Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles PSA 6.5 Grendel

Took out my new PSA 18" SS 6.5 Grendel today. Didn't have a ton of time but I wanted to see how it shot. I put 60rds of cheap wolf ammo through it, with less than stellar accuracy. Then shot 6rds of 120gr Fusions out of a pretty warm barrel. My 4th shot was bad, and I knew it. That opened up the group to 2". Without that one I was at about 1.3". Not terrible for a cheap upper. I let it cool for a bit while shooting my Swede, then shot 3 more. That tightened things right up. I know guys like 5 shot or 10 shot groups, but this is going to be a hunting gun so I was pretty happy with how it shot at 100yds. The only issue I had was a sometimes it would fail to feed. Not sure if it's the new 10rd ASC mags or needs more gas. I'm thinking it was the mags as it also happened when I closed the bolt and it didn't pick up a round. Still learning about this AR stuff!

Looks great to me. Packy

Not bad. Accuracy can be really dependent on ammo of course.

Barrel probably needs a few more rounds too. Even great barrels usually get better after a 100 or so rounds. The gun will usually cycle better too. Make sure its well oiled. not greased and not dry.

Mags seated totally if it wouldn't strip a round? And next time it locks open, check to make sure its ALL the way back where it locked, not almost.

I definitely didn't have it well oiled. I cleaned it and oiled real it good when I got home though. It's all a learning curve for me right now, being brand new to the AR.

Ptarmigan,

Is this the complete rifle from PSA that is like finding a unicorn? I think my next AR purchase will be a 6.5 Grendal and this one is at the top of my list. I've seen some Youtube videos and they all seem good to go except when used with steel casing ammo. If you don't mind, how much was the rifle from PSA?

This was a just an upper with BCG/charging handle for $349. I had bought a .223 wylde complete upper kit and stripped lower a couple of months ago. For now I’ll just switch out uppers but will probably end up buying a dedicated lower for it.

Thanks for the information. I bought a .223 Wylde complete upper from Bear Creek a little over a week ago. I didn't know about the issue they had with ICE, but the price of under $190 shipped is why I bought it, I would have gone PSA had I known of the issue. I have to get a lower for the upper, as this is my first AR. I can't wait to actually get home and get it all put together. It looks like between job hunting, VA appointments, and catching up on a years worth of honey do's, I should get some range time in.

With free shipping plus your FFL transfer, one of these lowers from PSA would be about perfect. I added a CMC trigger to mine which bumped the cost, but is definitely better than the mil-spec, though this lower has their "enhanced" trigger.


PSA lower

Yeah, I am actually thinking about buying one of those and then a stripped lower to build another one. My oldest leaves for Army basic on Sunday, and I'll be back home for good when he returns home from AIT. Since he's going National Guard and not AD, he wants to build an AR when he gets home. This 6.5 Grendel dream I have at the moment may just be that until then.

Well PSA, and everybody else in the budget gun world, always have deals running on their stuff. Should be a good welcome home project when he's done with AIT!

Well, I just got a Daily Deal email from PSA and what is on sale? Why your 6.5 Grendel upper with an 18" barrel and 15" hand guard. I now have one on the way. The wife is probably not going to be happy with me, but it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

LOL, that's gonna be on my headstone! Hopefully yours is a good shooter too. Fun little round!

problem here usually, when I order a new gun, I generally end up ordering 2 either right away or once the wife sees the latest one.. LOL

The last custom barrel we had put on a bolt gun was hers, not mine.

Anyway I think you will be happy with the Grendel.

I've actually though a 22ppc, 6mmppc and 6.5 ppc (Grendel) would be a neat set to have

I’m Really looking at building a 243 lbc and run those 108gr hornady eld-m.

I'm going to see how I like the AR world, before I break off into custom chamberings, etc. After carrying an AR for numerous deployments, I never cared to actually own one. The son coming to me and asking to build an AR when he gets back kind of intrigued me. A couple of the guys on contract here with me are big into ARs so that is kind of what got me to actually order an upper two weeks ago. The 6.5 Grendel has intrigued me for quite a while, and I figured for under $300 what could do wrong.

For years of shooting and winning with the AR even up to nationals, I still don't care for them that much. The M14 felt much better as does a bolt gun.

That said for what we were shooting, the AR simply did what it needed to better than anything else.

Of course there are still a pair of Mc stocked M1As in the safe for the wife and I when we want to shoot something that feels good. LOL

Many many many yrs ago long before I joined the Army I was enamored with M1A's . Then I joined the Army shot the M16's. Got a lot wiser realized the m16/m4 is a far superior battle rifle than the m14/m1a. I feel right at home with a AR15..

I felt the same way, then in December I saw psa was having a sale on strippedlowers $39.99 so I ordered 4 of them, then they were having a sale on their rifle kits. I bought one for $299. Now it's morphed into 3 complete AR's. I built one for my daughter it's just a 1-9 twist but I got a great deal on the complete upper for $100 with bcg. I have a total of $360 into that build. Now I have two stripped lowers on the way, seeing stick post on the 243 lbc has me intrigued. I will e building it for mid range shooting. I just picked up another straight 10x swfa.

I can see that being the case. ARs feel at home, I think I could work one in my sleep, wife too most likely. Still don't feel as good as other guns, but when you realize what they are capable of and how well they work you simply get used to em and use em.

One suggestion on chambers too, if you are going to shoot all single load or all mag length, you might consider looking into whatever chamber you are getting, and see if its right for that length or could be done in a better way. especially if its for paper shooting at mid or longer ranges.

You bring up a great point my buddy was having a hell of a time single feeding his 6.5 Grendel. But when I was scoring for him, I'm pretty sure it was a reloading issue. I think he wasn't sizing his cases right. But he said it was the sharp angle of the case that make it a pain to single shot.