Looking for advice - 6.5G upper or .243 bolt gun?

[7kings]

You can always paint a stock or use a wrap to get past the appearance. If you decide to get another AR-15 upper you might consider the 6 MM ARC. The 6 MM ARC uses the same .243 bullets as your 243 Winchester Savage but uses a necked down 6.5 Grendel case to 6 MM/243. At least you’d have commonality of bullets.

For hunting I think the 6.5 Grendel has an edge of performance over the 6 MM ARC on medium size game. For purely target shooting and varmint hunting I think the 6 MM ARC is a little better than the 6.5 Grendel. I have several 6.5 Grendel rifles but no 6 MM ARC rifles but it is worth considering.

I think you’ve gotten good advise and think buying a different scope and start shooting your 243. If you like target shooting maybe add another cartridge for the AR-15. With either the 6.5 Grendel or 6 MM ARC you can use your 5.56/223 lower. If your lower has is a mil spec single stage trigger you might consider a better trigger. On an AR-15 the most important items are a Quality barrel, good optic or sights and a good trigger.

That's funny - I had been toying with the idea of the 6mm ARC after reading a lot of comparison articles between it and the 6.5G. My only real concern is how young it is and whether it will gain a solid foothold (and it's not a big concern, especially since it was developed by Hornady, so it has a level of built-in industry support). In the ranges I'm talking about (even the 600 yard range), I think any of them (.243 Win, 6.5G, 6mm ARC) will be more than capable and much more accurate than I am.

That being said, I'd be lying if I said that I haven't gotten a bit bored with the .223 and I'm looking for some variety. The prospect of adding another upper to the safe in a different caliber is attractive, but then again, so is spending some time on a bolt gun. I'm also self-aware enough to know that the "cool factor" of a 6.5G or 6mm ARC plays a part in it.

I don't do any hunting and don't know that I'll be doing any in the near future, so this is primarily for punching paper and seeing how tight I can get my groups at distance.

Thanks for the input - this is all great information.

Brian