The barrel for my 6.5 build, the blank alone, 800 bucks. another 400 for the final machining... But it'll drive tacks at 300 yards. For me, I had several short to mid range capable rifles in a variety of calibers. I needed/wanted something with at least a 800 yard range. Originally was looking at going 308 or 300 win mag. But I, like you, had a ton of extra lowers and parts laying around. Plus the Grendel was gaining popularity big time and another factor at the time that I was looking at was the club competitions and how they scored. They take the number of hits at X yard line, multiply it by the distance, then divide that total by the caliber. So for example. 5 shots, 800 yards = 4000 divided by 7.62, gave you a total score of 525. Now take that same 4000 divided by 6.5 and you have 615 match points. meaning you win, granted there's some other penalty/bonus points you can get but almost everyone runs similar equipment so those beomce marginal. You also lose 1 point per case length as well. All the club shooters run .308s to get out to that distance.
