Hunting AR

[wicat3]

Hey everyone. I am looking for some pointers and help on a build I am working on. I live in NY state so somethings have to be done. So my plan after looking around is to build a 6.5 Grendel AR. I have a PSA lower already for this build. I want all the features so I will be pinning the lower with a 4 round magazine. I plan to use mostly standard parts for the lower. I am thinking of using a magpul trigger guard as I could be using gloves while hunting and wouldn't want the gloves to cause issue due to something like a trigger guard. The next thing I will be looking at is a good trigger to put in that wont break the bank but be good for hunting. Im thinking maybe a nice mil spec ALG trigger with a JP spring kit. Next thing would be an 18" barrel. Not sure on the stock, might use the Magpul hunter fix stocked or an A2 stock. I am looking at putting together a good hunting rifle but not looking to spend huge amount of money to build it. For example I don't think I would need a 300 dollar trigger. Might be willing to spend $150 or so but it would have to be an out of the world reviews over some cheaper options.

Any way Im looking for some suggestions on what would help make this project a nice little shooter for deer. Only needs to be aprox. 300 yards hunting white tail deer.

[Bigs28]

I like my larue trigger. Their are better triggers but for $99 i think it's the best bang for buck. For 300 yards i would go with a 16" barrel over the 18" but that's me.

[wicat3]

Ill look into the Larue trigger. It sounds like a decent price for a sporty trigger. Im open to the 16" barrel but can you explain your reasoning?

[Bigs28]

A 16" will deliver the appropriate energy and velocity to kill deer out to 300 yards. It will weigh less and be easier to carry through brush. I hunt pretty thick woods in Florida and use a 12".

[wicat3]

I would go with a shorter barrel but NY would most likely try to get me on pouching or some crazy thing. I do like the idea of a shorter lighter rifle. I can always build more uppers if I like the caliber for different things. I just want a decent shooter for deer but not big into the understandings of the barrel length to distance and kill range.

[imaguy3]

That's essentially what I wanted in mine, a good shooting inexpensive rifle. I went with the Rise Armament trigger, got it for $100 in 3.5lb. It feels incredibly similar to my CMC trigger which cost almost double that.

I have a 16" barrel, I'm getting 2300fps with Hornady factory sst rounds. That puts me at the expansion velocity minimum (1800fps) right around 400 yards.

[zzrguy]

Hey fellow New Yorker.

Oh! How You Doin?

I just finished my Grendel build and will be hunting with it this year.

I'll give you my build list and why I chose what I did and how I made mine Safe compliant.

I use a Bullet Guy upper and lower receiver it was a group buy.

I went with a DPMS LPK. I find the triggers in these kits are all clean crisp with no noticeable creep right out of the box but you can polish them and get a little better feel and change a spring and get a light triger.

I used a DD's Ranch fixed mag kit and his rear extended take down pin. I've use pretty much all the kit out there except the MEAN Arms one and the DD's I fell is the best value and fits what NYS mean for a fixed mag you can stuff a little wax in the hole then epoxy over it if that make you sleep easier.

I use a Grendel Hunter 18 barrel, BCG and Mid lenght adjustable gas system aswell as his 4 round mag. It is a ten rounder limited to 4 you can slide the bottom plate off the mag and make it a 10 rounder again by changing the spring. I also ordered a Strike Industry forward asset and charging handle in red to add a little bling. Well I chose the 18' barrel cause I own a 16 in 223 and wanted something a little longer it is also threaded so if I wanted to cut the threads off and re-crown the barrel I had enough length to stay legal. Weight is really not a issue I'm assuming your treestand hunting and most likely under a mile from camp.

I went with a Nordic free floating forend it was affordable and clean I can add rails where I need them if I choose but I chose it mainly for its price.

I like the Magpul furniture and use it on most of my builds I used the MOE rifle stock, MAID pistols grip, and MOE Trigger guard.

Optics for now is Minox z3 4x9 on a cheapo Amazon cantilever mount. I have not had any issue with these cheapo mounts on AR. But if you're dropping 500+ on glass I would go with and higher end mount. Loctite and torque these mount is a must. I might be taking the Nikon Pro Staff off my 223 to put on this gun.

