Been wanting to get into 6.5 Grendel for quite some time but wasn’t wanting to build a whole new rifle. Managed to grab an 18” Bear Creek barrel in 416R stainless for $70 from r/GunAccessoriesForSale. I already reload for 6.5 Creedmoor so I had 6.5 bullets, I had about 15 pieces of Grendel brass I had picked up over a year ago so I figured why not try it out?

I had an upper I wasn’t using so I pulled the barrel and slapped this in and loaded up some ammo. I did 5 rounds of RL15 and 10 of CFE223 powders. Initial sight in I shot a 3/4” group at 50 yards using the RL15 loads. Then shot 2 groups at 100 got roughly 1.5” five shot groups with the CFE loads. Looking back I should have shot the RL15 loads at 100, which I’ll do next time.

Initial impression is fairly positive. I realize BCA is not a superstar when it comes to barrels but I think I like the 6.5 Grendel round itself. Recoil is nowhere near my 6.5 Creedmoor, and feels comfortable to shoot.

Rifle specs:

• BCA 18” stainless mid length barrel
• Athlon Talos 4-16x40
• AIM sports rail
• Atlas bipod
• Cheap amazon scope mount
• Used a lower from another rifle
  

https://imgur.com/a/8v473nR