I'm soon to be ordering an upper from J&T and just trying to be well informed before I buy.

My only complaint is the price of ammunition (as I build up my stock of brass for reloading)... but the round lives up to all the hype I  ever read.

Jamming really sucks when brand new brass that costs $1.00 a piece gets ruined. Magazines seem to be the issue.

Accuracy has been superb.

Yes.......I keep on ending up with another............
started with a 20 inch, got a 16 inch and now a 12 inch.........

I hope I don't end up with a 14.5 next........

Never had an issue wih mags.  Gun may require a box or two of breakin ammmo.  If you handload, do NOT use 2520 powder if you are in a hot climate and do not load hot rounds.

My AA "tactical" upper didn't come with M4 feed ramps. It would jam the nose of the
soft point Wolf rounds every mag or so. I modded my mag feed lips
slightly and that increased reliability, but I had to break out the
dremel to completely solve it. Problem is solved but now I have an upper
with dremeled ramps. They don't look bad, but if I ever want to sell I
can see some buyers not liking that.
There was a time last year when I decided to get some spare bolts, just
in case. Got them after 8 months of trying. Not acceptable.





Finding blasting ammo sucked until one website started selling 139gr SP bullets for 10 cents apiece. That was a great find and I have 5000 now, but before then it was a gun you shot 100 rounds a range session or less because of ammo costs.





I don't use it for 3 gun anymore because I don't like losing $100 in brass in a weekend.



Curlymaple42, 2520 is my fireforming powder and it works fine. Not near max load, though.

I got a 16" CAR style carbine upper from J & T a couple of weeks ago which I mated to a Double Star lower with RRA lower parts kit.  The upper and lower matched perfectly and looks like a factory rifle.  My barrel is a 1 in 9 twist chrome moley and the only ammo I've shot was Hornady factory 123 grain AMAX and Wolf 123 SP.  I used the first box of AMAX to break in  the barrel  and the last 20 rounds of AMAX and 10 rounds of Wolf for function testing and zeroing.  The rifle and mags have functioned 100 %.  My buddy shot the 6.5 G  off a Caldwell rifle rest and shot 3 rounds into two visible holes at 100 yards.  I just got 100 rounds of Hornady brass Saturday and hope to reload some ammo this week.  I bought 2 17 round mags,  1 10 round mag,  1 4 round mag and 1 26 round mag which have all worked perfectly.  Considering I've got about $850 in this rifle I'm very satisfied.   I hope to go hog hunting next year and wanted to take a 6.5 Grendel which handled just like my duty 16" CAR 5.56 carbine.  I'll also use the 6.5 Grendel for informal target shooting and varmints.   I'm sure my rifle will not shoot with a lot of the high dollar barreled rifles but I wanted a reasonable priced  more powerful cartridge than 5.56 but didn't want to go to the AR 10 size rifle.  At my present age I don't think I'm capable of shooting a rifle up to its full accuracy  potential and I'm very pleased with the fit, finish and function of my J & T.

I've never spent so much time walking around in circles looking for brass in the tall grass....and I've never brought a weed-eater to the range so I can trim around the shooting table.....until now .  Once I get sometihing better than the POS excuse for a brass catcher I am currently using, I will have absolutely no complaints.  I am really liking the Grendel!

I have had no feeding issues using C-Products mags after my initial 20 rounds or so (but they were pretty frustrating).  Fortunately, the rifle broke in nicely and I haven't done any tweaking of any kind to the mags to get them to run - 15s and 25s both work great.  I consider the mag issue a non-issue.

Cheap and easy to find 7.62X39 brass has made brass availability a non-issue also IMO.  And it looks like 6.5 Grendel brass is in stock all over the place now anyway.  Of course you need to be able to reload to shoot it at a reasonable cost - I just started because of this caliber, and am amazed at how much fun that aspect of shooting can be.  Something to consider if you don't already reload.

I will let you know if I have any complaints after deer season!

And now for the mandatory crappy pic.......


I have since added a PWS comp and think I like it....

If I had it to do over again I would take a hard look at the intended use for my Grendel before ordering parts. I wanted a deer/antelope/coyote killer that shot well under MOA and ended up with a 13# + rifle. Fortunatly I was able to canabilize some of my other AR's and ended up getting the weight down to 8 3/4#. If you reload lay in a good supply of brass when you find it.

Vascar, that car is SWEET!!  Never been a Camaro fan, but those new ones are sick!!

2520 I have found can be temperature sensitive.  I had over pressure signs when I was using a slightly below min load.  The difference between min and max on the published data is VERY small.  ANyways, temps in mid 90's and 2520 with 120gr bullets, not good.  What bullet are you using and what charge for fireforming?  I might use the 2520 for that, or in the winter anyways!

