Henry Rifle Forums

Some of you may remember my interest in building a ‘black gun’. I have succeeded! Put twenty rounds into a berm today. It is everything I was hoping for.

I made it in 6.5 grendel. A small, fast round. 123 grain is the average bullet weight. Moving around 2400 FPS. It’s report is similar to the 223. I put a muzzle device that focuses sound away from the shooter. It works. A very mild recoil, again no more than the 223.

One minor glitch with first rounds. A couple times the bolt did not close fully. Looking into that now. Should not be too hard to get it right.

Next time out I will get it on paper.

have to hand it to you, that's something way above my own paygrade .... I won't ride in a boat or airplane I've built nor will I ever shoot a firearm I've made ...

Sounds like you've done well, I've built a couple lowers, but
not an upper yet though. I do have a stripped one that matches one of the lowers.
Maybe one day.
Be interesting to see it on paper. Congrats on the build.

RP

Grendel seems like a great cartridge for that platform. Throws more lead than the 5.56 but little/no more blast & recoil.

That was my reasoning. Just getting started, but it seems to hold true. Really liking it.

Sound like a great build. I think there are a lot more interesting calibers out there for the AR than .223. I like mine in .223 but the one I built in 300Hamr is more versatile. My son built an AR in 6.5 Grendal and thinks it is the best thing since ice cream. Have fun shooting.

JEBar wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 08, 2021 10:11 pm

have to hand it to you, that's something way above my own paygrade .... I won't ride in a boat or airplane I've built nor will I ever shoot a firearm I've made ...

To each their own, but assembling an AR15 is a piece of cake.
I built my first AR15 in my dining room, by myself, with no more instruction that a tutorial I found on AR15.com
It took me all of 45 minutes to complete that first lower, mainly because I sent a detent pin into low-earth orbit and had to go searching for the thing.
That was a .223

I've since built more, for myself and many others.
I've now assembled complete AR15's, and a couple of AR10's, in .223, .300Blackout, 6.5 Grendel, 7.62x39, .308 Winchester, and 9mm.

Building AR15's is nothing more than an adult erector set.
They just go bang when you're done.

Well, it’s been a while. My rifle suffered from extraction and loading issues. I adjusted and tuned for some time. It finally came down to the bolt. Replacing the bolt that came with the barrel solved all my issues. I had purchased a bcg with appropriate bolt. I used the bolt that came with the barrel. It appears that was the mistake. Changed the bolt, like magic it works as advertised.

So, a defective bolt to be returned. I will finally be able to put some rounds on target. Not long til I will be able to use it for deer hunting.

An educational experience. As the whole build has been. Feeling much better about it.

Will show sight in results soon.

Congratulations. Glad you got it working as it should. AR's can be a great source of fun. Or frustration when they don't run correctly.

Paul

Yup. Happy smile today.