09-06-2018, 12:29 AM (This post was last modified: 09-11-2018, 07:22 PM by MutuallyAssured(MAD).)
I recently purchased the 20" version (Monster 20). Although my experience with this barrel is limited, I'd like to share my experience after about 100 rounds (mix of factory 123gr Hornady SST & 100gr Wolf). Please share your experience if you have the 20" freedom stick as well.
Monster 20 Barrel: 20" CMV with black nitride finish, 1:8 twist, 5R rifling, BFT profile, SAAMI chamber, & headspaced for MK136 bolt (aka Type 2)
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Price: $149
Fit and finish:
The finish and machining looked great. No burr(s) on the gas port. The barrel extension had a good, but not incredibly snug fit with my BCM upper. Nitriding was well executed from a visual perspective. We all know, whether we admit it or not, looking cool matters to some degree. The conspicuously placed grendel logo adds a cool factor, so there's that.
Range Report:
120gr American Eagle OTM (factory): 5 shot groups were 0.958moa, 1.203moa, and 1.466moa
123gr Hornady Black ELD-M (factory): 1.16moa (7 shot group), 1.39moa (5 shot group), and 3.00moa (5 shot group; bad trigger pull on one shot. Group would have been about 2moa)
123gr Hornady SST (factory): Best 5 shot group was 1.3moa, but other groups were 2–3moa
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100gr Wolf: Best 10 shot group was 2.5moa, worst group was 3.5moa. Overall Wolf shot and grouped well, but is more prone to random flyers that enlarge groups significantly. My guess is the charge weight of the powder has a larger range than some other factor loads, but that's just a guess.
BFT nailed the gas port size. About 90% of the ejected cases landed in small pile within about 2ft of each other at an ideal 4 o'clock position. I'm running a standard weight BCG with H1 buffer, so your mileage may vary if you're running a lightweight BCG, different buffer, or suppressor.
Cases looked clean, with the exception of a slight scratch on the mouth of a few.
No velocity data.
Final Thoughts:
In my opinion, this barrel is an incredible value priced at $149. At this price point, you'd be hard pressed to find a better performing barrel with the same build quality of this barrel. BFT's profile is a perfect combination of strength & weight. With the Monster group buy barrels you don't have to feel bad feeding it Wolf steel case ammo like you would with an $800 Proof barrel. Perfect barrel for hunting from a blind, or plinking at a range.
Take advantage of this incredible value before they're all gone...
BFT, thank you for putting together the group buy barrels!
Nice write up. Interested to hear how things go as you progress. Want to ask: did you bed the extension? How did you find the face of your BCM receiver? (Square, true, etc...) What are your build specs? How did you set up your shooting position, how stable/confident were you?
Looking good so far, thanks for the report!
Nothing kills the incentive of men faster than a healthy sense of entitlement. Nothing kills entitlement faster than a healthy sense of achievement.
Your accuracy results with the SST and Wolf (probably the two worst bullets for verifying accuracy of a barrel) don't surprise me.
SST is a very picky bullet as to what barrel it will shoot well out of, and Wolf is an undersized pill at .262" with inconsistent neck tension. Charge weights were actually pretty good on the ones I checked.
Try some Hornady Black, Hornady American Gunner, and Federal 120gr.
Sticks Wrote:SST is a very picky bullet as to what barrel it will shoot well out of...
I wish I had known this before I bought a bunch of SST. I thought I would see decent results with it given my other experiences with Hornady ammo but my rifle really doesn't seem to like it. I was surprised when I saw better groups from AG.
A5Blaster, I'll get my hands on some ELD-Ms to see how they shoot. I get what you're saying about SSTs. For me, SSTs have been barely acceptable in terms of accuracy. I'm actively looking for a more accurate factory hunting load.
Sticks, I agree, SSTs are finicky. My 12.7" doesn't shoot them well. Ammo selection for 6.5G is not very good in my local area. The only ammo I've seen on shelves is Hornady Black ELD-M. I'd like to give Federal Fusion a try, but haven't found any locally. I buy ammo in bulk online, so I'm shooting through what I have which is Wolf and SSTs. Good note on Wolf neck tension being inconsistent. Perhaps Wolf ammo could be slightly modified by running it through a die to make the neck tension more consistent.
