My 6.5 Grendel build may have been re-inspired

[dakota.potts]

For a long time I was thinking about doing a 6.5 or 6.8 AR 15 because I like the platform and wanted to shoot it at longer ranges than I felt I would take a 5.56 to.

I abandoned the idea when I realized that I only have a 100 yard range and I would be better of putting the effort into shooting my .22 at that distance.

I recently found out that I have a range about an hour from my house that has a 300 yard range and an 850 yard range. I was thinking about buying or building a bolt action for this and realized I could go full bore with it and just build the AR DMR type that I'd been thinking about.

I've read that the 6.5 Grendel can go into a standard upper with just a bolt, magazine, and barrel change. I'm assuming this should still be true if I wanted to just build the upper from parts.

Where is a good source for a 6.5 Barrel with headspaced bolt? I'd like to spend maybe $400 if possible. I'm looking for a heavy-ish barrel profile and either a muzzle brake or threaded to accept one. I'm thinking maybe 18". Is this doable?

 

[Wyosmith]

Yes Dakota, it's very possible, however I have to assume you are speaking of the $400 budget for a re-barrel and not a whole upper ready to swap back and forth with your existing 5.56 upper. Am I correct?

I (and many others out there) can supply an AR barrel in 6.5 Grendel for about $275. That is ready to install complete with barrel extension.

A stripped upper is about $100 and with the dust cover and forward assist installed you can expect to put in about $32 more.
The gas tube, gas manifold, flash hider, hand guards and so on all cost more, but how much more depends on what you want. Hand guards can go from $40 to about $400 as an example.

A GI front sight tower with sight installed will cost a lot less than a whiz-bang fancy foldable “tactical front sight”. (Gag….the word “tactical is applied to every do-dad these days by those that market them. They seem to have lost any true understanding of the word)

You can use the existing charging handle and bolt carrier, but you will need a new bolt. Again, more money.

So for $400 you can convert a 5.56 upper to 6.5, but you will not be able to build a whole 6.5 upper complete with new bolt for $400

 

[dakota.potts]

Yes, you are correct.

I want a good barrel but don't need a match-grade Krieger or anything like that. The $400 figure is just for the barrel and hopefully for a headspaced bolt with it.

The reason I put a price point on that is that most of the other components (stock, trigger, magazines, etc.) I can afford to buy fairly readily but the barrel seems to be by far the most expensive component and will require more saving.

 

[tahunua001]

having just recently built a 6.5 grendel kit I would highly recommend a fully assembled upper or build kit from doublestar/jtdistributing. extremely accurate, very high quality manufacturing, very affordable. here's my build minus optics.

 

[arizona98tj]

I just bought a 6.5 Grendel upper from MidwayUSA which they sourced from Alexander Arms.

You are welcome to browse my 6.5 Grendel review.

It is sub-MOA with Hornady factory ammo and my hand loads, albeit I've only had it to the range one time. I expect things to improve more once I start dialing in my hand loads.

One of several groups of my hand loads that shot sub-MOA. (Lapua brass, Nosler 120gr Ballistic Tip, and BL-C2)

 

[Unlicensed Dremel]

Sounds good. Keep us apprised. Go light, not heavy bbl.

 

[dakota.potts]

tahunua, that looks like a good upper for what I'm looking for. Unfortunately I'm not finding any like the one that you have pictured in your post. I want a 20" barrel or so, free floated flat top. Not interested in A2 style handguards or front sight. Just want the full length rails on top and a small rail on bottom for a grip/bipod.

To that end, I'm wondering if anybody has any experience with Model 1 sales? I can get what I want from them for about $500, which is what I'd like to try to spend on the upper if it's assembled already.

 

[tahunua001]

I have a model1 9mm build. they are decent but some calibers may need to be dialed in. for common caliber conversions they can be overpriced for what you get but the less common ones they are not a bad way to go, just don't get mags from them, most of the uncommon ones are C products which are notoriously unreliable. my 9mm hated all of the cprod mags that I got form them but ran like a champ once I bought better mags elsewhere. that upper is the standard 20 inch upper that double star sells but with a diamondhead free floated handguard and low profile gas block. you have to replace the barrel nut with one specific to the handguard which is a complete pain in the rear to change out, I ended up having to cut the old barrel nut off with a dremel to get it off. I would suggest a standard non floated handguard like an MOE unless you are prepared for a hard time.