Anderson 6.5 grendel barrel gets retired

[stagpanther]

Long over-due project--after wasting tons of ammo trying to get their budget type 1 configuration to run decently, I finally sank some cash into an ARP 20" 5r barrel to replace it (along with a JP enhanced type 2 bolt). Friends don't let friends shoot type 1 grendels.

[doofus47]

Let me know how that ends up. I always have heard good things about ARP barrels.

[Double Naught Spy]

Type 1s had some issues, unfortunately, but that is the way early versions go, sometimes. Glad you made the change.

I have an ARP 18" barrel that I am very happy with. ARP has good stuff.

[stagpanther]

My third ARP barrel--the fine folks on this forum tipped me off to Nathan--I bought his 6.8 spc barrel and it shoots light years better than any other 6.8 I've shot before. I also have one of his 6mm predator barrels

[stagpanther]

Let me know how that ends up. I always have heard good things about ARP barrels.

Will do. I also ordered another Odin #6 Atlas brake--A bit of a learning curve but have come to love it's no crush washer and easy "on-the-fly" tuning.

[Chainsaw.]

Friends dont let friends shoot anderson's.

[stagpanther]

Remains of grendel after the boating accident. The AR Stoner upper and PSA lower will live to see another day. As for the barrel--I'm thinking maybe a flute or piccolo.

[FrankenMauser]

Turn the barrel into a bottle opener.
Or send it to me for $10.
Either one is a win.

Friends dont let friends shoot anderson's.

I thought the same until I "took a chance" on three of their barrels. One stayed with me, and I'm very satisfied. Another went to a family member that is ... you guessed it, very satisfied. And the third went to ... yea, another family member that is very satisfied.
Some suck. I cannot disagree. But many are good.

Then again... The same can be said for nearly any barrel maker.
There are thousands of happy BWH (now CRA) customers. ...But it took three BAD barrels (including "chambering to MY bolt [and headspace guages]") before I finally gave up on their sorry QA and customer service and finish-chambered the final piece of garbage myself. (And I'm not the only one. There's a reason they changed their name... twice... )

[stagpanther]

I hear ya Franken--although I thought about converting the barrel to a cat, how about something in 284 named "Blood-Thirsty Saber-Toothed Tiger"; or maybe "Valhalla's Frightening Thunderbolts and Lightning?" I think a type 1 grendel is hard to find these days--for obvious reasons--so I really wasn't expecting that much at $90; I never do with big manufacturer's barrels that are priced in the $100 or less range.

I used to buy quite few of BHW/CR barrels but once Carl went big time on commercial production it became too much of a crap shoot when something would be actually made since a chambering request depended on when they would tool up for a major run. That said, every barrel I bought from them generally shot in the .5 MOA range once I found the sweet spot, and the one and only barrel that I bought that didn't shoot well Carl bent over backwards to see to it that I was happy with a replacement--in fact he sent me two barrels. There was a period though when BHW had a couple of ding-a-lings in customer service--I'm guessing that's when you may have had your issues, I had some real communication difficulties with them as well, but soon learned it was best to ask for the boss. I know you and I had this discussion before a couple of years ago.

Harrison at AR Performance is my preferred go to now, cause he reminds me of where Carl was in the beginning--outstanding performance at a low price in a simple, no-nonsense configuration. I also like the fact that he obsesses over chamber tweaking to get the best results he can--his 6.8 spc is the best I've ever shot. I'm very grateful that the folks on this forum pointed me in his direction.

[ed308]

Nathan at AR Performance is my preferred go to now

I think you mean Harrison (Beane). But maybe he hired a Nathan since he moved his business to Florida.

[stagpanther]

Nathan at AR Performance is my preferred go to now

I think you mean Harrison (Beane). But maybe he hired a Nathan since he moved his business to Florida.

You're absolutely right--senior moment brain fart since I have another friend named Nathan who has the same last name. Apologies to Harrison--great guy who has been very helpful over the phone when I've contacted him with questions.

[ed308]

He's great to deal with. I kaboomed my 3 Gun AR a while back with a high primer. I had 5 or 6 that I knew were high. I had planned to ease the bolt down and fire them one by one. But in a senior moment, I pulled the charging handle back on one and let it fly. The case detonated with only about 75% of the case inserted in the chamber. It rotated the barrel and sheared the bolt extension pin. I posted on the 6.8 Forum for suggestions on how to repair it. He saw it and told me to send to him and he would install a new pin. This was during the time he was closing his Tennessee location before moving to Florida. Great guy to deal with. I love ARP's barrels. I have them .223, 6.8, 270AR, .308 and 6.5 Creedmoor. All except the Creed shoot around .5 MOA. Still working on the Creed. I've got it down to .75 but I think it can do better.

