Leaving the 6.8...

[OMCHamlin]

I have owned and hunted with a Bison Armory 6.8 SPC for over a decade. For a goodly part of that time, I've felt like I wish I had gone with the Grendel instead. Now I am going to do just that, pull my 6.8 barrel & bolt and rebarrel to 6.5 Grendel, and see about swapping ammo with someone that could use some 6.8.

My question is about compromise; I am going in to the Grendel for better than 6.8 accuracy, at greater range, yet it is still intended to be a light(er) weight hunting rifle, with longer range capability for those "'cross the soybean field" shots, when (if) they present themselves. I never had that longer range confidence with the 6.8.

So with that said, I am thinking about a Faxon Gunner Match 5R barrel, 18", for this new round, built into a hunting rifle (woods walking mostly). For folks that have used Faxon, am I setting myself up for disappointment? If so, whose lighter weight barrel would you suggest?

Thanks in advance for any and all advice and opinions.

[peak98]

Welcome to the forum OMC, I think you’re gonna like it here??. For a mostly “woods walking” rifle, I’d go with a 16” barrel. Shorter is handier, and lighter but not enough to make a great deal of difference. If most of your hunting is “cross the soybean fields” and shooting out of box stands I’d go with a longer barrel. In reality, shooting 300yds and in, the difference will be minimal. I will recommend looking a a Monster barrel from BFT as well. I’m still in the break in process with my 20” group buy barrel and it’s shooting very good. I believe the 16” barrel is what’s available at this time. They’re a bargain imho. Pick up ammo wherever you can find it as it’s getting scarce (around me anyway). Let us know what you decide to go with, I’m always interested in other members builds and the reasoning behind their choices. Again, welcome to the Horde, and where are ya from?
peak98

[VASCAR2]

Welcome to the forum OMCHamlin!


I think an 18” 6.5 Grendel can accomplish your goal. Faxon barrels are rack grade so it is luck of the draw whether you get an accurate barrel. With the price of ammunition I think it is cheaper in the long run to buy the best barrel you can afford. If you buy a Faxon and it doesn’t meet your desired accuracy then your out all the effort/expense and still aren’t satisfied.

Lilja has an excellent reputation for accurate 6.5 Grendel barrels. Accurate barrels shoot a wide variety of ammo accurately. Rack grade barrels like Ballistic Advantage, Faxon, Odin, Satern/Liberty are less likely to shoot accurately with a wide variety of ammo. Lilja, JP, Criterion, Shilen get good reviews as do the custom barrels by Precision Firearms or Craddock Precision.

I have two Faxon Group Buy Monster logo barrels from a few years ago. These two barrels have been gtg and met my expectation but neither will produce groups as good as my Shilen Match barrel in 6.5 Grendel. If your looking for accuracy at distance you want an accurate barrel which tend to cost more but a better chance of giving good results. This subject comes up frequently on this forum and the responses are usually the same. You don’t hear about poor accuracy with Lilja, PF or JP but you do with rack grade barrels.

[peak98]

Vascar2 brings up a valid question, what is your accuracy requirements? For me, I want to be able to shoot MOA or less at 100yds, that acceptable accuracy for my hunting conditions as 90% of my hunting shots are 200yds or less.

peak98

[Glockpride]

I would think 16” or 18” would do all you want. Welcome to the horde OMC!

Keep in mind, there are videos here and on YouTube where guys are shooting 12.5” barrels in 6.5 Grend out past 800 yards. Random? Yes? Likely? No, but possible.

16” would probably do you well and not sacrifice much, if anything.

[Klem]

OMC,

If you want the same results as your SPC get a short Faxon barrel. If you want an immediate improvement over what you already have then I would choose 18-20" and a top-tier/Olympic grade barrel like Lilja, Bartlein or Kreiger. Otherwise you will be struggling to see the difference for the effort.

