Rock River Ar15s

[akusher]

Anybody here familiar with the brand?

I've heard mostly very good things about them, but then I picked up an A4 carbine last week.

Nasty feeding and extraction issues right off the bat. First round failed to extract, with the casing getting jammed so badly that the extractor sheared a chunk of rim off the brass and still failed to take it out of the chamber.

About 30 shots later, with problems persisting, ranging from misfeeds to a live round getting hopelessly wedged in the chamber, I gave up and took it back to the shop.

Anybody get this sort of temperament from an AR?

Tax refund is on the way and I'm thinking about dropping about $2k on something semi-auto in 5.56 or .308.

Any advice or suggestions would be most appreciated.

[RichardDarkwood]

Ar-10

http://www.armalite.com/Categories.aspx?Category=f4bd4a13-55d1-41aa-aea0-49488ec48776



Todd

[Golfer]

As basic as it is, are you using the proper ammunition?  What brand?

Barrel length?  Gas system length?  Rock River makes a lot of rifles and saying it's an A4 Carbine doesn't help much.

What kind of magazine?  Were you monopoding, resting the rifle on the bench with the weight on the magazine?

[Golfer]

I'm not a fan of the Armalite trigger on the AR10.  Either a standard trigger group which I find shoots just fine or something like the Geissele would be best.  The Armalite 2 stage has a lot of slack to take up which I'm not crazy about as part of my personal technique.  They sell a lot of them so make your own decision as you try out and weigh your options for what will work best for you.

My next rifle purchase is going to be a Springfield M1A with a Stainless barrel.  I've got enough ARs and ammunition to last well into the apocalypse now I need to reach out a little further

[RichardDarkwood]

My next rifle purchase is going to be a Springfield M1A with a Stainless barrel.  I've got enough ARs and ammunition to last well into the apocalypse now I need to reach out a little further

I payed 1300.00$ for my M1A, maybe when you get yours we'll see you @ the Camp Perry shoot. I shoot the M1 as well at the event, good times to be had in northern Ohio.

[akusher]

As basic as it is, are you using the proper ammunition?  What brand?

Barrel length?  Gas system length?  Rock River makes a lot of rifles and saying it's an A4 Carbine doesn't help much.

What kind of magazine?  Were you monopoding, resting the rifle on the bench with the weight on the magazine?

I was using Fiocchi standard .223 and then frangible. 16 inch barrel, standard gas system. The magazine is a 20 round that was made by another manufacturer, but I also tried another magazine at the range, whose producer I have not identified.

I never rested the mag on the bench. Held it in my hands, or rested the forearm.

That's about all I can say, but i'm heading out to WV this weekend to put some more rounds through it, see what's what.

[Golfer]

You don't have a standard (rifle) length gas system on a 16" barrel.  It's either a carbine (7") or mid length (9") gas system.  This can have an effect on pressures getting back to the carrier key but it most likely isn't an overpressure but your casing getting ripped apart caused me some concerned.

Did you actually clean the rifle when you got it?  That needs to be step one because you absolutely can trash an otherwise perfectly good gun if you don't get the factory grease out of it with a thorough disassembly, cleaning and proper lubrication.

Keep your AR lubed, especially the parts inside the bolt carrier group (Bolt, cam pin, firing pin, etc) well lubed.  It doesn't need to be so that it sprays oil everywhere but where you put the lube is very important.  Anything from RemOil, SLP2000, CLP and even motor oil can work.

If you are having rounds stuck in the chamber it's usually caused by one of the following:

-Mixing steel case/brass cased ammunition.  Because of the way they expand when fired fouling that will allow one to work well without the other can cause problems when you mix them back and forth.

-Fouled chamber.  This can be grease, carbon, dirt...anything.

-Improperly cut chamber.  I highly doubt this with a RRA however not everyone can be perfect all of the time.  If Rock River test fires their guns then its probably not the case but having a gunsmith check the chamber and headspace wouldn't be a waste of time either.

Do you have a picture of the casing?

Also use good quality magazines.  Who manufactured your magazine?  It will be stamped on the baseplate of the magazine.  NHMTG, CMI, Brownells, etc.  I use Magpul PMags exclusively for everything from bench, competition, hunting and zombies while never experiencing any magazine failures.  They're a great value, extremely durable and they work.  They're about the cheapest thing you can find that you don't have to worry about a drop from arms height ruining your magazine.  I shop around but usually get them on sale from 44mag.com and Palmetto State Armory.

