I am looking to build another 6.5 Grendel or 6 ARC. I have narrowed it down based on my needs but want input about barrel manufacturers.
I want it to be able to take mule deer and smalled under 200 yards. If it can be exceptionally accurate i could also use it for coyotes.
Rifle will be supressored so i want a stiff enough barrel to not have a massive POI shift if i need to take a shot unsuppessed. I want 14.5-16" since it will have a supressor on the end and i will be using this climbing through the woods. In open country i will use my Tikka. I would like it to be around 26-28oz barrel. Sub MOA would be nice. I would love to shoot bug holes but honestly 1 moa is just fine.
Info about POI shift. I did some testing the other day. My 14.5" 5.56 criterion CORE is a reasonably light barrel but with a good contour with 2 different supressors had about 2" poi shift vertically. This is acceptable to me. If i made a quick shot unsupressed i would still get a hit out to 100 yards.
My very light-weight 16" Grendel barrel with 2 different supressors had OVER 8" poi shift. Almost off the paper. This is totaly unacceptable to me. If i had to make a quivk shot without the supressor at 100 yards i would easily miss my animal.
I would preffer 16" for the little extra velocity and to avoid some SBR hassle.
14.5" wins becouse it is stiffer, lighter, shorter which matters with can hanging off the end. Velocity loss is minimal but still there. The lower us already a SBR so it isnt a big deal EXCEPT if i travel.
So the two barrel leangths both have proes and cons.
I know the easy answer is Proof Carbon. Maybe i will go that direction. But if i can avoid dropping $1100 it would be nice. Craddock RTR 14.5" Grendel fluted barrel is around $550 and 26.5oz. Checks almost all the boxes.
To summarize:
14.5-16"
26-28oz
1 MOA or better
Stiff enough for minimal POI shift
Then i wonder if some "budget" barrels like the Wilson Combat Recon at $270 would do just fine. If it is stiff enough and will give close to 1 moa groups it might work out.
JP 6 ARC barrels also look good. But the profile is strange and i worry about hanging a supressor off the end and getting massive poi shift.
Any input
To sum
I want it to be able to take mule deer and smalled under 200 yards. If it can be exceptionally accurate i could also use it for coyotes.
Rifle will be supressored so i want a stiff enough barrel to not have a massive POI shift if i need to take a shot unsuppessed. I want 14.5-16" since it will have a supressor on the end and i will be using this climbing through the woods. In open country i will use my Tikka. I would like it to be around 26-28oz barrel. Sub MOA would be nice. I would love to shoot bug holes but honestly 1 moa is just fine.
Info about POI shift. I did some testing the other day. My 14.5" 5.56 criterion CORE is a reasonably light barrel but with a good contour with 2 different supressors had about 2" poi shift vertically. This is acceptable to me. If i made a quick shot unsupressed i would still get a hit out to 100 yards.
My very light-weight 16" Grendel barrel with 2 different supressors had OVER 8" poi shift. Almost off the paper. This is totaly unacceptable to me. If i had to make a quivk shot without the supressor at 100 yards i would easily miss my animal.
I would preffer 16" for the little extra velocity and to avoid some SBR hassle.
14.5" wins becouse it is stiffer, lighter, shorter which matters with can hanging off the end. Velocity loss is minimal but still there. The lower us already a SBR so it isnt a big deal EXCEPT if i travel.
So the two barrel leangths both have proes and cons.
I know the easy answer is Proof Carbon. Maybe i will go that direction. But if i can avoid dropping $1100 it would be nice. Craddock RTR 14.5" Grendel fluted barrel is around $550 and 26.5oz. Checks almost all the boxes.
To summarize:
14.5-16"
26-28oz
1 MOA or better
Stiff enough for minimal POI shift
Then i wonder if some "budget" barrels like the Wilson Combat Recon at $270 would do just fine. If it is stiff enough and will give close to 1 moa groups it might work out.
JP 6 ARC barrels also look good. But the profile is strange and i worry about hanging a supressor off the end and getting massive poi shift.
Any input
To sum
