RRA, are they worth it?

[raptor700]

Just curious as to what people think about RRA, I recently purchased their LAR-Elite Operator2 and feel like im suffering from buyers remorse since I hear alot of people saying they are not worth the money..... I do want to add that this is my first AR and I'm not looking to dish the cash for the higher ups like Colt, and BCM just yet (maybe later on when i get my lazy wife to find a job) And also if anyone knows if that half & half rail can be removed, i'm more interested in having a full quad rail.... Any help and input would be appreciated... I have no fired the weapon yet and I have a 30 day money back guarantee so I'd like to know if I should take it back and get my $1,000 back. thanks folks

[seb5]

You can currently buy a new COLT or LMT for less than $1000.00. I would suggest that or a BCM for another $50.00.

[LowandLeft]

Ya man, for $1k you can do better. I just sold a RRA LAR15 and have been much happier with my new purchase (noveske 14.5, TRX13, MEGA upper) . RRA is not a bad rifle at all, but there are much better options.

[darbn]

When your lazy wife gets a job you can buy a second rifle and have 2.

[digitalid99]

If you have a 30 day money back guarantee, I would definitely take advantage of it and spend some time researching on this site... I would bet you will be much happier in the end.

[Aaron_B]

If you have the money back guarantee I would return it ASAP. Here is a thread you might want to chk out.

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=7376

[ST911]

Two recent threads on RRA. Many more available.

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=98674&highlight=RRA
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=97811&highlight=RRA

Read this:

"Oh No! I bought a BM/RRA/Stag before I knew better!"
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=7376

[GeorgiaBoy]

Take it back and ORDER A COLT!

Many places are selling 6920's for under $1000. Cheaper than Dirt, G&R Tactical, ect.

[hals1]

You can currently buy a new COLT or LMT for less than $1000.00. I would suggest that or a BCM for another $50.00.

Buy a blem BCM blemished lower and a BCM upper from G&R and an MOE sight and you can beat $1000. Get them separate and save the FET on an assembled rifle. Beats the Colt, barely, unless you are a Roger's stock or Matech sight fan. And you can get a middie.

[Robb Jensen]

I have no idea why one would buy a RRA and pray that it'll work when there are plenty of other fine factory built/assembled ARs that have solid reputations for working such as:

Colt, BCM, Daniel Defense, LMT, Noveske, & S&W.

[Casull]

Rock River's aren't bad, but no one thinks they're cool for whatever reasons. I don't know what the reasons are, but I strongly suggest searching for old threads about them. From what I know they run fantastic.

All those low-priced 6920's are sold out so that suggestion is a little unreliable. Consider you're paying shipping, tax, and whatever the shelf fee is at your FFL Dealer on those. Unless you find a way around that stuff?

What is good about the Colt suggestions are that they are top tier guns. The down-side is that if you want something other than a carbine length gas system- or something a little "different", then suddenly you're looking at other options like BCM, Spikes, and other such companies.

BCM gets the best reputation due to the fact they did things without compromise since the beginning rather than trying to go cheap and then learning it doesn't work like Spikes apparently did. I don't feel BCM is over-priced, and you can do yourself good by looking into LMT also.

Again, research RockRiver. I know people love theirs, I just don't know how good they are myself.

[nickdrak]

The issues with RRA AR's have absolutely nothing to do with them not being "cool" or however the hell that is gauged. Here is a cut/paste from one of my posts in a RRA related thread a week or two ago....

I have personally seen dozens, and likely over 100 factory RRA AR's come through classes I have attended over the past 6-7 years.

Non-staked gas key. There were 4 factory built RRA AR's in various classes that during a pre-range inspection were discovered to have gas keys that were not only NOT staked, but two of the gas keys were loose enough that they had play in them and could be wiggled around on the carriers. These 2 were all brand-new rifles that had not yet been fired, and they apparently had not been test fired at the RRA factory.

My PD ordered 25 new 16" middies directly from the RRA factory for our gang/tactical unit against my advice. 15 out of the 25 delivered were DOA/non-functional out of the box due to an issue with the trigger groups that would not allow the triggers to reset during a standard (dry) function test. These all had standard non-two stage trigger groups in them. They were sent back to the factory and promptly fixed but they never should of left the factory in that condition. It is obvious that they never test fired any of these weapons either.

"Dremeled" feedramps. What is the point? If you shoot out the barrel or simply want to swap the barrel for a different profile, length, etc., you will basically have to replace the upper receiver as well, as the dremeled feedramps will not match up to any M4 or standard rifle barrel extension that is actually in "Spec". I have seen some of the dremeled feedramp jobs they did on factory guns that ranged from symmetric and cleanly done to ones that looked like they were done by a 2 year old chimp with a chisel & hammer. One factory RRA AR that a co-worker purchased had such mangled feedramps on it that I had to go in with a file to smooth them out in-order for it to function reliably through a full magazine. Again, there is NO standard with the work they do in this area. It makes NO sense why they do it.

Non-staked castle nuts. Most of the non-staked RRA buffer castle nut/buffer tube assemblies I have worked on needed to be relpaced due to galling. The threads of the buffer tubes are so mangled by the time I get the high-temp thread adhesive to break on them that the tubes usually need to be junked. Dont use loc-tite on buffer tubes folks!

Over gassed. Kinda defeats the whole purpose of having a midlength gas system if you ask me. All of the 25 RRA's that my PD purchased have gasports the size of the grand canyon. The recoil is noticeably sharper than any midlength or carbine gas system I have owned/shot from Colt, BCM, Daniel Defense or LMT. Comparatively the RRA's shoot like shit (Noticeably sharper recoil impulse).

The Vortex flashhiders on a few of the 16" middy AR's my PD purchase were not removeable. Why? I have no idea. They were not pinned. I used heat, Kroil, and upwards of 70 ft/lbs of torque and they would not budge. I gave up in fear of shearing the barrel extention index pin or damaging the receiver.

I would never recommend anyone purchase a RRA factory built AR for any reason. I have no issue building someone a complete rifle from a stripped RRA lower using quality Milspec parts if their employer specifies RRA as a manufacturer in their department policy, but other than that...hell no.

My advice would be to return the RRA if that indeed is an option. I come equipped with a bunch of junk accessories that you would be better of replacing. The clunky, overweight handguard and the commercial diameter buffer tube and cheesy RRA stock are a few that come to mind. Get a quality basic AR from Colt or BCM and shoot it stock at a worthy carbine class. Then decide what accessories you want to add and only buy quality, practical gear that works for your specific needs. Colt 6920's or 6720's can be found online for right around the $1000 price point. Buying from a good online dealer that is in a different state from you will save you from paying any local sales tax.

[blackgt85]

Take it back and check with Grant at www.gandrtactical.com. He is supposed to be getting more Colts soon.... Or look into a BCM from him.