My New Les Baer Super Varmint in 6.5 Grendel-Check Out the Accuracy!!

thehaunt

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Minuteman
Jun 12, 2013
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Temecula,Calif
Hey Guys---Just picked this up and have been waiting for the scope.Haven't had time to shoot it yet but thought I'd throw up some pix and the paper test shot at the factory. Build quality is exceptional. All main parts made at Les Baer's factory.24" single cut stainless match barrel;Geissele 2-stage trigger,receivers,barrel,gas block ,handguard,etc. are all by Les Baer. Tightest fitting receivers I've seen. I thought the fit of my JP scr-11 receivers was tight and these are even tighter. Scope is a Bushnell Elite Tactical 6-24 x50 on a ADM Recon mount that is not set up correctly yet,but you can get an idea.Comes w/ the Versapod that cants,swivels,and has QD.





 
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The LB ARs are VERY impressive when it comes to the accuracy they are capable of printing. I've yet to fire one that wasn't a laser right out of the box.

Congrats on a fine new addition to the herd!
 
I'm a huge Grendel fan. For most matches out to around 800 meters I don't think there are many other semi-autos that come close to it's combination of impact power on steel and very low recoil. The low recoil allows for really fast follow up shots, and the impact is much greater than the 5.56x45, so it is far easier for spotters to call hits on steel. I was shooting mine in the stiff wind storm we had here in the Puget sound area last Saturday, and didn't have any problem hitting the 66% IPSC silhouette at 535 yards. Great wind bucking ability with the 123 grain bullets. Your rifle sure looks like a great shooter.
 
Nice rig and shooting! I had a .264ARP and it was a laser, ending up getting into 6.5CM and sold it. You won't find a much better LR choice in a AR15 than a .264/6.5g unless you go with one of the 6mm wildcats.
 
Thanks Bertman--I have a JP SCR-11 Grendel side-charge also. Took it and the LB on a trial basis.Both great rifles. Unfortunately one has to go back.Same caliber but different rifles. It's a tough decision. JP only has 40 rds through it.
 
I'm a huge Grendel fan. For most matches out to around 800 meters I don't think there are many other semi-autos that come close to it's combination of impact power on steel and very low recoil. The low recoil allows for really fast follow up shots, and the impact is much greater than the 5.56x45, so it is far easier for spotters to call hits on steel. I was shooting mine in the stiff wind storm we had here in the Puget sound area last Saturday, and didn't have any problem hitting the 66% IPSC silhouette at 535 yards. Great wind bucking ability with the 123 grain bullets. Your rifle sure looks like a great shooter.


Yes but, that's not a Grendel. That is a 264LBC which has a different neck dia and throat. Just ask the Grendel guys, they'll tell you quick if the chamber doesn't have a .300 neck and compound throat it isn't a Grendel.
 
So, your saying Les Baer manufactures Geiselle triggers? ;>)

Nice rifle, BTW. From reading this website, I thought only GAP could make an accurate AR, to buy anything else is just a waste of money. ;>)
 
I'm just busting your chops a bit. Mostly out of envy!
That is a seriously nice rifle, I would love to be able to afford one of his AR10 varities.
All main parts made at Les Baer's factory.24" single cut stainless match barrel;Geissele 2-stage trigger,receivers,barrel,gas block ,handguard,etc. are all by Les Baer.
 
Yes but, that's not a Grendel. That is a 264LBC which has a different neck dia and throat. Just ask the Grendel guys, they'll tell you quick if the chamber doesn't have a .300 neck and compound throat it isn't a Grendel.

Technically, that is correct, and I have had rifles chambered for both. I have also had a rifle chambered for the 6.5 CSS. Now that the Grendel has received SAAMI standardization, that sort of leaves the 6.5 CSS, and the 264 LBC as wildcats, much like the Grendel used to be. When you can safely shoot any of those three cartridges (6.5 CSS, 6.5 Grendel, 264 LBC) in a rifle with any one of the three chambers, what people is called is of much less importance than when there is truly a major difference such as the 6 mm Grendel.

I find it amusing when people get all wrapped around the axel over whether a rifle is called one name rather than another over a small technicality. If someone doesn't know what the 264 LBC is and they say "Which cartridge is that?", the usual response is "It is like the 6.5 Grendel."

I would note that the owner of the rifle refers to it as a 6.5 Grendel.

I guess the old saying of "A rose by any other name, is still a rose" would apply here.
 
I guess the old saying of "A rose by any other name, is still a rose" would apply here.
I would agree except that is more accurate than any Grendel I have ever seen.
In 2007 I designed a chamber similar to the Grendel but with a smaller neck dia and 1.5 degree throat. It shot better for me than the G chamber. Les Baer designed the 264LBC very close to what my chamber was a few years later. When we started producing barrels in 2011 I used my design and stamped 6.5G/264LBC on the barrel to show they would shoot either ammo since for all practical purposes they are the same. The Grendel guys jumped all over me for saying it was a Grendel. I couldn't remove the stamp from the barrel but I did remove "Grendel" from the name on the website. They are very protective of the Grendel name, I'll make sure I don't use it on any products from now on.
 