The more I shoot my Model 1 Sales 6.5 Sporter the more I like it.  In time my abilities will match the round I am shooting.  For now 1.5 inch groups at 100 yards are just fine.  I know it is me and not the rifle.  The last time I took the rifle to the range with a couple buddies one of the guys tried to cut a business card in half with it.  He was able to strike the playing card but it would only slice it about halfway before slipping by to the side.  

I was already a reloader so choosing the caliber was a no brainer.  At the same time I bought the 6.5 I bought a .50 Beowulf from AA and used only one bolt carrier group between the two of them.  Since then I have bought another bolt carrier and bolt and charging handle so all is good.  I haven't gotten into fire forming 7.62x39 brass yet since I don't own a trimmer.  In time my reloading will get to that level, up until then I just buy new components and keep the old brass for a rainy day.  

I can't wait for deer season to really see how this rifle performs.

I saw a custom made catcher on here one time - looked real light and useful. I think it was in the Build It Yourself forum.





eta - found it - http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=3&f=4&t=433430





Just modify the attachment mechanism to fit under the scope and you got it made.








You can use CP 7.62x39 mags and shoot your fireforming load from 30 round mags, if you want. There is no difference in accuracy and only a little in velocity.
 

Thanks for the link!  

You raise a good point about the x39 mags - I will order one shortly, and should have mentioned that the Grendel mags don't accept many 7.62x39 cases at all before feeding problems arise.  The case taper is very evident after loading 4 or so iirc.

J&T upper is inbound.  I will be ordering dies,bullets and brass tonight.

Load the bullets backwards for this trick.

I'm up to my third.  The first an Alexander Arms  Overwatch upper with Schilen barrel.  Its more accurate than me, but gave me fits with function problems for quite a while.  Last weekend it ran like the proverable Singer Sewing Machine,  digested everything I fed it with no problems.  I may have needed a longer breakin than I thought.  I'll freely admit some of the initial problems were my reloads. I think I was not bumpiing shoulder enough, especially on fireforming cases.

The other two are a 16" middy, and a 24# rifle, both using Adams Arms piston kits, and Daniel Defense rails , which I built myself. Although not as accurate as the standard gas system Overwatch upper, which has the premium barrel, they both worked perfectly from the beginning.

Ammo seems to be in good supply now, Wolf  has a couple of loadings, not the best stuff but fine for plinking or just starting out and breaking in the gun.  Hornandy has come on line and has several loadings plus offers brass.  I just ordered 300 cases from Graf's, abut $27 for 50, probably the best price out there now.  That was with a discount for having a C&R license on file with them.   The Lapua brass is very pricy but good, as is the Alexander Arms headstamped brass, which is made by Lapa.

When I was starting off I picked up 2000  cases for IMI 7.62x39 and sized them to 6.5 Grendel for fireforming.   Just drop loads about 10-12% load and shoot.  Fireforming loads, while not as fast as full loads are plenty accurate for casual shooting/plinking and can turn in some pretty good groups.  Going that route can really lower the cost.  I cannot remember the exact cost but I think that by buying the 1000 case lots I got the per case cost under 30 cents each, a  lot better than the  80-85 cent per case cost of the Lapua brass.

Now what I would like is a nice little bolt action styled somewhat like some of the pre WWII European sporters.

Nice idea Bretshooter, I'll just use my Beo next time.

As for fireforming, can you use full power loads to fireform?  How much trimming do you need to do to the cases once you have them formed?  Is fireforming really necessary since you have already resized it in your resizing die just like you would a once fired brass?

I second the "take a good hard look at what you want to do first". I also built a 13lb 20" Lothar-Walther barrel rig for my first grendel, and it now sits in the safe because I quickly followed that up with an M1S 16" 6.5 "Sporter" that comes in at a lean 7lbs.

Were I hunting woods like in VA or such I'd probably still carry the 13lber on occasion, but down here in the bogs and swamps in FL the weight of the rifle combined with a camel pak, food, heat, bugs, and sometimes miles of walking in knee-deep water and mud just makes for a miserable time.

Every ounce counts out here when you're on foot!

Also, the 4" reduction in barrel length makes things much easier to move about in thick brush/bushes/palmettos.

For fireforming, I generally use the recommended starting load for a bullet weight and powder.  So far the fireformed cases have not needed trimming.

If you resize a 7.62x39 case in a 6.5 Grendel die, load it and shoot it, that first time you shoot the cartridge you will fireform the case, so yes fireforming is necessary..  Even a new 6.5 Grendel case will be fireformed to your chamber the frist time it is shot.

It isn't really re-sized the first time because the die won't expand the case - it is only neck-sized and "shoulder-bumped" until fired.  After that it will stack correctly in the mag, and more importantly, accept more powder...I have yet to trim any fireformed Winchester brass fwiw...