Hello from VA

[stanprophet]

I have made a couple of posts but it is time to introduce myself. Name here is Dave, I am in South East VA. I have followed the Grendel for some time, and was trying to explain to my father the Ballistics the round was capable of. He is retired USMC and was on the USMC marksmanship team, and use to travel around and shoot long range a bunch. Well he must have listened, last year he pulled the trigger on a Grendel upper. He was so impressed he ordered 2 more, another for him and one for his buddy. I kind of lost hope of a Grendel Build since I was a sole income for my family for the last 6 years.

Well I was surprised when he gave me a complete Grendel Rifle as a Christmas Present! Big present and was completely unexpected. Have to say it brought a tear to my eye. So now the fun begins.

When we shot his at the range we were very impressed, the rifle was an MOA at 100 yards with a cheap scope he was using and some Wolf Gold.

The lower he put together, its an SAA reaper lower with a CMMG LPK, hogue grip. The Upper is an AA 16" M4. He had an A2 Stock on it until I raided the safe. I ended up finding a YHM quad rail and a PRS stock, and threw it on there. But I decided the rifle was a bit heavy with the PRS on it, and for a rifle that will be used for hunting I needed to make some changes.

Picked up a Nikon P-223 4x12-40 scope

So I have the following on order:
Magpul CTR FDE
Magpul Moe Trigger Guard FDE
Magpul Moe + Grip FDE
Butler Creek covers
ADM Recon QD mount
Some XTM Rail covers, and Hand Stop FDE
Some Extra Mags

I was able to find some Privi 120gr HP ammo.

So I will primarily be using this rifle for Deer hunting, but we have had an invasion of Wild Hogs, and Coyote's on the farm lands, so I think I will be using this for some hunting in the future. I was going to get a MOE hand guard to save weight on this rifle, but decided to hold off and spend the extra on a decent mount. I think I may look at the MI K series drop in since it is light and modular.

I was also surprised to find the barrel is made by FN. I excited to get this gun up and running, and I am also looking forward to stretching the legs of this thing. I have a 16" 556 AR with a SS National Match barrel that I am going to put it up against. My 556 drills at 600 with some of my Mk-262 clone loads,so I am excited to see what it can do nonce I find some nice loads to work out.

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[LRRPF52]

Welcome. I felt cheated when I started shooting the Grendel out to 700yds, because I could have had less wind drift than the 7.62 M118 Special Ball we used to shoot from really heavy-barreld M24 Sniper Systems in the Army. I could have had that in a gun that looks just like my M4's did, rather than hump around a Palma-barreled target gun with .900" at the muzzle.

Glad to see that you and your pops are enjoying the Grendel, and looking forward to the hog slaying. Hornady 123gr SST box ammo is great for that.

[cory]

Welcome to the Horde and nice stick!

[stanprophet]

Welcome. I felt cheated when I started shooting the Grendel out to 700yds, because I could have had less wind drift than the 7.62 M118 Special Ball we used to shoot from really heavy-barreld M24 Sniper Systems in the Army. I could have had that in a gun that looks just like my M4's did, rather than hump around a Palma-barreled target gun with .900" at the muzzle.

Glad to see that you and your pops are enjoying the Grendel, and looking forward to the hog slaying. Hornady 123gr SST box ammo is great for that.

''

Its quite funny, when I got out of California and moved here I started building an AR. I wanted a tactical gun since I could not own one out west. I had memories of shooting my dads old Car-15 and loved it as a kid. When the AWB passed in CA they were grandfathered and he sold off most of the AR-15's he had for stupid money. He kept his 20" service rifle and bailed out to VA. 10 years later I decided I was getting out and came here also. He kept trying to get me to build a 20" Hbar, for "Long Range". Well I was not having that, I built a 14.5 inch rifle with a perm attached flash hider. He thought it was a waste and would not be accurate being that short. Not to mention he hated that carbine, he had a lot of problems with feeding and cycling issues, that probably set his opinion in stone for the shorter rifles. Well we went out one day shooting at 100 yards, he was surprised. Open sights shooting 1 inch groups he started to look at some of the shorter barrels a bit different. What really got him was laying down some 1.5 inch 5 shot groups at 200 with that rifle, open sights. It is a real shooter for a short barrel. (It was a good day for me, not typical, but proved what the rifle could do if I did my part.)

Of course a 556 will go 1K, but not the best choice for sure, and stopping power is non exsistant at that range. We looked at AR-10, but we both agreed they were too bulky and heavy, that we had some rifles that could reach out. When I found the Grendel it was really a game changer, for obvious reasons. So I started talking about a large bull barrel build, he looked at the ballistics and told me I was crazy. He was the one that really liked the idea of a small platform, service type rifle, with a short barrel, that had some serious range capability, and could be small and light enough to hunt with.

Although we have not pushed the Grendel yet, but we look forward to it in the future.

[LRRPF52]

Your story is a basic summary of what makes the Grendel/AR15 such a cool combination. I'm the same way, with my little 16" gun that continues to surprise me. It literally is something you can shoot inside the house in tight quarters, then step out and have effective range out to farther than I want to say, but I have literally shot it well at 1200yds here in the high desert where the air is much thinner, and baro pressure is lower.

Even near the coast in VA, you are supersonic out to 1075 yards at 60 F temp, assuming a 2500fps mv with the 123gr .510 BC bullets. You can't find ranges like that to shoot at in VA normally, unless you go to Fort AP Hill or a 1000yd range club.

[WildBill3/75]

Welcome to the forum! Lots of great info here.

[cory]

AP Hill is that what they've done with that place, open to the public? I know they were getting ready to shut it down in '06. That place was the definition of a miserable field op!

[LRRPF52]

AP Hill is that what they've done with that place, open to the public? I know they were getting ready to shut it down in '06. That place was the definition of a miserable field op!

I spent quite a bit of time at AP Hill regularly. We did our Recon Team training, immediate action drills both blank and live for weeks there, Land Nav, EIB, demo ranges, sniper ranges, NBC chamber, illegal infiltration of the SEAL's compound just for kicks....







Sub-surface Hide Site:



The most contributing misery index factor at AP Hill was the insects. The chiggers and tics were so bad, I would almost rather lie in a fire anthill down in Panama. We got eaten alive at AP Hill, and it took months to recover from the insect bites.

[cory]

I was there only once for a little over a month starting the last week in January. None of our damn HUMMVs were working. It accumulated in a day that we ended up humping it 20+ clicks to a squad movement course on the backside and then we were expected to train. Thank God the LAV guys that were training with us that day gave us a ride back.

[stanprophet]

Well got down to my dads house today where my big safe and Grendel is at. I was able to find another identical lower with a mil-spec stock and a standard lower parts kit in it. So I went ahead and swapped them out, I also used some cheap scope mount he had laying around to mount up the Nikon temporarily. I like the collapsible stock on it, and I really like the scope.

The scope is a little big for a 16" rifle but it will work great on this rifle. The rest of the parts will be in on Christmas Eve, I will get everything on, and bore sighted Christmas Day, and then it is off to the range the next day to send some lead down range.


Bad cell phone Pic