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Need some help from the experts. All of the parts for my first 6.5 Grendel upper setup came in and everything went together very smoothly. Functional checked good. Rounds go into battery and eject easily by hand. Runs flawlessly and groups pretty good with factory Wolf 100grain FMJ. Problems started when I went to try Hornady 123grain SST, A-MAX and ELD. Each type of Hornady goes into battery fine but nearly impossible to eject by hand.
Parts list as follows. Thanks in advance...
Anderson Upper Receiver and Lower Receiver with Anderson Upper Receiver Parts Kit
Alexander 16" Stainless Steel Lightweight Fluted Barrel and Hard Use Bolt
Odin Works Tunable Low Profile Gas Block
Melonite Mid Length Gas Tube
WMD NIB-X M15 Full Auto Bolt Carrier Group
BCM Gunfighter Charging Handle
Ultra Lightweight M-LOK Free Floating Handguard
Alexander Magazines
Factory Wolf 100grain Military Classic FMJ
Factory Hornady 123grain SST, A-MAX and ELD
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Take the upper off, drop a bullet into the chamber, point the barrel up and see if the bullet falls free. Also check for any marks on the bullet.
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Contact AA. They will take care of you.
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Check for excessively dirty chamber from wolf.
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The coating on the steel cases melt and leave a goo inside the chamber. Try first cleaning it well with a bronze wire brush and any of the magic solvents (Hopes9, CLP, and acetone) yes, acetone to get rid of the melted goo. Try also Goo-Gone.
Once clean, test again with the Hornady brass cases. If still a problem, then a call to Alexander Arms for sure.
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Steamburn Wrote:The coating on the steel cases melt and leave a goo inside the chamber. Try first cleaning it well with a bronze wire brush and any of the magic solvents (Hopes9, CLP, and acetone) yes, acetone to get rid of the melted goo. Try also Goo-Gone.
Once clean, test again with the Hornady brass cases. If still a problem, then a call to Alexander Arms for sure.
No.. it doesn't...
Might be dirty from the Wolf stuff blowing by with the steel case but the laquer doesn't "melt".
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Thanks for all of the replies and here is what I have tried so far. I cleaned the barrel after each of the first five rounds, then every five, then every ten and again before trying the Hornady ammo. Tried taking the upper off and dropping the Wolfs into the chamber by hand and turning barrel up and they drop out. Tried dropping each of the Hornady rounds into the chamber by hand and turning it upside down and the rounds will not come out even by bumping it. Run the cleaning rod into the barrel and lightly tap them and they come out. Tried marking the bullets and there appears to be a ring less than 1/8" from the casing on the bullet like it is engaging the lands.
I'll try to contact Alexander Arms. Wondering if this is a fluke or if anyone else is having this issue? Was it not machined correctly or what... Thanks in advance...
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DJudge Wrote:I'll try to contact Alexander Arms. Wondering if this is a fluke or if anyone else is having this issue? Was it not machined correctly or what... Thanks in advance...
There have been a couple of recent threads with similar issues. Check out the one Lastrites tagged on post #3.
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Dang. Another one. I also have a 16" AA fluted that I got in February. I've only shot handloads but I had the same issue when I loaded the first ELDs to 2.260" COAL. Chambered ok but difficult to extract. I've since taken measurements and ELDs are touching the lands at 2.245" and SSTs at 2.230" COAL. I've been loading under these COALs without issues and I'm enjoying developing some loads. Have some around 0.70" at 100 yds. Can't decide if I should continue or should I call AA? Hate to send it back and wait.........
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Same here. I've already ordered and waited gathering parts to build this thinking it should be pretty straight forward. After all the 6.5 Grendel is not a wildcat and has been around for quite sometime quality control should be in place to catch any problem before it is shipped to the customer...
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DJudge I am in the same boat as I've ordered an AA 18" several weeks ago and likely have several weeks till it arrives. If there is an issue happening I would hope that they would be proactive on checking runs of barrels coming in the shop as of late prior to shipment. All the while this may just be an occasional issue with just a few and as most know when a problem turns up, that problem is thrown up front first on the internet instead of immediately contacting the supplier/manufacturer.
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85_Ranger4x4 Wrote:No.. it doesn't...
Might be dirty from the Wolf stuff blowing by with the steel case but the laquer doesn't "melt".
I agree I think it is just dirty from blow by from my experience and a lot of reading. The steel apparently doesn't expand and seal bore as well so there is blow back. Or it's just inherently dirty. Either way I like <$5/20 so I will just shoot it and clean.
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Prices are coming down on reload components. Just bought 100 ea 123 gr SST bullets for $24. Granted I have powder, primers and reload cases but, reason for shooting steel case in going away. I still may buy 500 Wolf ammo just in case the Zombies come.
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Definitely get some steel case for blasting as a reminder shooting sometimes just needs to be FUN!
:: 6.5 GRENDEL Deer and Targets :: 6mmARC Targets and Varmints and Deer :: 22 ARC Varmints and Targets
:: I Drank the Water :: Revelation 21:6 ::
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06-06-2017, 10:56 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-06-2017, 11:01 PM by sneaky one.)
Tex- I have chamber specs same as yours-- it's a normal , or close to AA spec chamber. Never had a problem.
I bought some sst 123 on the original Group buy thru Bob Stokes. Din't like the specs, so I sold them. I prefer the 129 as the sst heavy. Those can be loaded to 2.260 easily.
Clean your chambers guys! and the throat- leade area. Don't oil it! Or the barrel !
The rest of Barrel cleaning here is -once in a while.
Some of you guys may have a short chamber, do you have calipers?
Get a setup to measure your contact to rifling- so each bullet can be safely loaded. No Kabbooomz!
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Update - Barrel and Bolt were returned to Alexander Arms and they stated it passed the Go/No-Go test so nothing done and returned it to me. Upon receiving it I built upper and it went together flawlessly and looks great. Function test with Wolf 100gr Steel Case ammo was good to go but Hornady 123gr stuck and required much force to open action. Another call to Alexander resulted in them stating that barrel hadn't had finish ream performed prior to shipping. Barrel swapped out and passed functional testing with all types of ammo being used. Testing at range has been going very well and I am very impressed with the 6.5 Grendel's performance up to 300 yards (longest range available but looking for longer one). Gathering reloading data and supplies so that I can begin reloading my own to see if performance can be improved at all.
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So your saying they swapped out the barrel and the replacement is having factory rounds sticking? My comprehension screws may be cross threaded.
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Lastrites Wrote:So your saying they swapped out the barrel and the replacement is having factory rounds sticking? My comprehension screws may be cross threaded.
No. Any and all Hornady factory ammo stuck in the chamber of the original barrel (dropping them in under gravity or by closing the action) but Wolf factory ammo didn't stick (dropping them in under gravity or by closing the action). Sent back to factory and they checked with Go / No-Go and said there were no issue and returned it to me. I found it to have the same problem as before called them back and then they said some barrels didn't have finish hone performed. At this time I had them send me a replacement. Zero problems were noticed performing same test prior to and after building upper as well as after several trips to the range. It functions flawlessly with any factory ammo that I have used. Credit Alexander Arms for working with me to resolve issue.
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06-29-2017, 09:24 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-29-2017, 09:27 PM by Lastrites.)
Ahh ha, good for you and them with the resolve. Sounds like you have a nice build that should serve you well!
