Found a precision rifle class where shoots will be up to 800 yards. I already have a psa 308 AR. Would that be good or should I look at a 6.5 Grendel? Looking for something that will drop right on an AR lower. Thoughts?

Thanks

300 BLK all day long!

I would look for a good 6.5 C upper to put on the .308.

6.5G will punch paper fine at 800+

so will 6.8, 224 valkyrie.

all have decent ammo selections available.  6.5G has steel case for blasting if you so choose

That what I was thinking. I will have to check into 6.5 Grendel further. I like the idea of cheap blasting ammo.

Another vote for 6.5 grendel here

If you're shooting anything other than steel/paper then 6.5 but if it's just for class and paper I'd do the Valkyrie, plinking ammo is about 40% cheaper and if you decide to stretch it out the numbers are in the .224 favor for maintaining supersonic.

Nothing against 6.5G at all...great caliber.  However, since you already have a PSA .308, doesn't the PSA 6.5CM pin right up to your lower?  I am not certain of this, but I'm sure others here or a call to PSA will address that.  Just a thought on an option.

Thanks for all the info , lots to think about.

.22 Valkyrie would be fun.

I shoot a .204 Ruger at those ranges, and even though there's not a lot of KE left, it's awesome to have such a flat-shooting, low-recoil, inexpensive-to-load round to shoot with.  The Valkyrie would have more energy for a more audible "ring", sometimes ringing steel @800 with the .204 isn't even audible with non-electronic earpro, you just have to watch through the scope for the bullet to blow up on the steel, or for the steel to swing.  

Your .308 will reach out to 800 yards, without to much work. If your looking for something new. There is the 6.5 Creedmoor (large frame), 6.5 Grendel (small frame), 224 Valkyrie (small frame). There’s several more options available, especially if you reload. The three mentioned are the latest go to’s for distance.

Yeah I am leaning towards just using my 308 and getting some better glass instead. Looking to not spend a bunch of money. I did find a savage bolt gun on gunbroker for about $270 in 6.5 creed which was interesting.

before I started playing the flavor of the week game I would take the 308 rifle I already own and put the best glass on it I could afford . Pay attention and practice the skills you learned . then later if you choose to continue you will have a better understanding of what suits you the best .

Spend your money on the best scope you can buy, and ammo, lots of ammo.

Superior skill can be learned, different gear won't make a difference if you don't practice.

.308 should handle that just fine. Find a load your rifle likes, and use it.

Ive take .223 out past 700, but had wind issues. It really just depends on how much you want to spend, and what you already have.

May end up being a moot point. I emailed them asking about gear selections for the class like 2 weeks ago. Nothing but crickets, no response at all.

Find a good load that your .308 shoots well and run it with good glass. .308 is plenty capable at those distances. No need to go buy a new upper unless you just have to have something in 6.5

Last time I was spotting for a really good shooter who brought 2 .308s to a precision rifle class, it confirmed what I've seen over the years.

He was making his shots right on my calls, no hesitation, and every round would either go L or R of a 12" popper at 700yds.

This guy had been through a week-long Magpul Course taught by former USMC Scout Sniper, Caylen Wojcik, who is a very accomplished shooter and good dude.

He had really nice .308s in chassis, great glass, bubble levels, good bipod, rear bag, suppressor, had very consistent impacts at 400yds repeatedly.  Everything was mounted well, full rifle checklist done on each of them, the ideal student to show up to these types of courses.

Another student I was coaching and spotting for:

I take this 20-smothing kid who bought a Ruger American 6.5CM and slapped someone else's very low end scope on it, never shot past 100yds in his life.

By noon, he was drilling that 700yd popper like it was easy, because it was, same day.

He got up off the rifle thinking that people had really over-sold how hard long range shooting can be.

Just this past weekend, I had another shooter who never shot a rifle at distance or had any training to speak of.

He shows up with a Ruger RPR in 6.5CM, topped with Vortex Razor HD glass, Atlas bipod, Prime 130gr Berger 6.5CM ammo.

By early afternoon, he's center-punching steel (as in dead-on center-punch) from 200-1000yds like it's cool, and this was after being told that since he's Left eye dominant, he'll be shooting left-handed for the first time.

If you want to get experience reading the wind as a spotter and like watching rounds fly way up into the air, then come down with more than 2 seconds of flight time, then set up behind someone that's shooting a .308 Win.  It's an awesome round for that, as it is so draggy, that you almost always get really big spiraling vapor trails that arc up into the atmosphere, then flow down in the general vicinity of the target.

If you want to actually hit the target repeatedly from 700yds to 1000yds +, get a 6.5CM or 260 Rem., or even 6.5 Grendel.

The main advantage with the 6.5 Grendel is that you won't be blasted off your sight picture by the muzzle concussion from the .308, so you can see much easier what's happening down range.

The old school gold standard 168g SMK .308 is greatly out matched by recent advances/improvements in bullets.  If your .308 AR handles 178g ELD or 175g SMK well those will perform better than the 6.5 Grendel IMAO (and I love my Grendel, don't own anything in .308).

They will still be inferior to the 6.5 CM or 260 Rem at those longer ranges.

However, as mentioned above, 800 yds is a real sweet spot for the Grendel.  It performs well with less recoil and less effort to keep your optics on target during shot follow-up.  Lighter rifle to move around also.

175gr SMK trajectory is very similar to 123gr 6.5mm AMAX and better, but the 6.5s have less wind drift.

Combine that with less than half the recoil, your barely disrupted sigh picture, and the advantage at long range starts leaning really hard to the Grendel over the .308 Win.

But yes, 175gr SMK is the bare minimum if you want to compete with a Grendel.  I haven't shot the 168 TMKs, but to me already years ago, I put .308 in my rear view mirror due to all the penalties that come with the cartridge that I feel are unnecessary now that I can have higher hit probability with a much lighter system.

I have a 22" 6.5 Grendel that is not living up to expectations -- cannot seem to improve on 123 grain Hornady Black (barely sub MOA) with handloads.

Just put together a 22" 6mm AR (Grendel based).  Initial accuracy with a 107 Grain Nosler is promising - 0.35" for a 5 shot group at 100 yds.  CFE223  is giving me 2790 fps and will be comfortably supersonic at 1000 yds.

What barrel/chamber?

All my Liljas and LaRue shoot very well, to the point I don't worry about it and just focus on hitting steel at distance.

A lot of the Liljas, Bartleins, and Criterions have enabled rapid-fired sub-MOA groups for me, from 100yds to 1k, even from 18" barrels or less, but I am up much higher than sea level.

That said, I've been wanting a 6mm AR for a long time.  I just need to decide what pipe and length to go with, as it smokes anything else out there for distance and wind drift that will double stack in the AR15.