In addition to amplified production by recognized AR15 outfits, each and every rifle manufacturer that has a heartbeat seems to be producing some variation of an AR-15 right now. Half of those rifles are direct-impingement types with the same solid design envisioned by Eugene Stoner when it was first introduced more than 40 years ago.
Rock River Arms was launched eleven years back by 2 brothers, Mark and Chuck Larson, who worked out of a garage. It has grown continuously ever since as well as today employs over ninety people. Even though Rock River produces guns for numerous federal agencies, the actual vast majority of their sales are to the civilian market place. Rock River Arms offers fifty or so models of weapons, however customers can make up their own configurations, utilizing numerous parts substitutions - sights, rails, stocks, barrel length and contour, and more. Rock River will also include accessories like flashlights and red dot sights. Rock River Arms is like an a la carte workshop for rifles. Rock River doesn’t make many components on site. Rock River designs and specifications parts, then receive them, perform inspections, finish them, assemble them into rifles and ship them out. The Rock River Arms factory is actually complete with a buffing and blasting area, where raw forgings become completed parts. Rock River Arms is genuinely a family business with the brothers Chuck and Mark Larson as well as their father and one of their sons working at the plant. Looking about the manufacturing facility there were many boxes of rifle carrier groups, essentially the bolts of the rifles. Rock River Arms offers an almost countless number of chambering options for the basic AR platform. Once you own a lower half which consists of the stock and receiver, you can purchase upper halves (barrel, carrier group, and gas system) in all kinds of chambering and interchange them freely. There's even a company that offers a .410 shotgun upper half for the AR15 rifle.
Components are measured as well as tested as they arrive in to the manufacturing facility and at various stages during production. Tested for hardness, testing is done all the way down to the flash hider. All of the little sub assemblies - sights, gas blocks, carrier groups, safeties, and so on -- come together at the stations where the upper halves and lower halves are put together. Once at a work station the gunsmith assembles the upper half of what will be a future complete rifle. The gunsmith takes special care to assemble the upper with the silver tube running along the top of the barrel which directs gas from the gas block to run the action. During the upper half assembly, the headspace gauges are used to examine the dimensions of the chamber. The bolt of a rifle must close over the green “go” gauge but not close over the red “no go,” which is slightly oversized. Cartridges can rupture, at times dangerously, in an oversized chamber. Rock River offers the choice of a standard trigger or a two-stage National Match trigger for serious target shooting. A two stage trigger is the recommended style for military rifle competitions such as the famous National Match at Camp Perry, Ohio. Pulling a two-stage trigger, you feel slack as the trigger moves a short distance, then a light, clean break. The Rock River Arms gunsmith will check the weight of the trigger pull by dangling a 4 1/ 2 pound weight from the trigger. If the weight doesn’t trip the trigger, he will file the trigger sear to lighten the pull. Lighter trigger pulls are also available from leading Rock River Arms dealers. Lowers also come with options such as an oversized winter trigger guard, originally designed for police officers who needed to keep their hands inside warm gloves but still be ready to shoot in cold weather. Winter trigger guards work perfectly for winter coyote hunters as well. As the final pieces are assembled into a lower half of what will be the final rifle, this lower half could also be matched to an endless combination of barrel lengths, barrel contour, hand-guards and calibers.
Once uppers and lowers are joined to complete the final rifle configuration they are tagged and ready for test firing. All rifles are custom built according to customer specifications.
In the shipping area, parts come in, guns go out. There seems to be no end to the demand. Rifles usually are sitting on dealers’ shelves for a few days before they’re gone. For dealers that take deposits, guns never even make it to the shelves before they are picked up by a local customer or shipped out again.
Preparation for the firing test begins with the loading of magazines which is a full time job. The finisher snaps 20-30 rounds into waiting magazines in preparation for the final function test
Several times a day, assemblers and firearm testers load the Rock River van with weapons and take all of them out to the range. Shooting from the back of the vehicle, each and every firearm with sights is sighted in, and then test-fired for function. Testers shoot at least two magazines through the fully automatic guns. Who says semi automatics aren’t accurate? With barrels provided by Wilson Barrel, the main attraction of Rock River Arms rifles is that they shoot considerably better than marketed.
