6.5 Grendel Hunter

[clintsrv]

6.5 Grendel
HH action. They are the best donors
Apache built 18" SS lite contour threaded barrel
American classic stock
DBM. Gunshack supplied the bolt face
Leupold VX-1 2x7 LR reticle
Talley lightweights
Custom bolt handle
Amazing shooter. Off the bench with front and rear bags 1" 5 shot groups at 180yrds. Hornady factory ammo. More than enough for my purpose. Should be a lot of fun this fall. http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/05/09/gu3atapa.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/05/09/vu5e9u6a.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/05/09/8utajera.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/05/09/y8uzusat.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/05/09/yhegega4.jpg

[drybean]

Great looking rifle

[clintsrv]

Thanks drybean!

[BarrelBurner]

Turned out nice Clint.
Those little Grendels are sweet aren't they. Hey do I recognize that barrel nut? Haha

[pighunter284]

i wanted to do the same but with a 16" barrel. nice looking rig

[pighunter284]

whats the total weight on that?

[clintsrv]

Barrel Burner, yes you do recognize it!! Haha.

Pighunter, you should build you one with 16" barrel. This one weighs 8lbs unloaded. I was wanting a tad bit lighter but this will do.
I should have my stamp back in June or July. Then things are going to really get exciting!! My ultimate goal was under 10lbs and overall length of rifle around 45", suppressed.

[phantom_geo]

That is very very nice......love that stock

[JASmith]

Great choice of cartridge too!

For those not real familiar with it, the Grendel can handle medium game all the way through at least Elk with the factory loads available today. There is also a reloading manual with lots of discussions about hunting and details about the cartridge: 6.5 Grendel Reloading Manual (http://shootersnotes.com/articles/6-5-grendel-reloading-handbook/).

[BoilerUP]

I'm assuming you are using a 308 magazine?

How does the Grendel feed?

[clintsrv]

Yes I am using standard short action mag. I initially tried a slightly modified lip 223 mag and follower. Never could get it to feed reliably. The round would literally fly out. So then I decided to try standard 308 mag and it works fine. I haven't had a problem yet. I believe that the 762x39 scout rifles use 223 mags but I'm not sure. I would like to locate a serial number for one to enter in the parts finder to order and try one just to see if it better, which technically it should be. The 308 mag has a lot extra room in it that I guess could be a potential problem, maybe.

[pighunter284]

scratch scratch..need another short action lol

[pighunter284]

Did you get your stamp yet

[clintsrv]

Yes I did. Got it in June. It took right at 9 months.
I use it on everything I have almost. From 223 to 308
It works the best with 308 sub loads and of course 300 BO sub loads.

[Chrazy-Chris]

Very nice! Which can are you using? I'd love to see some pics with the can.

I'll have to check out the Apache barrels. I'd like an 18" threaded .260 to replace my factory .308 if I can't achieve the groups I'm after. All the aftermarket barrels I've seen have been much longer.

Enjoy!

[sixonetonoffun]

Most likely don't see short barrels for 260's because they need a 24" barrel to easily achieve the magic 2900fps. My 20" is loaded pretty hot to get 2800 out of a 129gr sst.

[clintsrv]

I chose 6.5 Grendel because of the short barrel with suppressor. I wanted a light short hunting rifle in a 6.5 mm cartridge.
I had nice discussion with Jim at Apache about my caliber choice. I was originally wanting a 6.5 CM. We thought about the 6.5x47 but Grendel seemed to be the best choice for my needs considering ammo cost and availability. My hunting is in deep E. Texas and shots rarely exceed 250yds.

The rifle has since taken a different route since these pics were taken.
I actually took the barrel and installed on a SS SF action with a B&C Carbelite stock and topped with Leupold FX 6x.
It's still a shooter. I'll get some pics up here soon.

[clintsrv]

Here's my Grendel Hunter now

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/20/6621baa1ba60aca06dabdddb245b93f9.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/20/360e7059a2003d5f74dc0a9f05cef31a.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/20/2c52debd1a4bb7fca63d75dae24e81b4.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/20/e9beaea1757894f20e94b7b6d2d5ebd8.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/20/44e0121ca8065d2b1d3873a46bdf0261.jpg

The suppressor is Huntertown Arms Kestrel 308.
It's a little on the heavy side but works really nice. Rifle with scope weighs in at 7.5lbs, with can it's just under 10lbs. This set up is much lighter than original with wood stock and DBM set up. I found the SF feeds better too.

[sixonetonoffun]

It was a.great choice. I think we'll see a lot more. Makes a great lightweight hunting rifle. The advantages of a fast handling rifle are often overlooked.

I still wouldn't give up my 7mm rm for one as its possible to get 400-500 yard shots here. Being able to do it confidently with a 175gr bullet probably is a little overkill.

Interestingly enough I have witnessed twice black bears being wounded and lost with said 175gr bullets (poorly placed panic shots). Which lead me to wanting a big bore just to have another choice. As it seems like a yearly event for some dipstick to wound and abandon a bear while deer hunting creating a safety issue for all.

[JASmith]

Should one want a deep penetrating bullet for the 6.5, take a look at the 140 gr Lapua Naturalis.

this guy creates a wound channel area similar to that of a 200 gr Pro-Hunter. The all copper expanding bullets give smaller calipers a lot of leverage.