Should I build a 16" 6.8spcII upper? - Page 3

rickyrick · March 20, 2017, 05:57 PM

My final deciding factors:
The age of the caliber
Fairly easy to find parts
The Walmart factor, ammunition available at Walmart
And the easy on the average joe factor.

This rifle, and the .300 black pistol will put me into the reloading realm soon, but having a selection of factory ammunition helps too.

Somehow, I ended up with one extra bolt carrier, and 3 bolt heads (6.8 and two 5.56) because I found more sales as I was building.

ed308 · March 20, 2017, 11:06 PM

The problem with the 6.8 vs 6.5 Grendel spat is barrel length. You usually see a 20" Grendel compared to a 16" 6.8. When both barrels are equal, there's not much of difference between the two. You also hear the Grendel has 160 available bullets. Most of those bullets don't expand at the Grendel speeds and are designed for the speeds of 6.5 Creedmoor or 6.5 Sweed. And if I hear one more time that the Grendel has superior sectional density compared to the 6.8. Do you really think a hog or deer will know the difference?

I invested in 6.8 many years ago and before the Grendel became popular. I seriously consider building one recently. But I finally decided against it for the reasons noted above. I've already got plenty of bench ARs. And bolt guns for the serious long range shooting. For hunting, I prefer a 16" or shorter barrel. But I'm sure hog or deer wouldn't know the difference if killed by Grendel with a 20" barrel. If shooting just paper from a bench, I'd probably go with a long barrel Grendel. But like I said, I've got .223 ARs for that task with 77 gr bullets. My 6.8 is for killing.

One more thing to consider. You can shoot cheap Wolf steel ammo in a Grendel. But cheap steel case ammo isn't a draw for me. No way I'll shoot that junk ammo in one of my good ARs. I've got a couple of chrome line 5.56 ARs that work fine with that ammo and probably are just as inaccurate.

March 20, 2017, 05:57 PM	#51
rickyrick Senior Member Join Date: March 15, 2010 Posts: 8,236	My final deciding factors: The age of the caliber Fairly easy to find parts The Walmart factor, ammunition available at Walmart And the easy on the average joe factor. This rifle, and the .300 black pistol will put me into the reloading realm soon, but having a selection of factory ammunition helps too. Somehow, I ended up with one extra bolt carrier, and 3 bolt heads (6.8 and two 5.56) because I found more sales as I was building.

March 20, 2017, 11:06 PM	#52
ed308 Senior Member Join Date: November 5, 2016 Location: DFW, TX Posts: 1,147	The problem with the 6.8 vs 6.5 Grendel spat is barrel length. You usually see a 20" Grendel compared to a 16" 6.8. When both barrels are equal, there's not much of difference between the two. You also hear the Grendel has 160 available bullets. Most of those bullets don't expand at the Grendel speeds and are designed for the speeds of 6.5 Creedmoor or 6.5 Sweed. And if I hear one more time that the Grendel has superior sectional density compared to the 6.8. Do you really think a hog or deer will know the difference? I invested in 6.8 many years ago and before the Grendel became popular. I seriously consider building one recently. But I finally decided against it for the reasons noted above. I've already got plenty of bench ARs. And bolt guns for the serious long range shooting. For hunting, I prefer a 16" or shorter barrel. But I'm sure hog or deer wouldn't know the difference if killed by Grendel with a 20" barrel. If shooting just paper from a bench, I'd probably go with a long barrel Grendel. But like I said, I've got .223 ARs for that task with 77 gr bullets. My 6.8 is for killing. One more thing to consider. You can shoot cheap Wolf steel ammo in a Grendel. But cheap steel case ammo isn't a draw for me. No way I'll shoot that junk ammo in one of my good ARs. I've got a couple of chrome line 5.56 ARs that work fine with that ammo and probably are just as inaccurate.