All and all I'm very happy with the gun

[wicat3]

Zzrguy any pics of your rifle? I was looking at the dd ranch set up but when I picked up my lower I spoke with the gun shop I use about fixing the mag and they sell the mean arms kit for a good price so I will most likely go with that. I’m definitely going to try to get a free floated barrel set up for accuracy. I like the mag idea of being able to remove the base plate in case of an issue and having to clear the magizine. I only worry about someone thinking and calling the authorities saying I have over the legal limit of ammo to hunt with, if that makes sense. Have you shot your yet?

[VASCAR2]

Wicat3, I have a 16” Faxon Group Buy 6.5 Grendel I bought here on the forum. This makes a great barrel for hunting out to 300 yards. The Hornady 123 grain SST will expand down to 1800 FPS. A 16” 6.5 Grendel should keep the 123 grain SST 6.5 MM bullet over 1800 FPS past 300 yards.

You won’t find a better price than the Group Buy Faxon 16” 1:8 twist Nitride QPQ barrel and Group buy bolt. I have bought several Larue MBT triggers and they are a great 2 stage trigger for $99.

There are very few Group Buy 16” Faxon barrels left (5 or less). Being a forum memeber has it’s perks and the group buy bolts and barrels are very good. I have a 16” & 18” Faxon 6.5 Grendel builds using the Group Buy barrel and bolt.


http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthrea...-12S-amp-H


http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthrea...55-3-50-sh


If your interested in the group buy just follow the info in the threads.

[VASCAR2]

Here is a picture of my 18” Faxon 6.5 Grendel standing next to my 16” Faxon 6.5 Grendel. The 18” Faxon Group Buy build has a ALG Defense V0 hand guard and RRA National Match trigger. The 16” Faxon Goup Buy has a Rousch Sports hand guard with LaRue MBT trigger. Both have A-2 flash hiders just for reference. I know you probably have to use a fixed stock and probably no flash hider but this gives you an idea of how the Faxon barrels look. The barrels are very useful profile, not to heavy not to light. These Faxon barrels make handy hunting AR-15’s.

The 6.5 Grendel mags are available that hold 4 rounds. E-Lander, ASC and C Products Defense all sell 4 round mags.


CDB73BD4-EE9F-4380-BF58-3F54AB64F097


Here is a link to the E-Lander mags and are sold as 4 round mags. ASC and CPD mags are advertised as 5 round but only hold four in the mag but they count the chambered round. In essence all three mags hold four rounds in the mag body.


https://www.brownells.com/magazines/rifl...13318.aspx


https://www.brownells.com/magazines/rifl...71846.aspx

[imaguy3]

Wicat3, I have a 16” Faxon Group Buy 6.5 Grendel I bought here on the forum. This makes a great barrel for hunting out to 300 yards. The Hornady 123 grain SST will expand down to 1800 FPS. A 16” 6.5 Grendel should keep the 123 grain SST 6.5 MM bullet over 1800 FPS past 300 yards.

You won’t find a better price than the Group Buy Faxon 16” 1:8 twist Nitride QPQ barrel and Group buy bolt. I have bought several Larue MBT triggers and they are a great 2 stage trigger for $99.

There are very few Group Buy 16” Faxon barrels left (5 or less). Being a forum memeber has it’s perks and the group buy bolts and barrels are very good. I have a 16” & 18” Faxon 6.5 Grendel builds using the Group Buy barrel and bolt.


http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthrea...-12S-amp-H


http://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthrea...55-3-50-sh


If your interested in the group buy just follow the info in the threads.

With regards to the SST out to and past 300... I know it doesn't mean much but I shot my 16" out to 400 the other day with SST, my strelok tells me I'm about 1750fps at 400. This is a picture of the group. Then I shot into an old 8lb powder jug I had full of water, backed by a sandbag. The bullet demolished the jug, penetrated to the back of the sandbag, and retained 94.6g of weight... I wouldn't hesitate poking a deer at 400 with this...

