I'm in a pickle

[Konocti's Wigwam]

So I just priced up an upper because I wanted a 20in upper and i wanted some quality to it. Turns out I'll be spending about around 2k to put it all together! I don't think I have ever even seen 2k in person lol.

I've seen 'em but never owned one...LOL

I can't justify investing that much coin in an upper, I went cheap on my 6.5 Grendel, using a 16" barrel, but am thinking to put a 12" barrel in another 300 blackout upper I have...first world problems, doncha know?

I think I would invest in a Ruger or Howa mini-action bolt before I would spend that type of coin on a gas gun.

I have way more options than I need, even an LR-308 is a decent rifle that will take down any game in NA.
I'm not married to Grendel, but feel like I made a mistake building 300 blackout rather than 6.5 Grendel. But one thing the 300 blackout has going for it is size/weight. I have a 7.5" 300 blackout with a Red Dot on it that weigh 6.5 lbs.

Here's a very interesting bit of trivia. There are 3 loads here, 300 blackout on the left, 6.5 Grendel in the middle and 8.6 blackout on the right.

Both the test loads use the same powder drops for 6.5 Grendel and 8.6 blackout. The 8.6 blackout is massive in comparison to the 6.5 Grendel.

Lastly, when I look at the 300 blackout and 6.5 Grendel, the 6.5 Grendel looks better proportionally than the 300 blackout, IMO. Since I am not planning to hunt with subsonic, everything will be loaded to supersonic.

KW

EDIT:

Load info:

300 blackout using CFEBLK and Hornady 110 CX bullets, Starline nickel plated brass, Federal GM205MAR primers (AR Match primers)
6.5 Grendel using H335, Barnes 120gr TTSX, Starline brass, Federal GM205MAR primers
8.6 blackout using CFEBLK and Hornady 225gr CX bullets, Gorilla 8.6 blackout brass, CCI 34 primers.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]20019[/ATTACH]