Rock River Arms: Range Report

[smak_daddy]

I took my Rock River Arms rifle to the range today to test some of my reloads. I mounted a Super Sniper 16x on her to see what she can do. (Normally she has a TA31F ACOG on her).

I've shot about 1,000ish 55 gr FMJ through her. I bought it used and the previous owner claimed he had 400 rounds through it. The rifle has had no failures of any kind.

It's a plain jane non milspec AR. The barrel isn't chrome lined, it has a 1/9" twist and the barrel is only 4140. It does have that nice two stage trigger.

What? Say it isn't true smak_daddy? Non-milspec? Non-chrome lined 4140 barrel? Only 1/9" twist?

On paper and according to the internet, this gun is the trifecta of tacital fail and evil. The horror....

Now back to the real world.



The gun:

How does she shoot? (These groups were shot back to back, not much cooling at all)

Varget loads with the 69 SMK (50 yards):

RL-15 loads with the 69 SMK (50 yrds):

Looks lke 25.2 grains of Varget/RL-15 is the accuracy node for 69 SMK.

I had a tack driving bolt gun that loved 24.9 RL-15 with Berger 70 VLD. I tried it in this Rock River 1:9 twist and had no problems stabilizing this longer bullet (the Berger 70 gr VLDs seem to be only 0.03" shorter than the 77 gr SMK ) .

I'll likely go to the 70 gr Berger with 24.9 gr RL-15 as I shoot this gun out to 500 metres+. The BC of the Berger 70 gr VLD matches the 77 gr SMK, yet the Berger is lighter therefore it will beat the 77 gr SMK.

For your dollar, Rock River Arms is tough to beat.

 

[Juan For All]

I used to have a heavy barrel stainless RRA and I didn't get groups like that ..... which was likely caused by the guy behind the gun.

Nice targets.

J

 

[sdlonyer]

Nice shooting .
I have a RRA Varmint model with a stainless barrel and have never had a ftf or other problem and it is more accurate than my Rem bolt in .222

 

[cr5]

Very nice groups.

Milspec is highly overrated for civilian use. Doesn't mean anything to the average shooter that isn't trusting his life to it or running thousands of rounds on full auto. Just a status thing for guys that think they need it. Like having a truck with 500 horse, fun and cool but for the most part also useless and just cost a lot more to get.
Neither of mine are milspec and I'm still waiting for my first failure of any kind. They feed from every mag I have (over 20 of them) and eat all ammo I feed them.


http://www.ar15pro.net/2011/02/which-brand-of-ar15-is-best.html

 

[smak_daddy]

Very nice groups.

Milspec is highly overrated for civilian use. Doesn't mean anything to the average shooter that isn't trusting his life to it or running thousands of rounds on full auto. Just a status thing for guys that think they need it. Like having a truck with 500 horse, fun and cool but for the most part also useless and just cost a lot more to get.
Neither of mine are milspec and I'm still waiting for my first failure of any kind. They feed from every mag I have (over 20 of them) and eat all ammo I feed them.


http://www.ar15pro.net/2011/02/which-brand-of-ar15-is-best.html

Milspec is worth it's weight in gold when it comes to magnetic parrticle inspection.

The fact of the matter is, there are plenty of innovations that are BETTER than milspec.

Example, install an Alberta Tactical Rifle muzzle break. It destroys the A2 birdcage. It isn't milspec, it's better.

 

[lawn gnome]

I also have a similar RRA. It is just as capable a performer if I do my job too.
A very nice rifle.

 

[Nester]

Now get out there and get those f**king gophers!!!

 

[smak_daddy]

Now get out there and get those f**king gophers!!!

I used to shoot gophers and coyotes with My Colt AR-15 in the late 80's.

 

[buckbrush]

I used to shoot gophers and coyotes with My Colt AR-15 in the late 80's.

me too, great gopher gun.

 

[JDube]

My RRA is also really satisfying in terms of accuracy and reliability. I'll try to test mine as a gopher rifle this year in VT.