Is there a general consensus for the best value in 6.5 Grendel barrels right now?  By best value I mean performance vs. cost.  I see barrels all over the place from the Brownell's Premium line all the way up to Proof Research's offerings.  

Are there any that perform really, really well for their cost or are you generally looking at Lilja, Shilen, Bartlein, Obermeyer, Kreiger, etc?

Odin Works is a lot of bang for your buck.

I saw complete Wolf 6.5 Grendel uppers for sale a week or two ago for $399.

Yes, the same Wolf that makes ammo. It is a 16 inch M4-profile nitrided barrel I believe. Hell of good deal.

Best bang for the price is going to be the 195 dollar AA barrel. People have posted great groups with it.  AS a person who is under the you get what you pay for category I spent my cash on a bartlein barrel from precision firearms.  If you want instant gratification I wouldn't go this route as I am approaching 4 months since my order.

I went with a Black Hole Weaponry Grendel barrel and am happy because I was able to get exactly what I wanted spec-wise.  They have sales sometimes either around holidays or SHOT Show. Mine loves Lapua bullets. VERY tight chamber and throat.

65grendal groups buys for faxon are a good price atm

I have been really impressed with these little fluted 16" barrels from AA.

One forum member shot a 10rd sub .8 MOA group with his, and the ones I've helped install/build up for friends are shooting MOA or better.

For longer barrels, I've had consistent and super accurate results with the Lilja drop-in pipes, but the price goes up a bit, well worth it to me.

With the Liberty Barrels from Brownell's, the 18" have MLGS with a .094" port, so you really need to choke it with adjustable gas and heavy buffering.

The JP barrels shoot lights-out, even at ELR.

What length/purpose are you looking for?

For it to be handy in the field (potentially hunting) while also having the ability to participate in 1k F-class comps when I get the time. I was leaning toward 20" but I'm open to 18" to re-barrel my Barnes Precision set up.

Those are Anderson uppers

If you are 6ft or taller, consider an 18-20" barrel.  Since you are closer to sea level, more barrel length with as tight of a twist as you can get will help with F Class.

Being handy in the field leans towards lightweight.  These are normally mutually exclusive requirements, but I have found surprising accuracy from the lightweight Lilja barrel in my 18" Grendel.

It's like a do-all rifle, capable of maneuvering in Close Quarters pretty much like an M4, then capable of out-reaching the M24 at distance, with rapid-fire capability at distance.

You replied to my "6.5G scout rifle" thread in GD. I am leaning more and more that route, at least for a future build. I may split the builds up and have a dedicated 20" 1k gun and a lightweight 16" build for a general purpose rifle.

Really appreciate your knowledge and input re: all things 6.5G.

Tagging this, need a 6.5 complete for a build. Looking for the same thing, good balance of price and quality

Ok, Odin Works is showing 20" rifle gassed barrels in stock but not BCG/bolts. I should be able to get a bolt from AA and, so long as it head spaces, put it in my 5.56 BCG and be gtg, correct? The bolt doesn't have a lot to do with AR accuracy if I remember right?

Correct on the bolt and bcg part. Not sure about your second question but I don't think a bolt has much effect on accuracy as long as it is in spec. Maybe clean it up with some polish to smooth things out but that's really about it.

The more square the bolt face is to the bore, and the tighter the bolt fits into the extenstion, the better the accuracy.

The tighter the bolt fits, the less reliable the gun will be, which is why you want about .003" of slop.

It's best to get the barrel and bolt from a competent shop who knows how to spec all of the parts in order to make them work well together.

Think of all the lessons-learned that happen along the way when you actually test fleets of rifles, and how that allows the product to be refined.

Just so I'm clear, are you saying avoid mixing Odin with AA and wait for an Odin BCG/barrel combo when available or avoid Odin altogether?

sorry dupe.

I have a Black Hole Barrel, shoots great. Loves factory a-max 123gr, sub .5moa.

Got a great deal on it from SSA, included a free stripped upper.

Not saying that, and in my experience with many different barrels from many different sources, I generally find that .135" bolts meant to work with chambers cut that way do.

I have no experience with Odin Works though, so I can't say either way.

I'm very hesitant to promote a product I have never put my hands on, and even when the sample sizes are small, I make it a point to mention that, especially with some of the recent entrants to the market who have screwed things up that I never imagined possible, like Radical Firearms with the barrel extensions coming loose and price points that make you suspect Asian components in the guns.

