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I am sure this has been discussed plenty before. But here it goes again.
I have a stag arms upper and lower, JP trigger, PRS stock, Vikings tactics handguard, and a 20.77 in. 6.8 barreled AR. I got this rifle on a trade, but not too big a fan of the 6.8. Planning on getting a Grendel barrel/bolt combo.
This rifle will be used for whitetail/antelope/target. My question is what would you guys recommend on barrel length, profile. I am thinking in getting it in 1-8 twist as I will be using 120-130 gr. Bullets. Looking at shilen, lilja, and bhw barrels.
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18" or the 16.??" Lilja for sale on here would make a damn nice deer rifle .
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If you're not planning to run a suppressor, I'd go 18" or 20".
Out of those 3 choices, I'd go Lilja. Buy once cry once.
"Those who sacrifice liberty for security, deserve neither." Benjamin Franklin
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Antelope are usually taken from longer distances so I too would recommend an 18" or 20" barrel. Cory is correct about Lilja barrels, I have had exceptional accuracy with Lija barrels but I have had no experience with the others to make a judgement call with them.
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Depends on the distance. If it is not over 600 yds, it really does not matter. I shoot upto and including a 1000yds and do better with my 24" than some of the other members do with 18" and 20". Velocity rules!
Now if you will be hiking a lot when hunting, different story.....
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Seems like a 20 would fit the bill just about right.
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Up to you of course.
Hunting...(walking around and ethical shots)
16" for 5.56
18" for the slightly slower Grendel
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Nothing over 20" and if for hunting, light or slim profile. A 20" is ~68fps slower than a 24", this isn't going to make a difference. (~17-18fps loss/gain per inch with a 6.5)
I take my 20" 1:8 BHW out to 1200 yards regularly.
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apple_tech Wrote:Nothing over 20" and if for hunting, light or slim profile. A 20" is ~68fps slower than a 24", this isn't going to make a difference. (~17-18fps loss/gain per inch with a 6.5)
I take my 20" 1:8 BHW out to 1200 yards regularly.
And what elevation are you shooting at? I am at sea level....
It makes a huge difference. A 16" at your elevation may out shoot my 24" at sea level.
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Back before the first 2 Grendel forums crashed, one of our members worked up the velocity gained with every inch of barrel length . All that data is lost now, but he pretty convincingly showed that you got good velocity increase with each inch of barrel length added-up to 18 inches;after that it was a point of diminishing returns. So I would go with 18".
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I personally have not seen a big difference between 16" and 18". Bill A. said he noticed this as well, and it's still a head-scratcher.
Recent chrono results with 17.6" Grendel:
Factory 123gr SST
2441
2467
2489
2481
18" Lilja Grendel:
123gr SST Factory
2468
2441
2421
2495
2453
My 16" Grendel:
Factory 123gr Hornady AMAX:
2470
2422
2470
2460
NRA Basic, Pistol, Rifle, Shotgun, RSO
CCW, CQM, DM, Long Range Rifle Instructor
6.5 Grendel Reloading Handbooks & chamber brushes can be found here:
www.AR15buildbox.com
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LRRPF52 Wrote:I personally have not seen a big difference between 16" and 18". Bill A. said he noticed this as well, and it's still a head-scratcher.
Recent chrono results with 17.6" Grendel:
Factory 123gr SST
2441
2467
2489
2481
18" Lilja Grendel:
123gr SST Factory
2468
2441
2421
2495
2453
My 16" Grendel:
Factory 123gr Hornady AMAX:
2470
2422
2470
2460
Oh that's interesting...
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Very happy with my 18” hunting stick!
