Looking for my first Grendel

[Dr. Lee]

Hello all, newbie from NC here. I have been lurking for a while and it's time to get going on the grendel I have been wanting for a long time.
I do feel the Grendel is a great round; always had a thing for 6.5's.
I presently have a nice 16" middy 5.56 with a 9" troy FF handguard and Aimpoint M3. Basic carbine stock. My version of a KISS carbine. My goal is to hunt with this platform with a 6.5 upper with scope. I love the way the 16" gun handles. Not sure I would like the 18" barrel but I guess I have the usual concerns about velocity drop with the 16" barrel. I am not expecting the shoot this in a hunting situation at longer ranges, I realize the limitations of the gear. So, at say 0-300 or 400 yds max. would I be good to go with 16" barrels ? Another question ? Do the bullets in the 120 gr. range perform ok at 16" barrel velocities ? I figured 120 gr would be a good range to try. Opinions of bullets that work well in 16" barrels welcome.
I have noticed on the AA website an upper called the Incursion. a 16" 1:7.5 barrel with a rifle length FF handguard. I like that configuration. What are the feelings about the 1:7.5 twist for shorter barrels ? Is it necessary ? Does it do what it is supposed to do ? Does anyone have any experience with this upper ? I like the price too.
Thanks in advance,
Dr. Lee

[usar_ds]

hey, you sound like your in the boat i was in about 6 years ago. i ended up getting a AA 16" 1-7.5 upper (later got a separate lower for it), and i have never regretted it.

i assume you mean by hunt you mean deer, if so 16" has been great for me for that capacity, 120 grain will do the trick provided you select the right bullet and a 16" 1-7.5 handles that gr. weight just fine

AA makes a great upper, cant go wrong there, although i dont own the "incursion" i got the "tactical" which was chrome lined, although had the incursion been out when i got mine i prolly would have preferred that configuration.

I say go for it, you wont be sorry

[VASCAR2]

I have a 16" J&T Distributing a sister company to Double Star Corp. and I think the 16" is a great length for a hunting rifle. My 16" gets about 2450 FPS out of 123 grain A-Max and SST at 350 ft ASL so you should be above 1800 FPS at 300+ yards.

The 6.5 Grendel starts out a little slower than the 5.56 but sheds velocity slower because of the higher ballistic coefficient. Bill Alexander uses a faster twist in shorter barrels after conducting a lot of research. I'm sure an AA upper will shoot anything from 85 grains to 130 grains in .264/6.5 bullets you might be tempted to try. The 123 SST has been successful in hunting as well as the 100 & 120 grain Barnes TTSX. A friend of mine took an Antelope in Wy at 380 yards with a Nosler 120 grain Ballistic tip.

[Dr. Lee]

Thanks for all the replies. And yes, deer sized animals were what I was thinking of.
Questions keep coming up in my mind, for knowledge sake, I think I read somewhere that the Grendel BCG was proprietary and the upper receiver is not a standard AR upper, but one that fits the BCG. Is this true ?

[usar_ds]

Thanks for all the replies. And yes, deer sized animals were what I was thinking of.
Questions keep coming up in my mind, for knowledge sake, I think I read somewhere that the Grendel BCG was proprietary and the upper receiver is not a standard AR upper, but one that fits the BCG. Is this true ?

no that is not true, reg upper receiver, although not all grendel bolts or chambers are created equal, so do some research there.

again you cant go wrong with Alexander arms,
guys also seem to speak very highly of precision firearms,
JP enterprises has also got a great rep,
some people talk smack about doublestar/ JT dist. but the guys that have them seem to like them, actually thinking of getting a non-lined 20" grendel upper from them for the wife(price is great)

[Wheelhorse]

Thanks for all the replies. And yes, deer sized animals were what I was thinking of.
Questions keep coming up in my mind, for knowledge sake, I think I read somewhere that the Grendel BCG was proprietary and the upper receiver is not a standard AR upper, but one that fits the BCG. Is this true ?

The Grendel uses a standard AR-15 upper.
Only the bolt itself is different, the carrier is a standard AR-15 part.
As far as I know, most barrels come with the correct bolt headspaced to that barrel.

[Dr. Lee]

thanks again.

[LRRPF52]

Welcome aboard. A 10.5" is plenty for hunting deer out to 250yds, and has been done regularly. A 16" with factory ammo will give you a lot of reach with 123gr, more than you'll probably see in NC. My first Grendel is 16", and has really exceeded my expectations of being a 700yd target carbine, to being able to reach out to 1200yds with predictable impact (on target) repeatedly, which was a lot of fun. That barrel has the 1/7.5" twist.

