In the market for my first Grendel.

[FloridaGuy]

I have $600 to either build or buy a 6.5 Grendel Upper. This will be mostly a range rifle. My only requirement is it must have a stainless steel 24” heavy barrel.

So since this will be my first Grendel Upper any suggestion on which way to go?

[Sputnik]

I would consider Bear Creek Arsenal 24 inch SS fluted barrel for ~350.00. I am very pleased with mine. They may be out of stock, I think I got mine at Primary Arms. Both places offer LEO/Military discount.

[Sticks]

You might want to think about upping your budget a little.

You looking for precision target shooting, or just hobby?

[FloridaGuy]

You might want to think about upping your budget a little.

You looking for precision target shooting, or just hobby?

It’s mostly for hobby I don’t compete or anything with any of my guns. Most of the time I will be shooting at most 100 yards. Here in Florida there are no long range shooting facilities. Budget can be adjusted if need be.

[Sticks]

IMO for what you are doing, 18" to 20" would be more than enough for your use, and opens up a wider market for quality barrels. 24" for punching paper recreationally is overkill.

What ever you choose, make sure to get a SAAMI Grendel barrel, not Type I or II (Type II is typically the correct one needing the .136 recessed bolt - prefer something that states SAAMI)

[Bigs28]

If you live in Clearwater their is a range not to far from you in manatee county that goes out to 1k.

[Sputnik]

I would consider Bear Creek Arsenal 24 inch SS fluted barrel for ~350.00. I am very pleased with mine. They may be out of stock, I think I got mine at Primary Arms. Both places offer LEO/Military discount.

I looked at Primary Arms and they only list Radical Arms uppers, still within your price range. Concur with Sticks as to barrel length. A barrel of 24 inches is not needed to reach out to 1k.

[Sticks]

I looked at Primary Arms and they only list Radical Arms uppers, still within your price range. Concur with Sticks as to barrel length. A barrel of 24 inches is not needed to reach out to 1k.

For 1k, no, not needed. The extra est. 100FPS you would get over an 18" would be nice though.

If you were set on the 24", up your budget and go to the parent MFG - Alexander Arms - http://www.shopalexanderarms.com/Uppers-...eiver.html or
http://www.shopalexanderarms.com/Uppers-...plete.html

[FloridaGuy]

If you live in Clearwater their is a range not to far from you in manatee county that goes out to 1k.

The longest range they have now is 600 yards. The land behind the 1k Range is now protected land by the state. So because of the lead going into the protected land they had to close it down.

[Randy99CL]

I'm another that wouldn't get a 24" barrel. My research showed that a 20" only gives up around 90fps velocity to a 24".

I bought a Bear Creek upper with 20" heavy barrel and mounted it on a standard lower. The barrel is 1" diameter until the gas block and .750" for the 7" after. Without a scope, mount or magazine the gun weighs 7lbs 12oz and balances about an inch in front of the receiver.
I like the weight and balance, it is muzzle-heavy as a target gun but not impossible to carry for a couple of hours.
I plan to use it for hunting hogs in Texas, varmint hunting and casual longer-range target shooting.

[crusader18]

I looked at Primary Arms and they only list Radical Arms uppers, still within your price range. Concur with Sticks as to barrel length. A barrel of 24 inches is not needed to reach out to 1k.

I bought on of the RA Complete Uppers(20in.) from PA, I thought I'd start cheap to try it out. The upper was nothing but problems FTFs, FTEs, FTFs...tried it with different mags, different ammo. After 20 rds. I wound up sending it back to PA, because nothing would make it work(YMMV). On the bright side, they took it back and gave me an instant refund. I wound up buying a NeptuneEL 20in. Upper from Mark over at Precision Firearms and it was definitely worth the money and wait. I would recommend PF highly to someone looking for an upper.

[Sputnik]

I bought on of the RA Complete Uppers(20in.) from PA, I thought I'd start cheap to try it out. The upper was nothing but problems FTFs, FTEs, FTFs...tried it with different mags, different ammo. After 20 rds. I wound up sending it back to PA, because nothing would make it work(YMMV). On the bright side, they took it back and gave me an instant refund. I wound up buying a NeptuneEL 20in. Upper from Mark over at Precision Firearms and it was definitely worth the money and wait. I would recommend PF highly to someone looking for an upper.