[hill37]

Brownells has a 18" Grendel w/ bolt for $300 Plus shipping. You will have to research the accuracyhttps://www.brownells.com/rifle-parts/ba...80-001-354

[OMCHamlin]

Welcome to the forum OMC, I think you’re gonna like it here??. For a mostly “woods walking” rifle, I’d go with a 16” barrel. Shorter is handier, and lighter but not enough to make a great deal of difference. If most of your hunting is “cross the soybean fields” and shooting out of box stands I’d go with a longer barrel. In reality, shooting 300yds and in, the difference will be minimal. I will recommend looking a a Monster barrel from BFT as well. ..... Let us know what you decide to go with, I’m always interested in other members builds and the reasoning behind their choices. Again, welcome to the Horde, and where are ya from?
peak98

Thanks for the welcome, glad to find this place, it's a technical resource, but also a different nest of ... deplorables... that I can hang out with! (sorry, I'm trying to focus on near proximity items, like building a Grendel, but larger issues seem to loom in the background for some reason these past few days...)

Anyhow, I'll look at this "Monster barrel" and read up on it some. I'm still sort of stuck on that 18", though, the 6.8 of mine is an 18"er and has never really been in my way in the woods so it makes me comfortable at that length, where as I feel I'd notice a 20". Strange, huh?

I'll post results when I get some, I plan on cleaning up a Kimber 1911 trigger for a friend, then swapping out some retro stock GI AR15 triggers for those ALG coated trigger sets, then hopefully I'll have decided on a barrel and can find one of "whatever" in stock, and I can start and break down that Bison upper (or not, maybe just set aside for now?) or use another upper, an Aero Precision I just acquired, but then I'll need a handguard also, something simple, slim and quiet I guess...

I'm an Army brat and a retired Squid, so I'm sort of "from" all over, but I'm on VA's eastern shore these days (since 2002, actually) Grendel would be great little doe neck popper for a freezer filler or two!

[OMCHamlin]

Welcome to the forum OMCHamlin!


I think an 18” 6.5 Grendel can accomplish your goal. .....

Lilja has an excellent reputation for accurate 6.5 Grendel barrels. Accurate barrels shoot a wide variety of ammo accurately. Rack grade barrels like Ballistic Advantage, Faxon, Odin, Satern/Liberty are less likely to shoot accurately with a wide variety of ammo. Lilja, JP, Criterion, Shilen get good reviews as do the custom barrels by Precision Firearms or Craddock Precision.

....... You don’t hear about poor accuracy with Lilja, PF or JP but you do with rack grade barrels.

It DOES seem to be a recurring theme both here and with my local Grendel "woke" friends (specifically; JP) And while I do want a rifle that's easy to tote, I would like as much accuracy as I can wring out of a lighter barrel within cost/benefit limits. Actually, I know Mark from PF, from the old Hampton, VA shows, I should shoot him an email...
Bottom line; I can afford a better barrel, I'm just a cheap SOB sometimes, I think you have convinced me to step up one tier (or two?)

[OMCHamlin]

Vascar2 brings up a valid question, what is your accuracy requirements? For me, I want to be able to shoot MOA or less at 100yds, that acceptable accuracy for my hunting conditions as 90% of my hunting shots are 200yds or less.

peak98

I'd be happy to keep sub MOA at 200 from a field rest, that way I'd be comfortable at 300 on an eastern shore deer-possum...

[grayfox]

Mark and a couple others (brownells?) have some criterion barrels, not the Lilja quality but an affordable and pretty accurate - better than faxon.
I had a couple faxons in grendel and well, Vascar's right about rack grade, maybe good, maybe not so much...
Now I've got a 20" lilja and it shoots much better, and better than I do. Real happy with it.
With the better BC's and wider range of good bullets you can get anything 16-20" and they will do you well.
And 100 gr (like the nosler bt or the ttsx) out to 129 nosler ABLR, 'course the main standard is the 123 sst.
Any one of these can go out to 225 yds no problem for the 100 grainers in 16" barrel.
the 123 Sst and 129 Ablr can go 250+ with the heavier wt and higher KE.

So you have a lot of possibilities.
18" - 20" will go even better.

But definitely get the better barrel, best you can go with.
Then it's trigger group, and optics. The rest just holds everything together.

ps, another old Navy guy, up in NOVA...

[bakabone25]

I have owned and hunted with a Bison Armory 6.8 SPC for over a decade. For a goodly part of that time, I've felt like I wish I had gone with the Grendel instead. Now I am going to do just that, pull my 6.8 barrel & bolt and rebarrel to 6.5 Grendel, and see about swapping ammo with someone that could use some 6.8.

