6.5 Grendel FDE - Takedown/switch caliber rifle

[Rockfish Dave]

Just a heads up, I'm building a DRD Tactical upper build kit on a Battle Arms Dev light weight lower as a switch caliber in 223Wylde and 6.5 Grendel. I will be using JP Rifles barrels for both. My only concern is return to zero, but in the review below that seems to be a non issue, although he does seem to have thermal drift as the barrel warms up...

Here are some reviews:


Manufactuer page:
http://drdtactical.com/
https://drdtactical.configio.com/Sh...1&source=search&returncom=productlist&cid=321

Specs:

DRD Tactical upper and M-Lok rail

Battle Arms Dev.
- Light Weight Lower
- Ti enhaced take down pins
- bad short thow safety
- Enhanced bolt release

Geissele SSA-E trigger

PWS Buffer - H2 buffer

PWS Enhanced Buffer Tube Gen 2

VTLOR - EMOD stock

BCM - Gunfighter Grip Gen 3

Zero Fail bolt carrier group and JP matched enhanced bolt for 223 Wylde

Bootleg low mass adjustable carrier with JP matched enhanced bolt for 6.5G

SLR
- Clamp on Melonite Adjustable gas blocks
- Rifle length melonite gas tube

Bartlien Barrels
- 20" 1:7.7 twist 223 Wylde barrel med contour
- 20" 1:8 twist 6.5G barrel med contour

Rugged Suppressors
- 223 flash hider
- 30 flash hider

GDI QD 25MOA scope mount

SWFA 1-6 HD scope

Larue PredatOBR Rollup Bag - for storage and transport of spare barrel (don't care for the bag)

This is intended to be a travel friendly jack of all trades build. I don't need shorter barrels as my primary hunting rigs cover that. With the take down capability the normal hassles of longer barrels no longer apply.

I will try to keep this updated on the progress...

 

[Lefty38-55]

My only concern is return to zero, but in the review below that seems to be a non issue, although he does seem to have thermal drift as the barrel warms up ...

FWIW I once had a Romanian PSL (aka the poor man's Dragunov) and while accurate with precision, it would loose both as she heated up and would start to string shots.

I sent the receiver & barrel assy out to NitroFreeze to be cryo freezed at -300 degrees. Cost me ~ $76 total, for round-trip shipping and the thermal cycle.

Once put back together I shot it to warm it up ... then hammered down range two 10-round mags as fast as I could re-acquire a good sight picture. All rounds landed in a 3" bull at 200-yards, which is about all one could ask for from the 7.62x54R, even with good handloads (less not using Lapua bullets).

Cryo works for heat related issued ... never would have believed it if I hadn't experienced it myself. I have not - yet - sent out an AR barrel or barrel mated to a receiver.

Nice parts selection sir and looks like a fun build, albeit I'm no fan of switch barrels. Cheers!

Added - I have zero idea if cryo would help your possible shift issues ... switch barrel et al ...

 

[Rockfish Dave]

The rifle in the video is not mine I was only making an observation. My build will be with JP Rifles barrels.

The JP Rifles are also cryo treated and have very good reputation.

The other reason this appeals to me, other than switching calibers, is how compact it is when stored. It will be much more convenient.

If it is reliable and accurate with repeatedly I will be stoked.

 

[Rockfish Dave]

Everything is together and ready for testing. Ended up with 20" bartlien barrels. I am looking forward to running these through their paces.

 

[Deleted member 48126]

Everything is together and ready for testing. Ended up with 20" bartlien barrels. I am looking forward to running these through their paces.

Do you have photos? Any groups yet?

 

[Rockfish Dave]

No pictures. I have sighted in the 6.5 and ran around 45 rounds down the pipe. Very please with accuracy so far.

The 223 Wylde barrel has only been fired to adjust the gas block.

Both function perfectly so far.

The down side is I'm gathering dope on basically two Rifles now.

I'll try to take pictures soon as the system works better than I had hoped for a travel gun.

Gun case specs:
Hazard 4 Takedown Sling Pack
Tactical Tailor General Purpose Pouches (2) these hold six mags each
Larue tactical barrel sleeve for the barrel not in use
Generic Velcro straps to hold scope

 

[Rockfish Dave]

Just an update.

Tested the gun with both barrels, suppressed and unsupressed. Performed flawlessly.

Return to zero appeared to be flawless when removing and reinstalling barrels every 5 rounds. To be sure I am going to have to mount my precision scope though as I was having difficulty aiming precisely with the 1-6x scope. All groups were at or sub MOA but not reflective of what I know I can do.

The bootleg adjustable carrier was the coolest thing. I set the adjustable gas block on the 6.5 Grendel unsupressed then just adjusted the carrier when running suppressed. No blow back and very smooth recoil pulse.

I will post pictures of the setup as well as groups next time I'm out with it.