I can't dispute that. My PF Neptune V is a treasure, but the OP mentioned ~600.00 for an upper, not ~1700.00

[Sticks]

I can't dispute that. My PF Neptune V is a treasure, but the OP mentioned ~600.00 for an upper, not ~1700.00

Mine is the Neptune VIII. I am impressed...however -

The OP would probably want it before June 2018 as well.

[worthen86ford]

For what you are doing i would get a short barrel or 16” at the longest. Faxon and BA i believe have 12-12.5” barrels offered right now. For a 16” the alexander arms upper kit with the gas block, gas tube, assembled upper, CH and barrel for 300 is a pretty good deal to me.

I have a 16” AA and a 10.5” anderson barrel that i had chopped. Can’t figure out which one i like shooting more. The 16” is sub moa all day with sst and the 10.5 is plenty good enough (6”) at 100yds using steel cased wolf and irons only. The 10.5 is probably more accurate but my front post is tritium so its fatter than standard and covers the target completely.

Not trying to completely change your mind but if i was to have an unweildy rifle i’d rather do it in a different platform. The whole reason i went grendel was to get a good performance out of the handy little AR15. Otherwise i would have stayed with my m1a.

[Frontier Gear]

Bear Creek has some pretty good deals on barrels. Mine is a stainless steel, fluted 18" with 5R rifling. It has performed very well. I am quite pleased with it and I picked it up on sale for like $80 shipped. Besides the bolt and mags, everything else is standard AR15. BCA uses the same thread pitch on their Grendel barrels as their .308/300blk barrels. You should be able to easily build a $600 Grendel not counting optics.

[Frontier Gear]

Just an example:

Complete rifle lower from Anderson: $165
https://www.andersonmanufacturing.com/pr...ete-lower/

Barrel from BCA: $135
https://www.bearcreekarsenal.com/barrels...5rhb2018-p

Stripped Upper: $76
https://www.bearcreekarsenal.com/upper-r...rks-urt-15

Complete 6.5 BCG: $74
https://www.bearcreekarsenal.com/bolts/b...-bcg65-15a

Charge Handle: $13
https://www.bearcreekarsenal.com/accesso...ly-cha-15a

12 inch hand guard: $78
https://www.bearcreekarsenal.com/accesso...lok-12-bca

Bird Cage Flash Hider: $10
https://www.bearcreekarsenal.com/accesso...ush-washer

Total $551

[Randy99CL]

Bear Creek offers quite a few uppers, all between $300 and about $350. At their website click on "complete uppers" and "6.5 Grendel."

I mentioned earlier that I bought the: BCA Side Charging AR-15 Complete Upper Assembly, 20" 4150 Black Nitride Heavy Barrel, Straight Flutes, 6.5 Grendel Type II, Rifle Length Gas System, 1:8 5R Twist w/ 15" MLOK $334.99

They have a military/LE/Veteran discount and I got mine for $301.
Still building so haven't fired it yet but fit, finish and function are perfect so far.

[texchap]

I checked with Bear Creek Arsenal today. They have been picked clean of uppers. I called and got a bit if a terse reply that they have no idea when any of their uppers will be back in stock. Kinda strange unless she was having a bad day and had gotten tired of answering the same question.

[Frontier Gear]

BCA has two departments.

1. Machine shop and wholesales
2. Retail and web site.

It seems that the two departments are completely separate. It's like they don't talk to each other and it is darn near impossible to combine shipping if you place an order that has items from both. So my guess is that the retail side has no idea when to expect complete uppers. Also, while my opinion is that BCA has great stuff (especially for the price), they tend fall down on shipping lead times (everything seems to come my way via slow boat, two week UPS), shipping prices (just a single stripped bolt costs $10 to ship) and customer service (as you experienced).

Just build one yourself. All of the individual parts are in stock.

[doofus65]

I like the one I got here:
https://www.grendelhunter.com