I like 18" barrels as well for a light DM type set-up. I would get the barrel that fits and balances to you the best, so that the carbine naturally points well for you, but 16" is more than adequate. Hand loads with the 123gr SST are easy to get to 2550fps for me, but I have a favorite load at 2500fps with CFE and 123gr Hornady pills.

You can also go with Barnes 100gr TTSX for fast speeds if you want that, but the Hornady pills will cover most of what you're looking to do at a great price point for quality factory ammo, and it's accurate.

Pick up our reloading Handbooks and you'll see a lot of info on the actual hunting reach of this cartridge, where we tested various hunting pills across the velocity spectrum to show expansion, penetration, and retained weight.

[tackdriver]

The Double star/JT distributing upper I had was very good for the money, wish I would have kept it. My upper shot sub moa at 400 yds easy. This is a great round, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

[cory]

For within 300 yards a 11.5" or 12.5" would be more than adequate.

Hey we just happen to have a group buy going on for barrels of that length. HAHA But seriously if your intent for the upper is to hunt whitetail within 300 yards, maybe a 400 yard shot, my advice is go with a 12.5" Grendel.

[montana]

My family and I hunt with 16" and 18" Grendels and use the Barnes bullets with complete satisfaction. The 11.5 and 12.5 barrels would be a very light compact rifle to hunt with and I have been trying to avoid jumping on cory's group buy to save my marriage but it isn't easy. A short suppressed Grendel upper would be the cats meow for my class 3 lower. Uggg, "anyway back to topic" you will be happy with any length barrel using the Grendel caliber ,it just depends on the type of rifle you wish to hunt with.

[Dave Bob]

My family and I hunt with 16" and 18" Grendels and use the Barnes bullets with complete satisfaction. The 11.5 and 12.5 barrels would be a very light compact rifle to hunt with and I have been trying to avoid jumping on cory's group buy to save my marriage but it isn't easy. A short suppressed Grendel upper would be the cats meow for my class 3 lower. Uggg, "anyway back to topic" you will be happy with any length barrel using the Grendel caliber ,it just depends on the type of rifle you wish to hunt with.

Come on you know you want one......"subliminal You neeeeed one of these...." LOL

Dave

[Variable]

Montana: Yeah, no kidding! You have an already registered lower and you don't even have a Grendel SBR?????

Are you crazy?LOL Jump in man, the water is more than just "fine"! It's fricking awesome!

Hello all, newbie from NC here. I have been lurking for a while and it's time to get going on the grendel I have been wanting for a long time.
I do feel the Grendel is a great round; always had a thing for 6.5's.
I presently have a nice 16" middy 5.56 with a 9" troy FF handguard and Aimpoint M3. Basic carbine stock. My version of a KISS carbine. My goal is to hunt with this platform with a 6.5 upper with scope. I love the way the 16" gun handles. Not sure I would like the 18" barrel but I guess I have the usual concerns about velocity drop with the 16" barrel. I am not expecting the shoot this in a hunting situation at longer ranges, I realize the limitations of the gear. So, at say 0-300 or 400 yds max. would I be good to go with 16" barrels ? Another question ? Do the bullets in the 120 gr. range perform ok at 16" barrel velocities ? I figured 120 gr would be a good range to try. Opinions of bullets that work well in 16" barrels welcome.
I have noticed on the AA website an upper called the Incursion. a 16" 1:7.5 barrel with a rifle length FF handguard. I like that configuration. What are the feelings about the 1:7.5 twist for shorter barrels ? Is it necessary ? Does it do what it is supposed to do ? Does anyone have any experience with this upper ? I like the price too.
Thanks in advance,
Dr. Lee

I kill deer quite dead with a 10.5" upper, you'd be well more than "good to go" with a 16" barrel. It'll handle 400 yards very easily. As for 120gr. class bullets? Yep. I use and love Nosler 120BT bullets, as they are very accurate, and are perfectly suited to the Grendel's velocities. They work great on deer. For factory ammo you can kill deer all day long with Hornady's 123gr. Amax and SST loads. I use those when I'm too lazy to load, and they are very accurate for a factory loading, and also perform well on deer in my experience.

I have two barrels with 1-7.5" twist (a 10.5" and a 14.5") and they work just fine with a wide range of bullet weights. I can't speak to the particular upper you are looking at, but AA makes good stuff. I should perform well.

[montana]

The wife didn't agree !

[cory]

The wife didn't agree !

What's one more upper in the grand scheme of things, man?

I bet your wife would love an 11.5" Grendel Upper for valentine's day.