hunting build

[pathfinder397]

I wanted to start a thread to ask questions as I finish my build, instead of creating a bunch of threads. So here is what I have so far;
Aero lower
PSA lower parts kit
Rguns lower bling bits
PSA polished fire control group
A2 butt-stock ( I love this, reminds me of my military days)
Magpul MOE+ grip

Rguns dessert sands upper
Rguns complete Nickle boron bolt carrier group
Maxim spare bolt
Black hole weaponry 18" 1/8 twist standard profile 264LBC barrel
Aero 12" keymod hand guard FF

I still need:
Gas block (looking for a low profile adjustible) with a set screw
Flash hider, comp/ brake no clue yet
Optics

I will add pics soon, but my plan was to put money into the most important parts (barrel, bolt, gas block, optics ) and get cheap(er) outer parts that I don't mind scratching up.

I have lots of questions BUT I will refrain unit I can post some pics

[Redomen]

E Arthur brown company has jp clamp on adjustable gas block on sale for $59.00. I just ordered 2.

[diddlyv]

Sounds like a great build. My 20 inch came it right at 10 lbs with a 21 oz Vortex Viper Mounted. My AR Mod 1 Leupold only weighs 12.5 oz or some such. The 16 inch grendel weighed in at 7.7 lbs with a 15 inch hand guard. Betting yours will be under 8 lbs depending on the scope even with the extra 2 inches of barrel.

[keystone183]

I always recommend SLR gas blocks. Their quality is great and customer service is second to none. No set screw...but not necessary.

[RicosRevenge]

Sounds great.

What range are you hunting at? More the general minimum... if you may have 10-20-30 yard shots you may want a 1x low end magnification so a 1-4x or 1-6x may be the ticket. Where I hunt the average is 75-250 yards so I went with a Sig Tango 4 3-12x.

Do you need a muzzle device? A thread protector would save you a couple inches of length.

There are a lot of gas blocks out there so I'll leave that to you...

[Flyguy11]

Make life easier with a Syrac Ordnance adjustable gas block. It is detented meaning there is only one set screw that clicks in place and stays in place.
http://www.brownells.com/rifle-parts/gas...C+ORDNANCE

[Flyguy11]

If you live in a suppressor friendly state I would put the muzzle device on that would best adapt to the suppressor that you have or would like to get. On the Optics side of things I would say stick with Vortex, U.S. Optics, Night-force, or Leupold. I know that these are expensive glass but I would encourage you to watch Magpul's "The Art of The Precision Rifle" it may change you on how you look at buying a scope. In the long range community the saying goes, "Buy Once, Cry Once."
Just my 2 cents and have fun with it.

[pathfinder397]

I am a little concerned that this build will be a bit of a hog. I will have to put it on a scale. I will be extremely happy with a sub 8lb Grendel.

[pathfinder397]

Make life easier with a Syrac Ordnance adjustable gas block. It is detented meaning there is only one set screw that clicks in place and stays in place.
http://www.brownells.com/rifle-parts/gas...C+ORDNANCE

these look nice, but the website is down for them. I am starting to learn that customer service in this industry is the difference between buying an expensive part once with piece of mind or buying a cheap part with the knowledge that you will most likely be buying the expensive part down the road anyways.

[pathfinder397]

Sounds great.

What range are you hunting at? More the general minimum... if you may have 10-20-30 yard shots you may want a 1x low end magnification so a 1-4x or 1-6x may be the ticket. Where I hunt the average is 75-250 yards so I went with a Sig Tango 4 3-12x.

Do you need a muzzle device? A thread protector would save you a couple inches of length.

There are a lot of gas blocks out there so I'll leave that to you...

I just lost my hunting land of 15 years so I am building this as a 75- 300 yard weapon and I will find land/animals to fit that situation. My unofficial moto is now, "have Grendel, will travel!" I am just leaving the world of rifled shotgun slugs and shots on whitetail ranging from 30 yards full sprint to 100+ in brush. I was very proud to have executed all of my shots with iron sites (true glow) or a 2x red dot.

I have experience with vortex scopes and have a 3x9 diamondback. I am having a lot of fun with their BDC threw the website and app. So I will most likely be going that route.

[wraith1516]

Wilson combat makes a really good adjustable Gas block and vortex scopes aregreat for the price range they fit into plus great customer service

[RicosRevenge]

I just lost my hunting land of 15 years so I am building this as a 75- 300 yard weapon and I will find land/animals to fit that situation. My unofficial moto is now, "have Grendel, will travel!" I am just leaving the world of rifled shotgun slugs and shots on whitetail ranging from 30 yards full sprint to 100+ in brush. I was very proud to have executed all of my shots with iron sites (true glow) or a 2x red dot.

