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+--- Thread: PSA 18" Grendel unboxing (/showthread.php?tid=19234)
PSA 18" Grendel unboxing - ike838 - 07-07-2019
Just a quick review of my new 18" PSA Grendel upper. Ordered it last Sunday and it was delivered on Friday so they get points for pretty quick shipping. It , the scope and mount were well packed. One gouge that was almost through the outer box made me appreciate the fact that it was double boxed with decent egg crate foam in the inner box. Appearance wise the anodizing on the upper receiver and the free float handguard matched well. Also matched and locked up tight on the PSA I have from a previous build.
Cleaning and closer inspection picked up a couple of minor problems. First off it was as dry as an old bone. No biggie. Looking at the gas block I noticed the adjustment screw access was blocked by the handguard. Also noticed that the end of the gas tube was slightly aft of the middle of the cam pin cut out. That made me wonder about the gas block location.
Removing the handguard was easier than it should have been. No sign of any locktite on anything. Another member had mentioned that he had a problem removing the smaller allen screws from his upper so I removed the two smaller screws first and then the three larger ones. All backed out too easily for my taste. The second of the smaller screws gave a tiny ping when it broke free but wasn't much past finger tight really. With the handguard off it was apparent that gas block was jammed hard against the shoulder of the journal.
Removing the gas block set screws was once again a bit easier than it should have been. Measured and marked gas port location . Backed off the adjustment screw all the way and verified gas block location by blowing through muzzle with breech plugged. Seemed to have minimal resistance so i called it good. After the adjustment screw was started I found 8 1/2 turns from fully closed to wide open. Just playing with the adjustment screw I didn't find much difference in air flow between backing it out to six to eight turns. Four turns out from fully closed seems about right so that is what it is set at for now.
Cleaned and lubed everything and reassembled. Noticed that bolt and carrier would not lock up unless charging handle was pulled fully aft and let go. Fully cycled it by hand thirty or forty times and it seems to seat much easier now.
Haven't mounted the Strike Eagle yet but just playing with it the eyebox is pretty small once you get past 6x. I'm hoping that a decent cheek weld will help that after it is mounted. Vortex mount seems kind of heavy for what it is. Think I will use my Larue Lt204 instead.
Still waiting for a couple of cases Barnhaul from lg-outdoors. It was supposed to be delivered on Friday but hasn't shown up yet. Range report to follow in a week or so.
All in all for $499 shipped with optic and mount I'm pleased so far.
PSA 18" Grendel unboxing - MaineAR - 07-09-2019
Photos please! Can’t wait to see how it shoots for you.
PSA 18" Grendel unboxing - FLshooter - 07-09-2019
I’ve bought a couple psa complete lowers.Work well.
Have a 1-6 x 24 strike eagle on my Colt 6920.I love it.
Anyway,good luck.
PSA 18" Grendel unboxing - VASCAR2 - 07-09-2019
ike838 which barrel did you get, stainless steel or Nitride? Vortex has a couple of different 30 mm mounts and I have the CM-202 mount for my 1-6 SE which seems to be a good mount but not a quick disconnect.
I’ll be interested in your range report. A couple of people have reported the gas ports tended to be to small on the PSA rifle length gas 18” 6.5 Grendel barrels. Hopefully PSA has addressed this issue.
PSA 18" Grendel unboxing - CJW - 07-09-2019
A lot of people trash PSA, I have dealt with them for years and have always been very pleased with their uppers.
Their customer service is spot on.
Chuck
PSA 18" Grendel unboxing - ike838 - 07-09-2019
VASCAR2 Wrote:ike838 which barrel did you get, stainless steel or Nitride? Vortex has a couple of different 30 mm mounts and I have the CM-202 mount for my 1-6 SE which seems to be a good mount but not a quick disconnect.
I’ll be interested in your range report. A couple of people have reported the gas ports tended to be to small on the PSA rifle length gas 18” 6.5 Grendel barrels. Hopefully PSA has addressed this issue.