[stagpanther]

I've got it down to .75 but I think it can do better.

An AR creed can be like that--my personal theory is that the sweet spot cartridge is not only the one with the best "harmonics"--but the one that manages the swim upstream from mag to chamber with the least amount of "facial scars" to the cartridge.

I typically can get most shots touching or in one ragged hole (@100)--but invariably will have a flier that throws the whole group--which probably has more to do with poor technique.

[FrankenMauser]

Looking at that barrel again, I think it would make a good column-shift gear lever.

I'll have to look into ARP and what they offer. Thanks for the heads-up.
I have another varmint build in work, but no barrel yet.

[stagpanther]

I think it would make a good column-shift gear lever.

Thought about that--might make a good toilet handle too.

[stagpanther]

This was during the time he was closing his Tennessee location before moving to Florida. Great guy to deal with.

Just got my ship tag--he moved from TN to Key West?? I mean KEY WEST???

[ed308]

North of Key West but not sure of the exact location. Diving is one of his hobbies.

[stagpanther]

North of Key West but not sure of the exact location. Diving is one of his hobbies.

I don't know--I mean moving from "the patron state of shooting stuff" to "land of the conchheads" can't be good.

[stagpanther]

Speaking of ARP's excellence: here's the 20" replacement barrel delivered today after I ordered it on Sunday. It got here ahead of all the other parts I need for the "renovation."

[stagpanther]

Handguard and barrel nut came in today--so I was able to "resurrect" the grendel--actually, only the upper receiver and bolt carrier were used from the original--pretty much everything else was parted out from other guns or bought new.

20" ARP barrel with Odin tuneable comp and tuneable gas block. As an experiment to see if I like it or not--I decided to go with a slightly shorter rail so the block is exposed for easy access. The vortex 6 x 18 crossfire 2 was on sale and pretty cheap (made in China, in other words) but the eye relief is so long that I can't key my weld by nose to charging handle. Oh well.

Lower is from one of my earlier franken builds which I duracoted myself--I like it because I also put in a SSA enhanced 2 stage trigger.

Temps are below zero here--not sure what the best "temperature insensitive" powder to use for testing would be. Any suggestions?

[stagpanther]

Went out and did my first test firing in less than ideal conditions--the thermometer was hovering just above zero degrees. The first thing that went awry were the turrets on the vortex scope--the tactile clicks vanished entirely so adjustments were done by squinting at the white markings--very hard for me to see. Interestingly, the clicks returned once the gun warmed back up inside.

Although I really like the odin gas block--it always takes me a while to find the "optimal gas reference setting"--so I didn't quite find the adjustment for bolt-lock back on this outing, though the cold temperature may have had something to do with it. I did some 120 gr matchking loads driven by 8208 xbr--about half the ladder of charges were sub-MOA with one 3-shot group making a single ragged hole. Once I get the rig properly tuned I have confidence it will be a stellar shooter--once again another great barrel from ARP.

[stagpanther]

Interested to see how these work; 118 gr cavity backs.

[stagpanther]

Done some testing with very mixed results. To be fair--I've been shooting in the most severe conditions I've ever test new weapons in--generally the temperature is right around zero or barely above--and in strong 20 to 30 mph gusts--bringing the wind chill way down below zero. Things are behaving "strangely" in ways I don't generally see even at temperatures say in the 20's to 30's.

The cavity backs, driven by 8208 xbr were a big disappointment--I thought the 8208 would be one of the better temperature extreme stable powders--but in general I got very poor results--in some cases the bullet impacts look like they may even be key-holing. I'm not sure why that may be the case. Today I went back out and tested some plain jane barnes 120 gr ttsx driven by ramshot exterminator. I wasn't expecting much--mostly cause it was ridiculous cold and windy and just seeing the target was hard--but th groups were acceptable--two of them at or under MOA. I didn't bother setting up the labradar--though I regret it now since it would be interesting to see the difference in the performance across a wide temperature variance.

[stagpanther]

Went out again today--less wind but temperature still right around zero. For some unknown reason the few left-over cavity backs shot better today, as did some ttsx's. Due to snow and ice I could only get out to 75 yds. Huge snow storm forecasted to hit us on Thursday possibly.

[ed308]

Remind me not to complain about 28 degrees and sunny. I don't think I could survive in Maine.