!

The lightweight guns are not the same as our original ultralight system.

When I rewrote the barrel specs to slim everything down I essentially split the barrels into two groups Our heavy 20" and 24" barrels have 0.906" gas blocks and run 0.925 to the block and 0.775" in front.

The light barrels use a 0.750" gas block and run 0.845" to the block and 0.725 in front.

Everything is set up so it can be fluted with an 8 and 6 0.250" pattern.

The light barrels are quite capable of absorbing higher round counts

[Bill Alexander]

The ultralight was a very pretty gun but it was way to specialized. I made them in 16" 18" and 20" versions. They would shoot well but the very light barrel would heat up quickly. They were also hellishly expensive.

The design was the start of my work to lighten up the whole Grendel range and provided a great study. I think we took the reduction of weight too far for most people in these models and proved a point of diminishing returns.

[jurassic]

So what version of your complete rifle will get me something under 7lbs, maybe 6.5?

[Bill Alexander]

16" and 18" light non fluted,16", 18" or 20" light fluted builds will all run under 7lbs sans scope and rings. I think the 20" heavy fluted may also meet this weight limit.

[jurassic]

Thanks! I keep adding up the price for building and buying tools, parts, etc. Easier to buy a complete gun that I know will work great.

[kbarnes12]

Thanks! I keep adding up the price for building and buying tools, parts, etc. Easier to buy a complete gun that I know will work great.

I reached a similar conclusion, so I ordered a Alexander Arms complete Tactical 16" Fluted upper to put on a lower I built.