Hey everyone, very excited to be a part of this awesome community! I became fascinated with the 6.5 Grendel after I decided to build my own custom long range AR-15. I did some research and pretty quickly settled on the Grendel as my caliber. I am planning to reload my own ammo and use it for hunting primarily, but I wouldn't mind occasional long range target practice as well. However, I'm still pretty new to all of this so I figured I'm gonna need all the help I can get. Right now I got my hands on the American Gunner 123 gr BTHP ammo for breaking it in and generic practice, but the end goal is to only shoot hand loads. Here is my build (pics attached):
Lower: Aero Precision M4E1
Upper: Aero Precision M4E1
Lower Kit: Dirty Bird Enhanced 2-Stage Lower Parts Kit
Upper Kit: Aero Precision Upper Parts Kit
Buffer Tube: Aero Precision AR15 Carbine Buffer Kit
Bolt Carrier: Aero Precision Bolt Carrier Group, Complete Black Nitride
Barrel: Ballistic Advantage 18" Lite Barrel
Gas Block: Superlative Arms Adjustable Gas Block - Clamp On .750
Gas Tube: Aero Precision Melonite Gas Tube, Rifle Length
Handguard: Parallax Tactical FFSSR 15.5? Gen 3 M-LOK Handguard Optic: Primary Arms 1-6x24mm SFP Gen III Illuminated Riflescope K.I.S.S. reticle
Muzzle Device: VG6 Precision Epsilon 65 BBSS
Charging Handle: Strike Industries AR Charging Handle
Magazine: E-Lander 6.5 Grendel AR Magazines - 17rd
I just recently ordered the optic so I'm pretty excited about trying that out, and the stock I borrowed from my Ruger 556 for now but I'm thinking about going with the Luth-AR MBA-3. Eventually I will upgrade the optic as well, but for now I need to get comfortable with it at 100-200 yards and the SFP Gen 3 has great reviews.
So, that's about it for introduction! Looking forward to your suggestions and advice, especially when it comes to preferred hunting loads for the 18" barrel.
Welcome to the Forum dr.dro! I suggest you load your 17 round E-Lander mags to capacity and let them set loaded till you go to the range. The E-L mag springs are very stout when new. The E-L mags will wear in with use but are hard to load an unload when new. I use the edge of a plastic letter opener to push down on the next to top cartridge if I need to unload my new E-Lander mags. You can manually cycle the rounds through the rifle but I wont do this unless Im in a safe shooting environment.
If you reload ammo it is recommended to use primers with thick cups because of the AR-15 floating firing pin. Thin cup primers like CCI 400, Winchester and Remington small rifle primers use thinner cups. I use CCI 450, CCI 41, BR4, Remington 7 1/2, or Federal GMM AR primers.
If you ever look at an unfired cartridge from an AR-15 chamber youll notice a small dent on the primer from the floating firing pin. If you get a bolt firing pin that have excessive firing pin protrusion there is greater likelihood of a slam fire.
VASCAR2 Wrote:Welcome to the Forum dr.dro! I suggest you load your 17 round E-Lander mags to capacity and let them set loaded till you go to the range. The E-L mag springs are very stout when new. The E-L mags will wear in with use but are hard to load an unload when new. I use the edge of a plastic letter opener to push down on the next to top cartridge if I need to unload my new E-Lander mags. You can manually cycle the rounds through the rifle but I wont do this unless Im in a safe shooting environment.
Thanks for the tips, VASCAR2! I actually noticed how hard it is to unload them, very good to know! Do you have any recommendations in terms of other mags? Since I'm mostly going to be using it for hunting I don't care if it's lower capacity (even though there are no restrictions in VA in regards to capacity), but quality is definitely important.
VASCAR2 Wrote:If you reload ammo it is recommended to use primers with thick cups because of the AR-15 floating firing pin. Thin cup primers like CCI 400, Winchester and Remington small rifle primers use thinner cups. I use CCI 450, CCI 41, BR4, Remington 7 1/2, or Federal GMM AR primers.
If you ever look at an unfired cartridge from an AR-15 chamber youll notice a small dent on the primer from the floating firing pin. If you get a bolt firing pin that have excessive firing pin protrusion there is greater likelihood of a slam fire.
This is also very interesting, I'll certainly keep this in mind! The only problem is actually finding the primers you mentioned, which seems to be impossible these days...
10-30-2020, 01:03 AM (This post was last modified: 10-30-2020, 01:06 AM by VASCAR2.)
I only have two CPD/Duramag twenty round mags which are good to go. The choice of magazines boils down to personal preference and Quality Control. I have thirty three different 6.5 Grendel mags for the AR-15 and they all work. Ive had to tweak two magazines to get reliable functioning. I do not own any of the D&H ten round 6.5 Grendel mags or the Amend 2 polymer ten round mag.
I really like the E-Lander 17 round and C Products Defense Duramag twenty round 6.5 Grendel mags. The biggest disadvantage of the E-Lander is the weight and reduced internal length for cartridges due to thicker sheet metal body. The CPD/D are lighter, are Stainless Steel construction and accept cartridge with longer overall length. I personally dont care for the appearance of the 26 round CPD/D mag but most users report good functioning. The AR Stoner from Midway are rebranded ASC mags and if the QC is good the ASC mags are reliable. Unfortunately the current buying frenzy makes it difficult to find any mags to purchase.
I suggest anyone buying 6.5 Grendel mags to buy from reputable vendors in the event you get a lemon and need to return a poor quality 6.5 Grendel mag. Overall I think the quality of 6.5 Grendel mags is improving but still to many lemons slip through. It is hard to gauge QC from the internet as your more likely to read about defective products than good production examples. I can live with two mags that needed tweaked out of thirty three mags.
As far as reloading components Im glad I stocked up when the items were available.
Aim Surplus and Gun Mag Warehouse have good prices on CPD/D 6.5 Grendel mags. Brownells (Mil/LE or C&R discount) or LaRue Tactical have good prices on E-Lander 6.5 Grendel mags.