Range report will have to wait for a couple days, hopefully I will have one for the horde after this upcoming weekend. I did not measure the gas port when I was going over it. I'm hoping that it's gtg but will know for sure after a bit of range time. My rather unscientific approach of double checking the gas block location by blowing through the barrel didn't show any obvious faults.
Vascar - It is PSA's 18" SS A2 barrel and I believe that the Vortex mount is the Cm-202 with a 2" offset. More to follow.
PSA 18" Grendel unboxing - VASCAR2 - 07-09-2019
The accuracy reports I’ve seen on the PSA 6.5 Grendel have been good and I like my Nitride 12” 6.5 Grendel. The accuracy of my 12” pistol is good with my hand loads and factory Hornady ELD-M. Wolf steel 100 grain bimetal FMJ is producing inconsistent accuracy which is comparable to what I get out of my other AR-15’s in 6.5 Grendel. Wolf is good enough for banging steel targets and CQB drills but not great for shooting small groups on paper targets.
PSA 18" Grendel unboxing - ike838 - 07-10-2019
I just picked up 1000 rounds of barnaul for a bit over $300 for plinking and breaking in the barrel. I was under the impression that this run was going to be copper clad and the right diameter. I can confirm that it's magnetic so I'm a bit bummed about that. Can't comment on the diameter until I have something that is a know quantity to compare it to with my cheapo calipers.
Open to suggestions to what else I should try in this 18' 1-8 barrel. Looking around all I'm seeing is various flavours of Hornady. I'll pick up a few boxes of the ELD-M to have another baseline. Thanks for the input.
PSA 18" Grendel unboxing - VASCAR2 - 07-10-2019
My Nitride PSA 12” 6.5 Grendel shot the best groups with Hornady Black 123 grain ELD-M. The Wolf steel case I have left was all purchased out of the first lots imported and sold through Alexander Arms. I hope the new Barnaul 6.5 Grendel ammo produces better accuracy. Every barrel is unique and some barrels shoot the bimetal copper clad bullets better than other barrels. You really never know till you try.
For shooting steel silhouettes 2-4 MOA can still get it done to at least 300 yards. All my 6.5 Grendel AR-15’s have been reliable with Wolf steel cased ammo.
Still curious to see how your PSA performs.
PSA 18" Grendel unboxing - MaineAR - 07-10-2019
FWIW my buddy picked up the 18” SS upper in November and we took it to the range and it was shooting a ragged hole 3-shot group at 100 yds with factory SST ammo. Wolf was quite accurate as well from this barrel. Hopefully you have similar results.
PSA 18" Grendel unboxing - ike838 - 07-11-2019
That sounds encouraging. Hope to get to the range this Sunday. Ordered a couple C products 10 round and a couple of ACS 15's. Still waiting on magazines to show up. Will any of my .556 mags work for testing purposes ? Have a few different types of Pmags and a couple of Tango Downs.
PSA 18" Grendel unboxing - A5BLASTER - 07-11-2019
ike838 Wrote:That sounds encouraging. Hope to get to the range this Sunday. Ordered a couple C products 10 round and a couple of ACS 15's. Still waiting on magazines to show up. Will any of my .556 mags work for testing purposes ? Have a few different types of Pmags and a couple of Tango Downs.
Some may work with 5 rounds are less of grendel.
PSA 18" Grendel unboxing - ike838 - 07-11-2019
Thanks, good to know.
PSA 18" Grendel unboxing - ike838 - 07-11-2019
Just ordered a box of Federal 90 gr TNT's and a couple of boxes of the Federal 130 gr Berger to add to the mix. Was placing an order for Aussie Outback .308 168 gr Sierra Matchking and noticed that the flat rate shipping of $13 made some room in my cart. lol
If you are looking for loaded .308 Gameking or Matchking ammo Global Ordnance is blowing it out for $13.50 and $12.50 a box. My last order for 800 rounds of the Gamekings came to $552.75 delivered. HTH