[Yeager]

I have had nothing but trouble free pleasure shooting (and damned accurate too) from my Oly Arms M4A3:

http://www.olyarms.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=20&category_id=7&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=37

Wonderful rifle.

[akusher]

You don't have a standard (rifle) length gas system on a 16" barrel.  It's either a carbine (7") or mid length (9") gas system.  This can have an effect on pressures getting back to the carrier key but it most likely isn't an overpressure but your casing getting ripped apart caused me some concerned.

Did you actually clean the rifle when you got it?  That needs to be step one because you absolutely can trash an otherwise perfectly good gun if you don't get the factory grease out of it with a thorough disassembly, cleaning and proper lubrication.

Keep your AR lubed, especially the parts inside the bolt carrier group (Bolt, cam pin, firing pin, etc) well lubed.  It doesn't need to be so that it sprays oil everywhere but where you put the lube is very important.  Anything from RemOil, SLP2000, CLP and even motor oil can work.

If you are having rounds stuck in the chamber it's usually caused by one of the following:

-Mixing steel case/brass cased ammunition.  Because of the way they expand when fired fouling that will allow one to work well without the other can cause problems when you mix them back and forth.

-Fouled chamber.  This can be grease, carbon, dirt...anything.

-Improperly cut chamber.  I highly doubt this with a RRA however not everyone can be perfect all of the time.  If Rock River test fires their guns then its probably not the case but having a gunsmith check the chamber and headspace wouldn't be a waste of time either.

Do you have a picture of the casing?

Also use good quality magazines.  Who manufactured your magazine?  It will be stamped on the baseplate of the magazine.  NHMTG, CMI, Brownells, etc.  I use Magpul PMags exclusively for everything from bench, competition, hunting and zombies while never experiencing any magazine failures.  They're a great value, extremely durable and they work.  They're about the cheapest thing you can find that you don't have to worry about a drop from arms height ruining your magazine.  I shop around but usually get them on sale from 44mag.com and Palmetto State Armory.

Yeah, the gun was cleaned before shooting. Don't have a pic of the casing, unfortunately, but there was evidence of expansion - at least that's what the guy at the shop told me. He insisted it was the ammo, as I figured he might, so if anything persists I'll probably end up dealing with the Rock River people directly.. The magazine is an NHMTG 20 round.

Thanks for you help, Golfer.

[rstel01]

Hi,

I was plagued with odd jams every 120 rounds or so on both CMMG M-4's we have at the house. Jams were odd, blown primers under trigger and even one where the round wedged above the bolt in the upper receiver (bending the bullet and rendering the weapon useless).

Here is what is interesting, I went through all the Malaysian 55gr M2 Surplus I had as well as the cheaper Wolf/Russian stuff that I had. I then switched out to all 55gr XM193 new Lake City/Federal and 62gr SS109 Lake City Ammo.

Well over a 1000 rounds of the prior mentioned stuff and low and behold, not a single jam/misfeed or anything. Nom Nom Nom that gun is hungry and is really happy with only using those Lake City cases.

[katanaso]

I'd first try another brand or two of brass-cased ammo, and make sure it's not related to the Fiocchi ammo.  Maybe it was just a bad batch of ammo, as Fiocchi is supposedly good ammo.

RRA generally makes quality products, so if it keeps having issues after trying other ammo, I'd contact RRA and send it in for repair (or exchange it for another if the shop will take it back).



mir

[nirvana]

I've never had personal experience but have heard nothing but bad things about Rock River Arms weapons.  My Bushmaster M4, however, is a pleasure to shoot and my old roommate's AR10 was a sweet piece as well.  Hopefully you get it figured out.

[SmokinLoon]

RRA makes fine AR15's, I've not heard nor have I read anything credible enough to mention anything negative.  A fellow gun club member sold his Colt and and bout a RRA (and a target bolt action rifle) to replace it.  I likes it a lot.  It is tough to beat Colt when venturing into the world of AR15's, but RRA and Bushmaster are the 2 I'd feel comfortable with if I didnt have my trusty AR15"A4" at my side.   

[Golfer]

RRA does just fine.  The Entry Tactical is fine as are som of their other models/calibers.  In fact im going to buy a 20" stainless steel varmint upper from them this summer.

I've used a Lower Parts kit that did fine and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend RRA, Bravo Company USA, Spikes Tactical, S&W and Bushmaster as alternatives to the "Colt standard."

[Dago]

Rock River is well though of in the AR-15 world.  Not a Colt, but still a good weapon.