04-06-2012, 03:07 AM
The intrigue of 6.5 mm bullets has captured my fancy in the last few years and I had to try the 6.5 Grendel on the AR platform. So I just got a 6.5 Grendel Upper for my AR's and it arrived today. It is a SAOD upper with 20" Lothar Walther barrel. I was concerned that it's a "Grendel variant", but all worked out well.
I have two AR's, but my Colt H-Bar has smaller pins and it's more of a hassle to change out uppers, so I put the new upper on the DPMS Sportical today and had a very fun day.
The winds were quite strong from the right and I will wait for a calmer day to test some handholds, but I had to shoot the gun today to get the scope zeroed and get a feel for the rifle. One of the scopes that was on hand was a 4-16x Konus Pro that has a mil-dot reticle and 30 mm tube. I won't keep it on the rifle permanently, but thought it would be appropriate for an initial range test.
I recently bought 8 boxes of the Hornady 6.5 Grendel match ammo that was on sale from Midway, featuring the 123 gr. A-max bullet that has a B.C. of .510. So this is the ammo I chose to use to break in my new barrel with. Once I got sighted in at 100 yards, I shot a few 3 shot groups just to get the scope adjusted. When it was about three inches high at 100 yards, I shot a 3 shot group that measured less than 1/2"! They could have been covered with a dime. Not bad for a new upper with factory ammo.
Despite the winds, I could not resist shooting at my steel targets at 300 and 400 yards. Instead of dialing in for the wind, I chose to hold off to the right and was rewarded with a group at 400 ids. that was approx. 2 1/2". I am absolutely amazed at this performance, since the collapsible stock on this rifle is so difficult (for me) to get stabilized in a rear bag. I cannot wait for a calm day to run paper targets up to 300 and 400 yards and see what this thing will do when it's got more than a few dozen rounds down the bore.
![[Image: saodgrendelsm.jpg]](http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n316/wiuprof/guns/saodgrendelsm.jpg)
![[Image: group100.jpg]](http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n316/wiuprof/guns/group100.jpg)
![[Image: 400ydgrendel.jpg]](http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n316/wiuprof/guns/400ydgrendel.jpg)
I have two AR's, but my Colt H-Bar has smaller pins and it's more of a hassle to change out uppers, so I put the new upper on the DPMS Sportical today and had a very fun day.
The winds were quite strong from the right and I will wait for a calmer day to test some handholds, but I had to shoot the gun today to get the scope zeroed and get a feel for the rifle. One of the scopes that was on hand was a 4-16x Konus Pro that has a mil-dot reticle and 30 mm tube. I won't keep it on the rifle permanently, but thought it would be appropriate for an initial range test.
I recently bought 8 boxes of the Hornady 6.5 Grendel match ammo that was on sale from Midway, featuring the 123 gr. A-max bullet that has a B.C. of .510. So this is the ammo I chose to use to break in my new barrel with. Once I got sighted in at 100 yards, I shot a few 3 shot groups just to get the scope adjusted. When it was about three inches high at 100 yards, I shot a 3 shot group that measured less than 1/2"! They could have been covered with a dime. Not bad for a new upper with factory ammo.
Despite the winds, I could not resist shooting at my steel targets at 300 and 400 yards. Instead of dialing in for the wind, I chose to hold off to the right and was rewarded with a group at 400 ids. that was approx. 2 1/2". I am absolutely amazed at this performance, since the collapsible stock on this rifle is so difficult (for me) to get stabilized in a rear bag. I cannot wait for a calm day to run paper targets up to 300 and 400 yards and see what this thing will do when it's got more than a few dozen rounds down the bore.