The last thing I want is to recommend something to someone, then have them experience failures, and associate me with that product recommendation.

The barrels I have had the most exposure to in terms of round count and sample sizes are:

AA, including 16" older models, 16" Light Fluted, 18", 20" fluted (Satern), 24", and 28"fluted (Satern).

Lilja, including 16" Wasp, 18" Wasp, 18" 319, 18" 319 Fluted, 20" Wasp, 20" AR740, 23" Bull, 23" bull fluted.

A few Bartleins, a few BHWs in .264 LBC-AR and one in 6.5 Grendel SAAMI, Specialized Dynamics .264 LBC 20", Brownell's Liberty 18" MLGS, Midway Liberty 18" MLGS, Underground Tactical 18" MLGS, and a bunch of others I've forgotten.

Based on these experiences, I have seen very consistent performance from AA, PF, and Lilja.  If the barrels were chambered by AA, the Satern pipes have been phenomenal.

The worst so far was the single sample Underground Tactical 18" MLGS, in that I simply could not get it to run reliably, even with adjustable gas after at least 3 range trips.  It was accurate as sin, but no worky.  That never has happened before with any of the others.

For the money, the AA 16" Lightweight Fluted is the one to beat.  I don't know how they do it and make money with the fluting and make them that accurate, but they do for $195.  There's a forum member here that posted a 10-shot group that was in the .8s, and they are squirrely little guns to try to hold still, even in the bags.  The ones I have helped friends build locally all have shot 5rds into MOA in at least some of the groups, and 4 easily into .5 MOA regularly.

The 2 most accurate in the groups I have shot were one particular Bartlein from PF, 20", which started to scare me because the bullets just kept going into the same hole even as I racked the round count up to at least 8 rounds, followed by AA/Satern at 700yds swinging the IPSC flagger with boring regularity, as well as the Lilja barrels that I have rapid-fired several 5rd groups into the .2s and .3s, witnessed.

My super lightweight Lilja 318 18" Grendel shocked me by allowing me to shoot an 8" vertical 6rd group, rapid-fired, at 1000yds, off the bipod on a cement bench at North Springs.  10rd group at 100yds is a ragged hole, waste of time and ammo.  400-700yds even on 12" plates is boring with it from the prone or bipod-supported with rear bag.

There are so many good options with this cartridge, with known quality barrel manufacturers, that I personally feel very comfortable with the sources I have personally vetted over these years since 2009.

I haven't even shot a JP yet, but I know how they shoot in other cartridges, and have seen many results of them and know John Paul personally, to the extent that I recommend JP products without reservation.  That's the one exception I will make, because I have used so many different JP products over the years that I know what I'm getting with them.  The guy who shot the 1000yd and 1518yd milk jug challenges with his 22" JP speaks for itself.

Thank you very, very much for that write up.  I am placing an order for a AA 16" barrel and bolt today and will place an order for a 20" barrel in the future based on your input.  Again, I really appreciate it.

If you want a FH, order theirs or you will have to get an adapter to use other sources

I would like to possibly run a can on it in the future.  I will have to cal Yankee hill to see if they have a QD adapter for my phantom in that thread pattern.

Edit: Yea, YHM has a QD mount in that thread pitch for $90.  Anyone have an opinion on the Vltor FH ($60.45) vs. the standard A2 FH ($16.50) AA offers?

I normally use A2 hiders most of the time.

The only downside for me is that I like to use zero torque with thread locking compound for no muzzle stress, and the A2 comps require clocking, which requires a precision shim set for me.  I have all the washers, so not a big deal.  Most people just use a crush washer and don't even think about a precision shim set.

The VLTOR doesn't require clocking, so zero torque is easy to do with it.

Most reputable suppressor companies make 9/16x24 devices, so it's never been an issue finding brakes or hiders with QD for cans.

I like the TBAC devices and suppressors a lot.

The TBAC Ultra 5 doesn't even feel like there is a can on the gun, even on a 20", and they are really quiet.

This is a great thread for barrel info, thanks. I am currently in the same decision making mode. Id like a barrel for hunting deer-sized gameand good accuracy out to 700-800 yds in an ar15 size. The grendel looks goo for this.

I like the looks of the Odin Works 18" and dont mind the weight over some of the smaller profiles. The AA 16" looks appealing as well.

