Basic questions

[bwaites]

Hi guys, I'm definitely new to the 6.5 world, but not shooting in general. My experience deals mostly with M1 type rifles and some AR (I have a 5.45 that I like).

Anyway, it looks like a huge load of info was lost due to IT issues. That's a shame, but I'd love to be part of rebuilding the knowledge base. I may not have the answers, but I bet I have some simple questions

#1: Seems like this would be a great round for hunting. But I have seen concern involving long distance hunting. The term "ethical" is used alot- which I understand. you don't want the game to suffer. But what if the game is for keeps? Would you be more likely to grab a 6.5 or a 308 if TSHTF?

Its easier to answer like this in the context of the question. SHTF scenarios are tough, but the fact that there is a LOT more .308 ammo available would lean me towards that caliber under those circumstances. I have a lot of 6.5 and would probably shelter in place so I would use BOTH! However, I've never considered the Grendel a good SHTF caliber. Those would be .22LR, .223, .308, and 7.62x39 along with 12 gauge for me!

#2: Alexander Arms looks like a great company that makes a fine product. But Model 1 Sales has some VERY competitive pricing. Are they just crap? If you had access to a complete upper from model 1, would you chunk the whole thing? Shoot it with pride? or would you replace 1 or 2 specific parts?

Hmmm....Model 1 uses 7,62x39 bolts, or they did. Those bolts have a habit of being less quality controlled than AA's and tend to break more often. In addition, they don't use a Grendel chamber, instead using a variant. If I was looking for a budget Grendel, I would use J&T distributing. http://jtdistributing.net/store/more_k_ckioc.html

#3: I'm partial to gas pistons having come up in the school of the AK and graduate school with the M1 and M1a. I noticed Adams Arms makes a conversion that people like. There are others as well. Then there's this "carrier tilt" thing. I noticed an article where Alexander built one with a one-piece upper/handguard due to added rigidity. Is that the way to go? Are the standard 2 piece upper/handguard combos sufficient?

Alexander spent a lot of time finding the optimum piston for the Grendel and making it reliable. Most people seem to want all the bells and whistles if they are buying a piston upper, thus the decision to use the monolithic upper. Quite a few people have converted their own using the Adams Arms kit and 2 piece uppers and seem to like them, so I strongly suspect that they will run just fine.

#4: Alexander sells a very affordable upper that seems to be specifically designed for 6.5- even though it's backward compatible to 556. Is that a good product? Is it necessary?

Its a standard mil spec upper marked as a Grendel. I run one with a 5.56 barrel because they came at a good price when uppers were rare elsewhere! Not necessary, but its nice to have a Grendel upper marked as such for your Grendel.

and #5: Apparently the 6.5 was pressure limited by the constraints of the AR-15 design. Has there been any research into some type of stronger AR-15 design that could handle higher pressures from a hotter round?

At the time it was designed, the bolt metallurgy really wasn't as well developed as it is now, with all bolts basically built from the same steel. Bill Alexander has continued to make improvements in the bolt and metal used to improve the system. No one was making stronger bolts at the time, nor was there a different barrel extension available. In the last 5 years all kinds of companies have started building black rifles, some of them using proprietary parts, like the .30 AR from Remington, which uses a bolt that looks like an AR10 bolt head on an AR15 body and a completely different barrel extension. To date, Alexander Arms has chosen to maintain backwards compatibility with its rifles. There is some safety factor built in with the original design that we all appreciate!

Thanks guys. I guess #5 isn't so basic, but hey- 4 outta 5 ain't bad.

J

Hope that helps!