I have experience with vortex scopes and have a 3x9 diamondback. I am having a lot of fun with their BDC threw the website and app. So I will most likely be going that route.

That sucks to lose your hunting land. I understand your shotgun to rifle transition... I did it 20 years ago when I moved away from Upstate NY where all my deer were taken with a pump-action Smith & Wesson 916A with irons. Heck, there are a few tight spots on my current lease here in Texas that are thick and in a ravine that I sometimes still grab that old 12-ga and sit in a ground blind.

There is nothing wrong with Vortex at all if you have been happy with them; I have a couple as well (a Diamondback like yours on a loaner .243 and a Razor 1-4X on my go to AR-556). 3-9x is a good usable/huntable set up for your ranges. If you get the desire to spend a little money; the newer scopes with First Focal Plane can really help you out with drops and the pricing has come way down from just a couple years ago. There are offerings from Athlon (the new kid on the block), Vortex PST and Sig; or at least those are the ones that I considered form my hunting rig.

[diddlyv]

There is Ziess low end glass out there for $329 ish all the time. I scored a 3 x 9 conquest and 2 4-14 Terra with the RZ 8 reticle in the 319 to 329 range over the past 4 months. They are extremely bright right up there with my new VX3i They are lighter than the vortex viper I put on one of my grendels. Euro optic, Optics Planet and Camo fire. Not to mention the $329 vortex viper free shipping at midway.com

[pathfinder397]

First attempt at adding pics here, only a teaser for now.

[rabiddawg]

This is a hunting build thread so I ask:

Rico, you really like hunting with first focal plane scopes? I have two and I don't prefer them for hunting. Once it gets low light the reticle becomes hard to see. And, the illuminated reticle helps but it gets bright as the darkness builds.

One situation I which I do like ffp hunting is spotlighting hogs. A buddy has a badboy buggy with a green led light at that will light up the world. That light with the red illuminated reticle is very very cool. The only problem was the distraction from bugs flying across my field of view.

[RicosRevenge]

rabid,

Last year was my first year to hunt deer with an FFP scope (Khales 624i - more about last year later). I actually didn't notice much difference in a hunting scenario because I basically set the magnification on 12x and left it - even for the 40 yard shot I took on one of my doe (I just chose the one hair that I wanted to hit... LOL!). The illumination on the Khales is really good. As it got darker I could dial the amount of light down enough to eliminate the "halo" effect and I was left with a clean reticle that wasn't distracting at all.

I have shot a bunch of pigs with my .556 AR with a Vortex Razor 1-4X which was FFP as well and REALLY liked it. The difference with the lower power FFP scopes is that when you crank a 1-4x down to 1x the reticle is so small that you can use it with the illumination like a red dot.

Back to hunting last year... I was running my competition based AR-308 last year and found that it was really cumbersome in a 4x4 box blind. That is what prompted me to build the Grendel. Shorter AR based package with a good round especially for my shots. However, before I completed the Grendel I switched my competition rifle back to a bolt gun and ended up with a Desert Tech SRS A1 in 6.5x47 Lapua. So, now comes the fight on which one to use in a blind. The 26" barreled DT is actually shorter than the 18" Grendel by a couple inches and I have a load now using the Hornady 140 SST that shoots around 1/2 MOA. Grrr... I may need to flip a coin.

Here is a shot from the blind last year with the .308:

[rabiddawg]

Now I'm wondering two things.

Perhaps the higher end stuff is just better than my viper.

Did I crank up the power trying to see the reticle in low light then hit the illumination resulting in too much reticle. Hmm. Gonna have to re-evaluate this.

[RicosRevenge]

Only one thing to do... try it out tonight after dark! Ha!

And yeah, glass makes a huge difference in resolution and light gathering. They are expensive because they are worth it.

[Flyguy11]

First attempt at adding pics here, only a teaser for now.

Use Photobucket.com and post the direct link; easiest way. I too struggled with this.

[keystone183]

Make life easier with a Syrac Ordnance adjustable gas block. It is detented meaning there is only one set screw that clicks in place and stays in place.
http://www.brownells.com/rifle-parts/gas...C+ORDNANCE

Have been some complaints re syrac lately on several other forums....and their FB page, apparently. I have one of their blocks, but i prefer the SLR. I don't know if this can be substantiated or not, just an FYI....