My custom built Grendel

[in.dmand]

Hey guys! Just found this forum and this is awesome! Thought I would post a few pics of the one I recently just got done building. I did everything from the ground up myself.

Here's the specs:
- Sabre Defense 20" bbl
- Daniel Defense upper
- Daniel Defense Omega 9 quad rail
- Harris S-series 9-13" bipod
- Adams Arms piston conversion
- Lewis Machine and Tool bolt
- Badger Ordinance extended charging handle

The lower crosses and is a dual purpose as I use it on my AR as well. That is why I didn't go with the Magpul PRS and went with the UBR instead. When's the last time you saw a AR with a PRS on it

Lower rec. specs:
- Aero Precision mil-spec lower
- factory trigger group
- Magpul UBR stock
- Hogue grip (ghillie tan)

I'm running the Bushnell Elite 4200 Illuminated Mil-dot, 6-24x50mm scope my grendel with TSA aluminum scope rings.

The paint job is a mix between desert tan duracoat, and the dark earth/OD is the air dry cerakote (which is what i used on the barrel since its rated to 1700 degrees.)

I also am going to be custom loading all my rounds, just getting set up with this on the Dillon press. Loving every minute of it too!!





what do you guys think?

[bwaites]

Nicely done!!!

[ss355]

TSA scope rings? Who makes those? I want to shed some weight and swap out some steel rings for aluminum.

[glane5910]

I have 2 AR's with the PRS on them..lol and one UBR....Nice job on that rifle BTW..

[Whelenon]

Very nice!!! Have you shot it yet? About the coatings, any recommendations working with them, do's and dont's? Is one better than the other?

[in.dmand]

lol, sorry about that glane, didn't mean insult you, but normally you don't see that on a tacked out AR since those are more for long range. =)

whelenon - yeah shot it and it works great! i'm just working through getting my reloader to load the rounds correctly (made a post in that section recently about the shoulders flaring out and not going all the way into the chamber - round's fault, not the gun's). here, check this out. I made that post on snipers hide with some helpful hints on painting it etc. Cerakote air dry is definetly the way to go and I say this for several reasons. 1. you can paint your optics since you don't have to oven bake it. 2. it is rated at 1700 degrees so you can paint your barrel and not worry about it coming off or changing colors on you. 3. you don't have to worry about having an oven big enough with consistant enough temps to bake everything. it is just overall much easier to use and better in several ways, although i have heard the oven bake cerakote is more durable - don't know if there is any truth to this or not. anyway, hope this helps!

[LRRPF52]

in.dmand

I've only been doing the oven-bake Cerakote, and it is extremely durable. If you want to remove it for some reason, like a smudge...well...it takes some pretty aggressive steel filing or metal wire brush, and the wire brush seems to just polish it mostly. It is the most durable finish I have seen yet. I've tried to gouge a freshly-done upper with a brass screw, and it didn't even mark the upper, other than some brass rubbing off a little, then wiped away. I really pushed down on it because I was coating it again with another color anyway, so I bore down on with a lot of force.

Do you know if you can you bake on the spray finish? After seeing how well it does, I have decided to Cerakote all my exterior parts. Scott at Vortex told me I could bake my Viper PST at 200F with Cerakote, and the scope would be fine, but I haven't tried it yet. Maybe the spray-on would be best for that application.

It also does not change colors on barrels when heated up during high volume sessions, like PTFE-based paints. Cerakote is really the way to go for durable firearms finish.

LRRPF52

[glane5910]

You didn't offend me In.demand...lol.. one is on a varmint heavy barrel 243 WSSM and the other is on one of my Grendels
I haven't weighed the two stocks to see what the actual weight difference is. I've only been using the heat cure Cerakote but might try the air cure. How long do the say it takes the air cure to fully harden up? I just use my kitchen oven to bake the heat cure. No odor that I can detect.

