Range Report - 6.5 Grendel and .308 Win, poor .223 performance

Got back out to the range today. Last week was my first trip to the range in about a year (didn't realize it had been that long). I had some serious issues last week with horizontal stringing, although I think I have that sorted out after adding some foam to the stocks of my rifles to improve cheek weld.

First up is my 20" DIY 6.5 Grendel.

Specs:

• Black Hole Weaponry 20" .264 LCB/6.5 Grendel barrel
• ALG Defense 15" EMR V1 M-LOK handguard
• RRA upper
• Andersen Manufacturing lower
• RRA 2 stage trigger
• A2 stock
• Aero Precision lightweight scope mount
• SWFA SS 6x mil-dot scope

Ammo used today was factory Hornady 123gr A-Max. These apparently have been discontinued, but is the same as the Hornady Black 123gr ELD except for having a different polymer tip. My best 3-shot group was ~0.37 MOA. Once I have a little more trigger time I'll be doing some 5- and 10-shot groups.

I've also got some 120gr Nosler BTs that I want to load up and compare to the A-Maxes.

I also took my new Savage 10 FCP-SR out for the first time. I didn't have any match grade ammo with me (Freedom Munitions 175gr SMK shot horribly), but I was pleasantly surprised at how well the box of PPU M80 145gr ammo shot.

I've got some match grade ammo on the way to establish a baseline for this rifle before I start reloading.

Finally, I'm getting a bit frustrated with my other Black Hole Weaponry barrel, this one in .223/5.56. I can't get anything to shoot well in it. Norma 75gr Match, Hornady 75gr Match, Federal 69gr Gold Medal Match, Wolf Gold 55gr... it all shot 2-3 MOA, with the Wolf shooting 3-4 MOA. I plan on shooting this same ammo out of my RRA next trip to the range and see if I just got a dud barrel.

Got back out to the range today -- my Grendel is frustrating me. I've got 3 different loads, all Hornady, 123gr AMax, ELD-M, and SSTs. None of it shot under 1.5 MOA today. By contrast, my Savage .308 FCP-SR shot very well, giving me my best group of the day, 4 shots into 1/2 MOA (all I had left was 4 rounds) using 175gr Federal Gold Medal Match.

I don't know if its me or the barrel on my Grendel. Part of me thinks it may be the ergonomics of the AR platform that keeps me from shooting it as well as a bolt gun. However, I've shot good groups with an AR before, so maybe its the barrel? I'm thinking about saving up for a Lilja barrel to see if it will shoot any better. In the mean time I'll try working up a few loads for the Grendel to see if I can find one the barrel likes.

In other news, don't buy IMI 175gr Match .308 ammo! I bought a box to test out and the first round blew the primer and required some hammering on the bolt to extract.

I've got the rings and base torqued to the recommended 15 in-lbs using my Wheeler Fat Wrench.

Thanks for the input. The BHW barrel is a 5.56 chamber, 1:8 twist -- which specific chamber I have no clue, and that info doesn't seem to be available. While I understand where you're coming from, I'm not necessarily after 1/4 MOA groups. And if a barrel requires me to fire form brass to get decent accuracy (for this build I was mainly interested hitting 1 MOA), then I do consider it a dud.