Kswhitetails, good questions. I visually inspected the face of my upper receiver to make sure there weren't major machining errors, but did not measure or lap it. I bed the extension with Loctite. I usually don't do this, but figured I would give it a try for this build. As far shooting position. I shot off a backpack while sitting at a table so my stability was adequate, but not rock solid. I generally try to limit stability aids to get a better representation of real world performance from a hunting blind or tripod. This enlarges my average group size, but gives me more confidence in the field. Shooting from a table or tripod generally yields approximately the same accuracy for me at 100 yards.
This evening, I'll post pics of the build and do my best to answer any questions you guys have.
09-06-2018, 04:03 PM (This post was last modified: 09-06-2018, 04:08 PM by MutuallyAssured(MAD).)
kcb38 Wrote:I wish I had known this before I bought a bunch of SST. I thought I would see decent results with it given my other experiences with Hornady ammo but my rifle really doesn't seem to like it. I was surprised when I saw better groups from AG.
kcb38, I feel the same way. I've had good success with Hornady in the past so I took the plunge and bought a bunch of SSTs online.
Hornady sst ammo use to shoot great in my rifles but it has gone to junk of late in every rifle I have tryed it in.
Going to get a box of PF loaded sst ammo and give it a try, haven't yet found a ammo PF loads that don't shoot good to great in any rifle I have tryed them in.
It ought to be a sticky for all first time Grendel shooters, or new Grendel barrels.
Suck it up, buy one, maybe 2 boxes of each flavor of ammo and see what your barrel likes. That is the route that I went.
Hornady Black and Federal American Eagle 120 were about equal with my 18" Bartlien. Federal is too proud of their ammo though (expensive) and the brass sucks for reloading.
Worst move I did was buy a 500ct case of Wolf, plus another 200+ from another member before even trying it.
If you do shoot some other flavors of 6.5 ammo please post your results! I am curious if/how it will improve. Wolf is notoriously bad because they have the wrong size bullets as previously mentioned and I too have heard bad things about the SST. Considering those factors the results may actually be quite impressive!
Running some COL tests with some supplies on hand for the 20” and so far getting 2.152 for 85 Varmint slugs kissing the lands and 2.198 with 100 grain Amax kissing the lands. Anyone else doing the same?
Javman Wrote:Running some COL tests with some supplies on hand for the 20” and so far getting 2.152 for 85 Varmint slugs kissing the lands and 2.198 with 100 grain Amax kissing the lands. Anyone else doing the same?
I tested all the factory rounds I had in my 20 all were good no touching of lands.
My 85 trex handloads with 2.250 loaded length don't touch either.
I'm optimistic about this barrel. For folks interested in this barrel, please reserve judgement until I've had a chance to run some other loads. By way of comparison, this Green Mountain 20" is more precise than my 16" Faxon and 12.7" Faxon barrels (with Wolf & SSTs).
Years ago, it was a big deal that Hornady started supporting 6.5G with their factory SST load. I never shot any of the older SSTs so I can't comment on the precision of older versus recently produced SSTs. My experience is limited to recently produced SSTs. I'm a sample size of one, with three different grendel barrels who has only shot a few hundred SSTs. Some people reading this will dismiss this barrel because anything greater than sub-MOA is terrible precision, not realizing that Wolf is not super precise in any barrel & SSTs are not generally known to yield sub-MOA performance.
Next up will be Hornady Black ELD-Ms. I'll post the results after my next trip to the range. Hopefully, we'll see tighter groups.
UPDATE: I called about 25 local gun stores to find some test ammo. I purchased a few boxes of Hornady ELD-M & American Eagle 120 OTM. In a few days, I'll share the results.
I updated my original post with the results of my latest range session: Overall, the groups were tighter (best group was just under 1 MOA). I had some inconsistency with the ELD-Ms grouping pattern. I'll need to fire some more rounds downrange, but in my hands the barrel is approximately 11.5 MOA. With a better shooter and handloading for an accuracy node, I'm confident that the barrel is precise enough to yield sub-MOA groups consistently.
Below is the range data from today:
120gr American Eagle OTM (factory): 5 shot groups were 0.958moa, 1.203moa, and 1.466moa
123gr Hornady Black ELD-M (factory): 1.16moa (7 shot group), 1.39moa (5 shot group), and 3.00moa (5 shot group; bad trigger pull on one shot. Group would have been about 2moa)