Well I'm perhaps the one guy who was not impressed with the AA  16" lightweight fluted barrel accuracy.  Mine shot about 1.5 moa 3 shot groups at 100 with factory Hornady a max and sst ammo.  Gave up after about 200 rounds...now on week 14 wait for my Bartlein 16" barrel from PF!

I will be so damn happy if the $195 barrel I receive is holding 1.5 moa. I'm expecting 2 moa.

Roger that!  You should be fine.  I'm wishing I had not sold mine off so fast, wait is killing me from PF.  I might have my 12.5" G finished first....

Week 3 here. Clearly you are much more patient than I am, so if you want I'll take your barrel and you can have mine. 

I just spoke with a rep from AA the other day.

They had just relocated their shop to an off base facility. They are having issues getting all of their equipment back online.

They expected that barrels and bolts would be shipping out mid to late January

Well...shit.  I got the back order notice as well.  I was going to call them after the holidays to see what sort of time frame I was looking at.  Thanks for posting.

I feel your pain, I'm kind of chomping at the bit to get going myself. Just got a BCA Side charging upper waiting to go.

I love my Grendel for mid sized game, mine has taken 2 mule deer and 2 black bears, 3 of the 4 have taken one shot to drop, my gf hit hers a bit far back and he moved maybe 50yds and just laid down. One more round to the neck did the trick. It's also taken a coyote but that's not very note worthy.

I use an 18" Christensen barrel and I love it. I can also recommend Lilja, I used their 319 fluted for a while and it's a quality piece. I'm thinking about building another cheaper 16" Grendel or buying a bolt gun chambered in Grendel next year just to have another rifle chambered for it.

I see Brownells has their 6.5G barrels in 18" & 24" in stock. Has a .136" bolt and is 1-8 twist. There are a couple of bad reviews on their site. Anyone comment on these? Made by Satern.

Those are Liberty button-rifled barrels with a different chamber.

Many people have had good results, others haven't.

The one I ordered and the others I have seen use a .094" gas port diameter on the MLGS 18", which is much too large.  MLGS 18" needs a .076".

Satern are actual cut-rifled barrels.  Liberty is the affiliated button-rifled barrel maker run by Steve Satern's wife, last I checked.

If you do get the 18" MLGS Liberty barrel, you need to choke the gas port or gas system with adjustable gas and buffer it heavy.

Well, I've ordered an AA 16" lightweight for a light weight build and a Bartlein 720 20" with super match bolt to re-barrel my precision AR.

The Bartlein is quoted with a 10-12 weeks weight. It's going to be a long three months.

Hopefully the AA backorder will ship sometime toward the end of January.

Waiting sucks.

I bet that Bartlein takes longer. I still haven't taken delivery of the same barrel I ordered back on August 24th. By my count I'm at 18 weeks. Last email said end of December, first week of January.  If it goes much past January i am going to have to start exerting some pressure to deliver, my patience, what little I have only goes so far.

Agree the 10-12 week posted PF Barlein lead time is not current.  I ordered mine days before CaliC back in Aug.  The only thing giving me any semblance of patience to hang on is the accuracy expectation...will make the wait worth it.  I would be relieved to take Jan '17 delivery.  Mark had stated 16 weeks when we spoke on the phone back in Aug.  And here I was thinking I would hunt deer and hogs with it this season.

At least my 6.5G will be up and running before my Sandman-S gets out of jail...

Well...that sucks.  Thanks for letting me know. I guess I'll treat it like a NFA item and just forget about it until it comes it.

Which honestly never really happens.  As long as I get my AA barrel first I suppose so I can have something to play with.

I'll be taking my 24" out next weekend.
So far I am not impressed, I fired 10 factory rounds into my bullet trap, their headspace grew .014", not good for brass life. Don't have a HS gage so I don't know if it is over or not.
I guess once it is fire formed that will be it but my Lapua brass will do the same. Hate to get that much stretch on the first firing.

I am going to look into it further, cut a case open to see if the cases thinned out too much.

Popn,
       I noticed the same thing with my Satern 18" barrel. The headspace grew out about 15/1000ths on the first firing. I have been bumping the shoulder back 4/1000ths, no functionality issues.

Like you, I was concerned and paid attention to the brass shot thru the rifle. Because of this, I have only shot Hornady brass thru it, wanting to see what it did before I started running my Norma and Lapua brass thru it.