Thanks Unknown and Bustin. Here's a link that deals w/ the semantics:.264 LBC-AR: A Grendel clone - The Firearm Blog
I called Les Baer and they said that it was a Grendel that would shoot both a Grendel and .264 round. LB had to change it a little to avoid an infringement problem w/ AA.So I guess you could call it LB's Grendel.I guess tecnically it's not a "real" Grendel but practically it is.
I call it a Grendel and the dealer I purchased it from did too. Only thing that matters to me is that it fires the Grendel round very accurately.
 
I would agree except that is more accurate than any Grendel I have ever seen.
In 2007 I designed a chamber similar to the Grendel but with a smaller neck dia and 1.5 degree throat. It shot better for me than the G chamber. Les Baer designed the 264LBC very close to what my chamber was a few years later. When we started producing barrels in 2011 I used my design and stamped 6.5G/264LBC on the barrel to show they would shoot either ammo since for all practical purposes they are the same. The Grendel guys jumped all over me for saying it was a Grendel. I couldn't remove the stamp from the barrel but I did remove "Grendel" from the name on the website. They are very protective of the Grendel name, I'll make sure I don't use it on any products from now on.

I think people were hyper-sensitive to some of the name and chamber discrepancies, not because of any of your barrels, but the no-name ones that would show up quite regularly with things like 1/2x28 muzzle threads, chambers that wouldn't allow factory ammunition to go into battery-or if they did, would not extract reliably for a number of reasons.

Some of these barrels had things like "6.5 Gren" engraved on them, or "6.5 G", etc., but were gun-show grade garbage with no trace as to their origins. Guys would start a thread listing issues they were having, and people would chime in to help trouble-shoot, until 3 pages later, someone would finally ask, "What make exactly is this thing, and where did you get it?"

Alexander Arms even took some of these in that literally had no connection to them, other than they were passed off onto some poor sucker as a "6.5 Grendel", when they clearly were not, and replaced the barrel and bolt with their products on AA's dime. There was at least one guy who ditched the whole endeavor together out of sheer frustration, which he associated as being a 6.5 Grendel problem, even though his barrel/bolt came from an unknown origin, had a crazy gas port diameter, short shoulder, .292" neck, extremely short freebore, etc. The only thing it had in common with a Grendel was the bore diameter.

Some wannabe gunsmith saw a new cool trend hit the market, and started cranking out products that he felt he improved, then slapped "6.5 Grendelish" on it, and the thing was a total money pit that ate quality ammo and spit out worthless brass and malfs. I personally would be incensed if I wasted my money and range time to have that kind of experience.

So the reputable companies using .264 LBC chambers aren't the problem, and it's been a while since we've seen anything atrocious come up on the radar to be honest. Any reasonable manufacturer wants to ensure that something new stays standardized so that customers can all use factory ammo safely and reliably.

Now that 6.5 Grendel has been SAAMI spec'd, it isn't a huge issue. There are plenty of people with .264 LBC-AR and 6.5 CSS chambers killing game left and right with their rifles, and plenty of us with SAAMI Grendel chambers that eat anything they're fed and still run beautifully.

I don't really see the point in stirring the pot on the 6.5 Grendel/.264 LBC-AR debate at this stage in the game. People are plenty happy with their barrels made by reputable manufacturers, whether they be AA, JP Enterprises, Precision Firearms, Templar, Satern, Les Baer, Saber Defense ( a bunch of their barrels recently showed up on the market for some reason ), AR Performance, J&T/Double Star, BHW, Christiansen's, SAOD, LRP, Specialized Dynamics, etc.

The OP has beautiful groups, and I'm looking forward to seeing how this stick shoots at 600yd and farther.
 
Bustin,
You are right. I think that no matter what you put on the barrel, someone wouldn't be happy until they found something to bitch about.

LRRPF52
I had precisely one of the "Grendel's" you refer to. Because of problems with it, I returned it to Alexander Arms, and spoke with Mr. Alexander. The tipoff that the rifle wasn't an authentic "Alexander Arms" rifle was the thread pattern used under the flash suppressor/muzzle brake. Every thing else looked perfect Alexander Arms though. Mr. Alexander was wonderful to me, and he felt badly that I had been chumped by someone who was selling counterfeit rifles under his name. Mr. Alexander was kind enough to turn my counterfeit rifle into a genuine Alexander Arms rifle for a very attractive price...way to attractive for me to turn down. I guess he took pity on me after he learned why I wanted one of his rifles.

In any case, that rifle from Mr. Alexander continues to give yeoman performance and is one of my favorites at practical rifle matches. It shoots right around .75 MOA, but the neat part is that it seems to do that regardless of whether I'm having a good or bad day, or which load I feed it. It is very easy to shoot it well so I really enjoy it. I just wish ammo was more commonplace for this round.
 
I have a LB super varmint being built for me now and should be ready any day in .223. I guess this might very well be my next purchase in those weapons used only in the theater of war. Jesus that is a shooter! If it shoots factory squibs that good then why bother with load development. You have chosen wisely my son! Congrats on a nice purchase.