The fit and finish of the Operator 2 rifles are good and positively a step above the typical, rack-grade, Parkerized mil-spec AR on the market today, although they are barely more expensive than those inferior grade types. The Operators upper and lower receivers fit together so firmly I needed a tool to work out the push pins. While the Rock River Arms Operators don't have pistons or monolithic fore-ends or flip-down rear sights, they have everything you need in an accurate, reliable semiautomatic rifle, at a price that way back when would have been unheard of. The Rock River Arms AR-15 AR-15 BB2522 Operator 2 is created with a 16 1/2" Chrome Moly barrel for accuracy, Rock River Arms Tactical Muzzle Break with exceptional signature reduction, Flip forward sight, Rock River Arm Quad-rail hand guard and much more... The Rock River Arms AR-15 BB2522 Operator 2 also consists of such top quality enhancements as rugged fixed rear sight and flip forward sight to furnish even more resilience and aesthetic appeal. With the forward flip sight feature, the Rock River Arms AR-15 AR-15 Model BB2522 Rock River Arms is geared up for action to further incorporate a scope or red dot.
All Operator 2 rifles feature flat-top receivers and 16-inch chrome moly 1:9" twist barrels with 5.56 NATO chambers, tipped with the RRA Tactical Muzzle Brake. I purchased the Rock River Arms Tactical Rifle AR15 Model BB2522 Rock River Arms Operator 2. I found the BB2522 Operator was the most unusual-looking member of the group with its gas system and a unique Free Float hand guard.
Curiously, when working the same drills with the Operator furnished with an EOTech, I experienced the same result even though that rifle/scope combination is noticeably heavier. This may be an indication that the rifles weight doesn't affect the felt recoil as much as the RRA brake design does.
Load Muzzle Velocity (fps) Standard Deviation (fps) Group Size (in.), Black Hills 55-gr. SP 2,910 12 0.99, Black Hills 60-gr. V-Max 2,880 16 0.87, American Eagle 55-gr. FMJ 2,810 24 1.05, Black Hills Match King 69-gr. HP 2,780 21 1.03, Hornady 55-gr. V-Max 2,935 13 1.11, Black Hills 52-gr. HP 3,042 18 1.12
Notes: Accuracy results are the averages of four five-shot groups at 100 yards from a sandbag rest. Velocities are averages of three shots measured with an F-1 Alpha chronograph 12 feet from the muzzle. Abbreviations: FMJ, full metal jacket; HP, hollowpoint; SP, softpoint.
It is easy to get great groups from a mediocre rifle if it has a great trigger, but put a tack-driver with a gritty eight-pound trigger in anybody's hands, and they will be lucky to stay on paper. The Rock River Arms Operator rifles are not just inherently accurate (that's one plus to the AR design), they are equipped with quality triggers that enable the user to get the most out of them.
Rock River Arms Tactical Rifle AR15 BB2522 Operator 2 has a list price of 1515.00. I ended up ordering it over the internet for much less. Nearly all dealers in my location wanted list price ... plus which did not set well with my financing plan. I obtained my Rock River Arms AR-15 AR15 BB2522 Operator 2 from Class 3 Weapons at a substantial cost savings. Rock River Arms is at the moment offering the Operator rifles as a package deal, with the rifle of your choice equipped with its National Match two-stage trigger, any one of four rear sights, a one-inch or 30mm Hi-Rise scope mount, two 30-round magazines and a case. These packages start at an incredibly economical price of $1,000 according to the RRA factory website. I ended up purchasing it online for much less. Most dealers in my vicinity desired retail plus which did not set well with my budget. I acquired my Operator from Class 3 Weapons in Houston Texas at a substantial savings of only $969.00 which included shipping. According to where you live your price will fluctuate based on shipping and taxes if relevant. For the time being, thanks Rock River for a awesome firearm and keep up the good work. I'm off to the area firing range to discover what this power house is capable of doing again.
The new Operator series from Rock River Arms offers tons of features at an excellent price. Rock River Arms Tactical Rifle AR15 Model BB2522 Rock River Arms Operator 2 Weapon,
Rock River Arms Tactical Rifle,
It took a while but I just acquired the Rock River Arms Tactical Rifle AR15 Model BB2522 Rock River Arms Operator 2 Weapon,
After a long search I decided on the Rock River Arms AR15 Model BB2522 Rock River Arms Operator 2 Weapon