My question is about compromise; I am going in to the Grendel for better than 6.8 accuracy, at greater range, yet it is still intended to be a light(er) weight hunting rifle, with longer range capability for those "'cross the soybean field" shots, when (if) they present themselves. I never had that longer range confidence with the 6.8.

So with that said, I am thinking about a Faxon Gunner Match 5R barrel, 18", for this new round, built into a hunting rifle (woods walking mostly). For folks that have used Faxon, am I setting myself up for disappointment? If so, whose lighter weight barrel would you suggest?

Thanks in advance for any and all advice and opinions.

I am shooting the gunner profile barrel and love it. Its light and shoots very accurate for us. We have 5 grendel builds here now and its the one we all prefer for going into the woods. I will buy it from you if your disappointed with it after you try it. I will sure build another one. Hmmm maybe i have an addiction/sickness? Can you ever have too many grrrrrs?

[derek45]

I sent with a FAXON 16" light barrel.

It shoots 0.65" MOA with SIERRA 107SMK / IMR8208

I kept my 6.8. It's a nice carbine, and I have good memories of hunting with it.

Upper receivers are cheap, you might want to build up a new upper, and keep the 6.8

Here's my original thread on building up my 6.5G

https://www.65grendel.com/forum/showthre...ndel-build

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[am4966]

If it was me, I would do a Criterion or above grade barrel. Black Friday is coming up and there have been great deals on stuff. But this year being crazy I hope we still see great prices.

I know Mark at PrecisionFirearms makes a hell of a barrel. The wait can suck at times, but you’ll be happy you did.

I’m looking to get a barrel and I’m waiting till Black Friday before I decide to buy. Just because a barrel shoots great at 100 doesn’t mean it’ll do that at 200/300 so I’d really would want something better than a rack grade. Remember buy once cry once, instead of buying n having to take a loss on a barrel just to replace it with something better.

Good luck and welcome to the Horde, great guys here who all are nice and helpful. Best group of guys/gals here than on any other forum.

[Rosecrans1]

Good luck and welcome to the Horde, great guys here who all are nice and helpful. Best group of guys/gals here than on any other forum.

Damn right we are! And we're humble as hell too!

[OMCHamlin]

Upper receivers are cheap, you might want to build up a new upper, and keep the 6.8

Not a bad idea. All I lack to do that is the handguard really, (I still need a barrel, but that's true either way). Heck, I could leave the ATN on the 6.8 and add another ASR coupler to that barrel and zero it with the can on, consider the 6.8 the dedicated hog gun...

Did I read somewhere that people were running 6.5 Grendel out of 6.8 Pri mags? That would be nice if true.

[VASCAR2]

I’ve read where some people have used the PRI 6.8 SPC mag with the 6.5 Grendel. Wouldn’t hurt to try to use the PRI mags with the 6.5 Grendel. I’ve not tried it but you supposedly can get a few (4 or 5) 6.5 Grendel cartridges to feed out of 5.56/223 mags.


I’d probably keep the 6.8 SPC but I like variety and it never hurts to have a spare tool.

[lazyengineer]

Is 6.8 inherently less accurate than 6.5 Grendel?

[JASmith]

I, for one, am highly skeptical of the notion of “inherent accuracy.”

That said, the Grendel, by virtue of more space for bullet noses and slightly smaller diameter will see higher attainable ballistic coefficients and so will enjoy less wind drift.

This should result in the Grendel being more accurate in the field.

[olde sarge]

OMCHamlin, the only Faxon barreled rifle I own is a Barrel from the Faxon "Monster" group buy. It is 20" and with my old eyes and shake I shoot from 3/4" to 1 1/4" groups from a backpack used as a rest with factory Hornady 123 gr SST. I also own a Bartlein barreled rifle that may shoot 1/4" better but doesn't balance near as well. So my go to rifle is my Faxon group buy barrel. Does what I need it to do for hog hunting where my shots are usually well under 200 yds. Both rifles would likely shoot better with someone younger than 70 on the trigger. Hope this is some help for you.