I just picked up a Grendel last night and have some questions:
The Grendel I purchased is a build, and has a heavy 20" barrel engraved "DSC 6.5 GRENDEL 1-9" It is probably 7/8" under the hand guards and 3/4" from the gas block out. Anyone know who made this barrel or any other information?
The previous owner stated it was "factory" built on a Double Star upper/lower. I can tell it was not factory built by all of the marks in the vicinity of the various roll pins on the upper and lower. It is definitely a Double Star lower which I am either going to need to replace or drop an accu-wedge into to eliminate the obvious wobble. That is bound to affect long range accuracy.
At the moment, I am trying to ascertain how many parts I need to keep and reuse and how many I need to discard. I intend to install a Troy TRX Extreme 15 inch rail in place of the plastic hand guards and enhance or replace the trigger. It has an ACE skeleton stock which I may replace. I have yet to decide if I like it or not. The cheap BSA scope has to go and get replaced with something with better glass and mil-dots.
It is my intention to use this platform for shots starting at 600m and beyond, so I need to do it right.
contact them they should be able to advise whom made the barrel (the blank before they chambered it)
Wow. I never would have thought that DS would have made a Grendel. I guess they let a newbie put it together. Thanks for the link.
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Well, its a DoubleStar barrel, probably a Shaw made for DoubleStar. The upper might have been built, taken apart, rebuilt, etc. by the original owner. I doubt that DS would send out something with obvious scratches, etc.
My experience is that those kinds of marks are made by people taking them apart, versus people putting them together, but .....
DoubleStar/JT have a good reputation among the budget lines. Much better than some of the others who do similar work!
You seek escape from pain. We seek the achievement of happiness. You exist for the sake of avoiding punishment. We exist for the sake of earning rewards. Threats will not make us function; fear is not our incentive. It is not death that we wish to avoid, but life that we wish to live. - John Galt
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SMM123 Wrote:Wow. I never would have thought that DS would have made a Grendel. I guess they let a newbie put it together.
DS has made made Grendels since '07-'08 timeframe. I've owned or shot two different models, and both have been build assembled as well as any stag/RRA, etc clone. (and many more 5.56 kits)
Unlike others, they did not play games with the Grendel name & components. At one point real Grendel bolts became scares. They could have shipped rifles with non-standard bolts, but instead held production until the vendor shipped.
So if it's misassembled/marked it was probably someone buying a barrel/bolt from them, then putting on an existing rifle or kit.
DS is not high end boutique, but they make serviceable rifles with decent customer service. One of the DS Grendels I owned is still a very consistent 1/2 MOA (100 yds) rifle. I'd put it against much more expensive rifles! One of our DS m4geries has been one of the most reliable AR's I've seen.
DS used Shaw for their 4140 Grendel barrels, and Wilson air gauged for their SS bull barrels.
Thanks. With plenty of daylight, I have been going through it. Everything about the upper seems to be perfectly fine. The 5.56 marked Double Star lower is where most of the issues seem to be. The lower is what is causing the wobble and where there are marks in the vicinity of the various pins. I dropped the upper on several of my other brand lowers and the wobble goes away.
Maybe I am wrong, but I would not expect a MFG to send out a 6.5 upper on a 5.56 marked lower. At any rate, other than the wobble and simple cosmetic stuff, the rifle seems perfectly fine. I guess I just did not expect to see DSC making Grendels, and so assumed it was a private build.
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SMM123 Wrote:Thanks. With plenty of daylight, I have been going through it. Everything about the upper seems to be perfectly fine. The 5.56 marked Double Star lower is where most of the issues seem to be. The lower is what is causing the wobble and where there are marks in the vicinity of the various pins. I dropped the upper on several of my other brand lowers and the wobble goes away.
Maybe I am wrong, but I would not expect a MFG to send out a 6.5 upper on a 5.56 marked lower. At any rate, other than the wobble and simple cosmetic stuff, the rifle seems perfectly fine. I guess I just did not expect to see DSC making Grendels, and so assumed it was a private build.
My bet is it was a "kit" assembled on a DSC stripped lower. Most were sold as 5.56, and were one of the first decent quality lowers in the $100 range just before the run-up. Especially if the lower shows signs of amateur assembly. If it was a DSC built complete rifle it would have had different labeling, as they used a different name for their assembled rifles. (Don't know about the roll-mark).
At the minimum they would have used on marked multi-caliber.
On the "wobble". unless the holes are wallowed out it's likely just a spec receiver. People forget that colts & FN's "wobble" after being shot a bit. Many mfg's have silently tightened that up, but are out of GI spec now.
I used to buy into the tight lower bit, using billet with the built in adjustment for receiver slack. Depending on who you believe the accuwedges may not make as much difference than people think. I'm sure we'd have many different opinions even on the forum here.
