Rock River Arms

Rock River Arms has teamed with Fred Eichler for new Fred Eichler Signature Series Predator rifles. These guns are designed from the ground up with the hunter in mind, and mostly that means weight savings. The barrels are fluted, and the handguards are carbon fiber. The rifle weighs in at only 6.9 pounds.

There’s no real way to know what you or your firearm are capable of without adequate training. As Jim Mora so famously quipped after his football team suffered a blowout loss, “You think you know, but you have no idea.” And that’s exactly what you find as you start to train with others more competent than yourself — you were never aware of just how much you didn’t know.

There are lots of great companies competing for a slice of the AR-15 market, but it’s sometimes hard to find a rifle that is different. Enter Rock River Arms. I was torn between two rifles: the LAR-15 QMC (Quick Magazine Change) and the LAR-15 BTB (Better Than Basic) Carbine. I couldn’t decide between which one to test, so Rock Rivers graciously sent both.

Rock River Arms has long been a staple of the AR market, offering high-quality rifles in a range of interesting configurations. For 2017, the company has developed a new fluting pattern as well as expanded out its 7.62 AR-based line of firearms with new models and chamberings.

One of the other patterns we saw at SHOT Show 2017 was that of PCC (or “pistol caliber carbines). These have really taken off over the last year, for both home defense shooters and competitors. The adoption of a pistol caliber carbine division of USPSA sport shooting has been a driving force in this market, and it looks like it is here to stay. This year, Rock River Arms introduced a carbine built exactly for this.

There is no shortage of AR-15 products at SHOT Show 2016. Walking down the aisles there are so many ARs they all start to look the same. As I entered the Rock River Arms booth I half-expected to see new versions of last year’s AR-15s and the crow I ate tasted great.

This past week we ran a extremely popular SHOT article on the new AR pistol from MGI chambered in the 7.62×39 cartridge, which we generally think of as exclusive to the AK-47 and SKS class of rifles. Many people noted in the comments out there that there are other options for ARs that take AK mags, and it so happens that we put the https://rockriverarms.com/lar47″>Rock River LAR-47 through its paces some time ago. Since the gun is available for sale right now, this week is a good time to run it.

Signature models rifle don’t come along a lot in the gun industry, and it is a little strange that Rock River Arms would put famous bow hunter Fred Eichler’s name on one of their highly regarded LAR-15 guns. An AR-15 is an AR-15 right? Wrong! Fred of course does also hunt with modern sporting rifles, and specifically this one built to his specifications. The point of this Eichler gun is hunting, and primarily hunting varmints, or pest animals, as evidenced by the coyote prints on the special Fred Eichler floating handguard. Is it cute? Well, is it possible for an AR-15 that shoots under .75 MOA at 100 yards to be cute? Then yea, it’s cute. But after hog hunting this gun for a day, shooting it at the range with a group of friends, and driving tacks with it, this bad boy is a predator killing machine, a gun that is so reliable, dependable, accurate and intuitive to shoot that a missed shot is obviously user error.  The Fred Eichler Series LAR-15 is a gun that dominates the nightmares of coyotes, hogs, and prairie dogs. If you think the puppy prints are silly, move on. RR makes the same gun, with the .223 Wylde chamber, meant for both .223 and .556, without the extra Fred stuff. But if you think the gun is cool, pull the trigger.  I haven’t met anyone who has fired the Eichler who isn’t impressed.  And at a direct Rock River and store price of $1500, it is an impressive specialty hunting rifle that isn’t going to break the bank.