My Hornady brass is now coming up on the 5th firing and will be retired after that. The rifle has over 600 rounds thru it. No major issues.

I did have one case rupture but I don't think it had anything to do excessive headspace, as the crack was high near the shoulder and it was inline with the ejection marks on the case. I chalked that up to a bad case.

I use my Grendel for competition and some hunting, and it excels at both. As I mentioned to LRRPF52, I may never use my .308's for hunting again, I like it that much.

SY

Good to know, I bought 100 factory rounds of Hornady 123amax mainly for the brass. You can spend $75/100 for Hornady brass or loaded rounds for $90/100. Figured I would use the Hornady brass for plinker loads(90gr Speer), if I can get 5 loadings out of it I will be happy.

Popn,
       Hornady shoots good for a factory offering. I have shot the factory ammo out to 600yds and it will hold sub moa.

The Amax offering is a little hotter than my handloads, but almost as accurate. The Amax is my preferred competition bullet.

The SST line is great. POI is within 1/2moa of my handloads out to 300yds(my self imposed limit). Great round, took 2 Texas deer with it over Thanksgiving.

The 5 loadings I mentioned on the Hornady brass was with near max charges of IMR8208 under a 123Amax. Take that for what it is worth.

SY

So I posted on Precision Firearm's Facebook asking for an updated ETA and mentioned these wait times. They just replied and said 12-14 weeks right now and that anything in the 18+ week wait time is either something really custom or something screwy is going on. When I get home I'll post a screenshot of the exchange. Don't know what you two ordered. You might want to reach out to them.

Thanks for the heads up.  I shot off an email to Mark at PF for a status check on my Aug 19, 2016 order for a Type 8  Bartlein barreled upper.

Honestly, I view pretty much all the other companies besides the ones above as a gamble.  You might get lucky and get a great barrel and you might have thrown your money away.

Personally, I would order a Kreiger.

The Facebook post I mentioned is below.  I just had a random guy message me saying he's at 21 weeks for a barrel just like mine and to not believe that post.  So who the fuck knows.  I'm seriously reconsidering this purchase...

I can tell you the barrel I ordered was a 20 inch bartlein 720 medium Hbar profile. The only options I got on the barrel were a threaded barrel. About as basic as it comes.

So you have at least 3 people far exceeding his listed wait times, who you going to believe in this instance?  I will be honest and upfront and say leading up to my barrel purchase I had emailed them 3 times asking questions that would effect what I purchased. never got a response.  I called twice and left messages 2 weeks apart looking for the same info, never got called back.

I was skeptical about ordering but everyone online says Mark is a stand up guy that does great work. So I took the plunge.  About a month goes by and I am call and couldn't believe my luck when he answered the phone.  This process has not been customer friendly at all. I own a business and have for 17 years now. There are times when I get out 2-3 months and 3 months is my cut off time for taking on any new work.

In my experience people don't want to wait past 3 months, they start calling and pressuring for dates and to be the next worked on. This is also before I have a single cent of their money as I don't bill until job completion. which can be over 50k, not 600 dollars .  I'm sure Mark is a great guy, but his communications need alot of help.

Well, as I said, I'm sure they're great people making great barrels but I'm seriously reconsidering the purchase now. I'm like your customers: 12 weeks and I start to get antsy.  This is a nice-to-have item, not a need, and I doubt I'll be able to justify the accuracy from a Bartlein.  I'm going to wait until something is available elsewhere and give them a shout. If we're not any closer, I'll cancel and get something else. I'm not excited about the wait, that's for sure.

Just a heads up, as of this post, JoeBobOutfitters has the Odin Works barrels with BCGs in stock. Pick up the 18" kit to try out for an all-around barrel, target & hunting.

I appreciate the heads up on this.  I placed an order for a 20" with gas block and bolt and a Spike's melonited gas tube.

I called and spoke to Mark at PF.  He seemed honestly surprised at the number of people contacting me about the wait time. He said they were actively shipping orders that were placed at the end of August right now. Which if I look at a calendar is over 16 weeks ago. I replied back to my order confirmation email and requested a cancel and refund.

Joeboboutfitters stated 2 days to ship. Now that wait starts. Between AA supposedly shipping this month and JBO, maybe I'll have a pipe to shoot these Wolf rounds through eventually.

I am actually surprised that the 20" is selling faster than the 18". Looking for more of a target/longer range upper?