[A5BLASTER]

Asc use to make a 5 round mag.

I had bought a few of them from PF when I first got into the grendel.

[sneaky one]

The 16" is the best for under 400 yds. It's so light to carry. 5 round mags are still out there. I can make a 4, 0r 5 round P mag if desired.

Smooth as silk functioning. Like butter., but better.

[1075 tech]

Welcome from a fellow New Yorker. Both of my Grendels are 16" although I am working on an 18" on an SCR lower.

I have a Velocity 3# trigger in one and a Rise Armament 3.5# trigger in the other. Both sport a MagPul MOE rifle stock and ALG Defense handguard. Both use a Vortex Diamondback HP 3-12 in Aero Precision mounts.

I use ASC 5 round mags. Thread protector on the barrels. I use the ArMr2 mag lock but may switch that to the Prince 50.

[cwlongshot]

I did not even try to bring my AR into NY last season... I bought a HOWA Bolt to avoid any problems...

CW

[wicat3]

I’m not worried about the ar in NY. I’m building it to comply with the laws in place so not much to worry about

[cwlongshot]

Understood, But not being form NY and not following the (stupidity) of some of the laws... It was easier not to "deal" with all that.

I'm IN CT so we are in a similar quagmire of liberal non sense. At least you have the Northern majority of your State thinking correctly... Not so much here.

There is a good many Americans here in CT, we are just outnumbered.

CW

[wicat3]

Completely get it. I use to live in CT than moved to NY. Much cheaper and yes the laws are bad but I can still have things CT won’t allow.

[zzrguy]

Zzrguy any pics of your rifle? I was looking at the dd ranch set up but when I picked up my lower I spoke with the gun shop I use about fixing the mag and they sell the mean arms kit for a good price so I will most likely go with that. I’m definitely going to try to get a free floated barrel set up for accuracy. I like the mag idea of being able to remove the base plate in case of an issue and having to clear the magizine. I only worry about someone thinking and calling the authorities saying I have over the legal limit of ammo to hunt with, if that makes sense. Have you shot your yet?

I was going to use the MEAN on this build but they were out of stock when I was looking to order you can still remove the MEAN but you cannot re-use it if you ever need to replace the mag.

Forgot to mention the other reason I use DPMS LPKs even if your going to replace the trigger you still the other parts to build the lower and the DPMS part are high quality.


The mag is pretty much a mil-spec mag with a 6.5 follower and a special spring. If the DEC come because someone call saying "your using higher capacity mag " when they inspect your gun if you can only put 5 rounds in it they will say have a nice day and leave. My 308 bolt gun has a peice of cardboard blocking the magazine 5 rounds. I was check last year comeing out of the woods by the DEC as they were driving by.

The free floating forend is solid. I'm adding a bipod soon so I have no worry of anything changing the accuracy of this gun. I'm grouping sub 2in groups at 100yds with multiple touch holes in a 5 round group.
I'm pretty happy with this gun, but like I said I'm probably going to swop scope with my other AR in 223.

[Caser]

I have a rise trigger, very nice, they were on sale for $70 or $80, that was a real bargain. But it is a single stage. Brownells has them for $85 right now, and today only (6/26) is 10% off and free shipping with code NBU.

https://www.brownells.com/rifle-parts/tr...09431.aspx

I have a larue, very very nice, but a 2-stage. A real bargain at $100. Comes with 2 springs.

I also have a plated trigger from Tom's Tactical, at $40 a great value. True mil-spec design, but smoother.

I like a 2-stage for hunting. If your budget allows for $100, the larue is the way I would go.

I like the magpul MOE trigger guards, and recommend. I hunt in the cold with gloves.

I went with an 18" AA light barrel, the G is no velocity king, I figure why reduce any further with a short barrel. The lightweight 18" was a nice compromise for me.

A longer HG is useful to me in a tree stand when the deer come from the wrong side and the rail is farther away. I have an ALG EMR 13" rail. Light, sturdy, reasonable price. Looks good (to me) with an 18" barrel.