MRA Renegade, 6.5 Grendel, and hard extractions

oppy

oppy

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Just curious if anybody had some ideas or thoughts on this. I have an MRA Renegade and I put a 6.5 Grendel barrel on it last year (it's a 20" MRA barrel, if that matters). Before that I had a 16" .223 barrel on it. With the .223 barrel, everything just work and the rifle would cycle fine.

However with the 6.5 Grendel barrel, I'm having problems with hard extractions. I have to really reef on the charging handle to get the round to extract, and sometimes have to "kickstart" the rifle. There is about 160 rounds through the barrel now, and I'm still having this problem. It doesn't matter if I use factory ammo, or if I used handloads with light powder charges.
 
I'm having the same problem. It's due to lack of case taper. I plan to polish the chamber to a glassy smoothness and see if it helps.
 
That matches the advice I got from the 65grendel forums.

The advice I got from MRA was just to keep shooting, and eventually things would break in/smooth out and that should only take about 50 rounds or so. I'm well past that.
 
I put together a 6mm ARC. Same issues but eventually things improved but only by opening the barrel chamber. Since this procedure my groups went from .5moa to 1.25moa. I am not a happy camper. Have stopped shooting it and probably will not take it hunting due to reliability issues. These Renagades have limitations and MRA should stop promoting wide range of calibers for usage!

Ted
 
Thanks for the link Ustauk. I’ve ordered a Faxon bolt and will try it with my Faxon barrel. I’m currently using a JP bolt that worked perfectly in its semi-auto donor.

My gut feeling is that the chamber needs polishing as the cases seem to stick in the chamber. I’ve had the same issue with two varieties of Hornady factory ammo.
 
I've had super sticky extraction with 2 Grendel barrels on my LPC. Light loads, max pressure, different bolts, even after a couple hundred rounds, still sticky.
Seems to be due the grendel case being pretty straight-walled, and these straight pulls having zero primary extraction to deal with it.
My tapered cartridges (223 etc) are slick as hot butter in my straight pulls.
 
I decided to order a Faxon bolt to match the Faxon gunner barrel I’m using on my Grendel build. Doubt it will help, but want to take this step before getting the chamber polished. Currently using a JP bolt, so doubt changing bolts will help.

Anybody find any other solutions to this issue or have any suggestions?
 
Just a quick update to this: I polished the chamber, and it made no difference. Still hard extractions. I'm pretty much giving up at this point and going to put a .223 Wylde barrel on. I don't think that this style of rifle is suitable for 6.5 Grendel.
 
Shoot - not what I wanted to hear. I’m awaiting another bolt to see if that makes any difference, but I’m not optimistic. Will also try polishing the chamber after that, giving Maple Ridge a call, and taking it to a gunsmith. I have a 556 upper that runs great. One of the big appeals for me was having a very short, lightweight deer capable caliber that I could use in a stand and my kids could learn on when the time comes.
 
Hate to say it, but MRA was pretty useless when I called them. They just said that after a 50 rounds or so, the parts should smooth out and things should just run fine. They kind of ghosted me after that.

If you do decide to take your Renegade to a gunsmith, I went to TOA in Edmonton. That might be a good place to start, as they are now familiar with the issue. :)

The best theory I have is that this design is not suitable for 6.5 Grendel. This straight pull design doesn't provide the necessary "oomph" to get the brass out of the chamber. A more traditional design has the camming action from working the bolt, while a gas gun provides a pretty significant impulse via the gas system to perform the extraction.
 
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Hello everyone,

Do you both have the extraction assist spring installed on the bolts tailstock? This greatly assists with the primary extraction.

Many other customers have reported good function with their Grendel builds. Usually the hard extracts smooth out after 50 rounds or so.

Try joining our MRA Renegade/Maverick owner group on Facebook for some peer to peer communication. Maybe some Renegade Grendel owners might have some more advice.

Ryan
 
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