After a long search I decided on the Rock River Arms Tactical Rifle AR15 Model BB2522 Rock River Arm Recently, Rock River Arms announced a new series of rifles. The Operator 2 line contains three various designs of Rock River Arms reputed direct-gas-operated LAR-15 style rifles. All of them share some standard features, and the rifles take their name from the new Operator stock Rock River Arms has recently released. Rock River Arms started out building very nice 1911s, years before it was cool, the Corona, IL, company got into the AR-15 field. Its rifles were so perfectly made that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency chose Rock River to produce its issue firearms available currently as the LAR-15 Pro-Series Government Model.
Rock River Arms was founded 11 years back by two brothers, Mark and Chuck Larson, who worked out of a garage. It has grown continuously ever since as well as now employs over 90 people. Even though Rock River produces firearms for several federal government agencies, the particular vast majority of their product sales are to the civilian marketplace. Rock River Arms offers fifty or so models of rifles, but customers can make up their personal designs, utilizing a great number of components alternatives - sights, rails, stocks, barrel length and contour, and more. Rock River will also add accessories like flashlights and red dot sights. Rock River Arms is like an a la carte workshop for rifles. Rock River doesn’t make numerous components on site. Rock River designs and spec parts, then receive them, perform inspections, complete them, assemble them into weapons and ship them out. The Rock River Arms factory is complete with a buffing and blasting room, where raw forgings become finished parts. Rock River Arms is genuinely a family small 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 easily 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 and tested as they come in to the production 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 firearm must close over the green “go” gauge but not close over the red “no go,” which is slightly oversized. Cartridges can rupture, sometimes 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.
All rifles are built to customers specifications and each lower and upper is unique
The shipping area is a flurry of activity. Parts coming in and rifles going out. A literal symphony in action as the Rock River arms factory pushes in raw components destined to become full rifles. Oddly enough, there seems to be no end in sight as the operation continues day after day.
Every rifle is sighted in and test fired before it leaves the factory. The Rock River Arms finisher loads the magazines prior to every rifle test fire. Using a fast bench loading tool, the finisher snaps 20-30 rounds into a magazine in an instant.
Several times a day, assemblers and firearm testers load the Rock River vehicle with weapons and take them out to the range. Shooting from the back of the vehicle, every rifle 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 primary allure of Rock River Arms rifles is that they shoot significantly better than advertised.
The fit and finish of the Operator 2 rifles are wonderful 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 lesser grade types. The Operators upper and lower receivers match together so securely I required 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 tag that earlier would have been unheard of. The Rock River Arms AR-15 AR-15 Model BB2522 Rock River Arms Operator 2 is manufactured 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 AR15 BB2522 Operator 2 also incorporates such top quality upgrades as rugged fixed rear sight and flip forward sight to provide increased durability and cosmetic appeal. With the forward flip sight feature, the Rock River Arms Tactical Rifle AR-15 BB2522 Operator 2 is prepared for action to further add a scope or red dot.
The Operator butts tock itself is a six-position CAR-type assembly with water tight storage compartments and numerous sling attachment points. The stock has a ribbed rubber butt pad that slides down with a push-button release to reveal the two storage compartments, sealed with O-rings. Each will hold either 2 AA batteries or 3 CR123 lithium batteries. As part of the package I had my range of four rear sights: a traditional bolt-on A2 carry handle; a stand-alone rear sight; a RRA Dominator2 with an elevated rail designed specifically for use with the EOTech Holosight; or the RRA tactical carry handle that features an elevated rail just below the level of the sights. The mil-spec magazines supplied with all Operator 2 Models are manufactured by NHMTG (Colt). For range work I equipped the Operator with a stand-alone rear sight behind an Aimpoint Comp ML2, and then tried the Operator with a Dominator2 rear sight from a friend paired with an EOTech 512 (AA battery model). For accuracy testing I used a Trijicon 4x32 ACOG with no sights.
The first concern usually, with any kind of weapon, is reliability, my Operator functioned with out a hitch. I fed the Operator ammo from Wolf, Winchester, Remington and Black Hills, with varying bullet weights and types, and the rifles digested it all. I used the supplied magazines for testing as well as several surplus magazines I found lying around, along with a a couple of MagPul PMags.
Listed here are the specific features when supplied from my online dealer.
Manufacturer Rock River Arms
Model: Operator 2 Series
Type: direct-impingement AR semi auto
Capacity: accepts AR-15 magazines of any capacity
Caliber: 5.56 NATO chamber
Barrel length: 16-inches chrome moly, 1:9" twist
Overall length: 37 inches
Weight: 7.2 pounds (Entry and Tactical), 8.0 pounds ()
Hand guard: Half-Quad aluminum free float (BB2522)
Stock: RRA Operator CAR compartment stock, ERGO Sure Grip pistol grip
Sights: post front; wind age-adjustable rear aperture
Trigger: RRA National Match, 4 pounds pull
Sale Price: $1,000.00 , Retail $1,515.00
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 sub-par 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 AR-15 Model BB2522 Rock River Arms 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 budget plan. I acquired my Rock River Arms Tactical Rifle AR-15 BB2522 Operator 2 from Class 3 Weapons at a sizeable cost savings. Rock River Arms is at the moment promoting 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 purchased my Operator from Class 3 Weapons in Houston Texas at a sizeable savings of only $969.00 which included shipping. According to where you live your cost will fluctuate based on shipping and taxes if applicable. For the time being, thanks Rock River for a awesome firearm and keep up the good work. I'm off to the local community firing range to see what this power house can do again.
Rock River Arms Operator 2,
Rock River Arms Tactical Rifle,
Rock River Arms Tactical Rifle,
Looking for a great Tactical rifle? What about the Rock River Arms AR15 Model BB2522 Rock River Arms Operator 2 Weapon