[Whelenon]

I'm going to do a camo job on my 65G. This is what I needed to know. Thanks

[in.dmand]

TSA scope rings? Who makes those? I want to shed some weight and swap out some steel rings for aluminum.

ss355: sorry it took me so long to reply, been real busy! I had the initials all wrong, it is actually the EGW x-high aluminum scope rings. gunsmith recommended them said he NEVER has to lap them... they're right on from the factory. hope this helps! might wanna look at a carbon fiber rail too... they are LIGHT

[in.dmand]

in.dmand

I've only been doing the oven-bake Cerakote, and it is extremely durable. If you want to remove it for some reason, like a smudge...well...it takes some pretty aggressive steel filing or metal wire brush, and the wire brush seems to just polish it mostly. It is the most durable finish I have seen yet. I've tried to gouge a freshly-done upper with a brass screw, and it didn't even mark the upper, other than some brass rubbing off a little, then wiped away. I really pushed down on it because I was coating it again with another color anyway, so I bore down on with a lot of force.

Do you know if you can you bake on the spray finish? After seeing how well it does, I have decided to Cerakote all my exterior parts. Scott at Vortex told me I could bake my Viper PST at 200F with Cerakote, and the scope would be fine, but I haven't tried it yet. Maybe the spray-on would be best for that application.

It also does not change colors on barrels when heated up during high volume sessions, like PTFE-based paints. Cerakote is really the way to go for durable firearms finish.

LRRPF52

thanks LRR for the great info. yeah, if i could have afforded it and had the resources i woulda went with the oven bake cerakote on everything but the scope, but that would have doubled or tripled my price since i would have had to get so many more 4oz containers of cerakote. =) but that is absolutely incredible about it not marking with the screw. wow! i know you can bake most polymer parts at 175/200 without an issue. when i called magpul about it (when i was looking into it) they said the UBR stock would be fine to bake but they weren't sure about the pmags. said to try one and see lol.

[in.dmand]

You didn't offend me In.demand...lol.. one is on a varmint heavy barrel 243 WSSM and the other is on one of my Grendels
I haven't weighed the two stocks to see what the actual weight difference is. I've only been using the heat cure Cerakote but might try the air cure. How long do the say it takes the air cure to fully harden up? I just use my kitchen oven to bake the heat cure. No odor that I can detect.

well that's differrent! yeah, they're not actual 5.56 AR's =) those are long range AR builds. see, i use my lower for both my tactical AR at work (in law enforcement) and my grendel. cerakote says for the air cure that it takes 5 days... but from what i was reading on the net, they say if you can let it set for longer then it will be better (2-3 weeks) to fully cure. so do you have to hang your parts when you bake them? b/c when i was reading on it, it looked like the coating was still supposed to be wet when you put it in the oven, and if so and you lay it on something, don't you mess up your finish?

[glane5910]

well that's differrent! yeah, they're not actual 5.56 AR's =) those are long range AR builds. see, i use my lower for both my tactical AR at work (in law enforcement) and my grendel. cerakote says for the air cure that it takes 5 days... but from what i was reading on the net, they say if you can let it set for longer then it will be better (2-3 weeks) to fully cure. so do you have to hang your parts when you bake them? b/c when i was reading on it, it looked like the coating was still supposed to be wet when you put it in the oven, and if so and you lay it on something, don't you mess up your finish?

The parts need to be hung up in the oven to allow even heat on all sides. The parts don't have to be still wet. I let mine dry some 1st while I clean up my airbrush etc.

[in.dmand]

Ok thanks... So do you just lay the parts on wax paper or just a cookie sheet?

I haven't gotten to shoot this a lot yet, as I just now got the round issue worked out and can now reload my own rounds, but when I shot a few weeks ago, I shot a .5" group at a hundred yards with the hornady 123 gr amax. And even that was probably my fault and not the gun's. That was with factory ammo and stock trigger too. I'll post pics at some point of targets. I am fortunate enough to where I have room to make up to 800 yard shots. :-)

[glane5910]

I hang the parts with stainless wire in my oven to bake. You don't want to lay your parts on anything. They need to be suspended in the oven so the hot air is even around the parts, otherwise you'll get hot spots and uneven finishes. Put the wire in/on the parts before you spray. Degrease parts with dish soap and water rinse or simple green. and rinse. I then give one last rinse with acetone prior to spraying the finish on.