New Member!

[Mav714]

Hi gang! I've been reading and studying the Grendel for awhile now and am trying to decide if I should buy a made upper or have my gunsmith build one for me. I have a Rock River 223 / AR right now but have fallen in love with the 6.5.
Barrel length? 18" or would 20 be just a hair better? This will mostly be for hunting some target but not at 1000 yards. Is a bull barrel a must? I've read of a number of brand name barrels but don't want to go with most expensive one I.e. Less Bower etc.
As you can see I'm a little confused how to go. I'm itching big time to buy but don't want to make big mistake.
BTW - I live 30 minutes from Camp Perry and I'm thinking about going up there to see what they have on venders row.
Thanks for any advice. R

[RStewart]

Welcome to the forum.
You have a lot of good questions and those with much more information to answer you will, I'm sure, be along shortly.

I currently own a 16" AA tactical upper and a 20" complete AA Hunter rifle. The 16" is my deer rifle, the other is my Field Precision Rifle.

[BluntForceTrauma]

Hey, Mav, welcome!

John

[RangerRick]

Welcome Mav,

You'll get about 50-60 feet per second more out of the 20 inch, so not much difference. For hunting, a bull barrel isn't necessary and you'll appreciate the lesser weight while hunting, it makes it a little front heavy too. A floating barrel is a big plus, though.

Rick

[RStewart]

Yep. Bull barrels make great competition rifles, but do get a bit heavy lugging one around.

[Whelenon]

Welcome Mav,
I've got a 16" on my rifle built for hunting but given the opportunity I will go to a 18 or 20" light to mid-weight barrel. For hunting the 16 is plenty good but I want the longer barrel to improve the ballistics and hopefully accuracy. This was my first AR so I had a local gunshop put it together. My next AR I'll do myself.