RRA LAR-8 Any advice?

[Libertarian0317]

I bought a RRA LAR-8 predator a few months back to turn it into my precision gas gun, havent got it out on the range yet but in practice I realized the L1A1 steel mags are a joke and need to get polymer mags. Does anyone have experince with RRA on the precision side, 800m and out? it has a 1/10 twist HBAR barrel.
Any good factory ammo, hand loads, problems, pros/cons. Any infor or data collected will help greatly.

Thanks!

 

[dang472]

I have the RRA standard operator with the 20in 1/10 barrel. I've actually had good luck with the FAL steel mags. The polymer 20rd mag that RRA sells is junk in my opinion. It looks cheap and doesn't drop free from the magwell.

I've only shot it out to 450yrd on steel so far so I can't say much about longer range accuracy. It's been completely reliable and has a worked over RRA trigger set at 3lbs. My load has been Federal brass, 168gr Hornady AMAX or HPBT, 42grs AA2520, and CCI no. 34 primers. I'm right under 2600fps.

 

[elfster1234]

Why RRA makes their 308 rifles with FAL mags kills me... It is the only thing thats holds me back from getting one. RRA!! PMAGS!!

 

[ORD]

The mags, while supposedly one of the big "selling points" for RRA's LAR-8 rifles (cheap...plentiful...etc.) are the Achilles heel of the whole platform...aside from going even further off the reservation with using even more proprietary parts than their other large-frame AR competitors (Armalite and DPMS patterns) which cause compatibility issues with certain things, limits you in terms of aftermarket parts/accessories you can use (gaining some support in the aftermarket, but pales in comparison to others), etc., etc.

Ok...that outta the way...

Everything I have seen with the RRA's first-hand as well as what I have gleaned from posts here on the Hide...is that they are capable rifles in the hands of a competent shooter and with proper ammo and when the work properly. A guy I shoot with sometimes has one of the 20" heavier barreled models and with FGMM 168gr and 175gr and his own reloads, it is MOA-capable or slightly better on a good day when all cylinders are firing and I have seen him consistently ring 8" steel plates at 600yds without a hiccup. His rifle went back to RRA for service about a month after he received it because it wouldn't cycle properly (gas system issue that was never explained by RRA) and was a jam-o-matic. After getting it back, it functions ok now, with mags that he has had to test and test to find what works and what doesn't. His rifle has had mag woes since day one...some work and some don't without much reasoning as to why. He has five RRA-branded polymer mags...3 work 100% and 2 are garbage (don't fit in the magwell very well and don't function reliably). As for the FAL mags...same deal. About half of the ones he has do ok and the others have a variety of problems from not feeding well to not locking up right in the rifle (and occasionally just dropping out of the rifle). Out of roughly 18-20 mags he's acquired for the rifle since buying it...he has 8-10 usable, functional, reliable mags.

 

[dang472]

From what I gathered about the mag deal was that during the development of their 308 platform, Armalite was trying to shut down every company attempting an AR10. Not just naming rights, but functionality. Since RRA is about 30mins from Armalite, I can imagine they got a lot of attention. With than being said, I really like the location of the bolt release. I also haven't run into any malfunctions, especially nothing to do with magazines.

 

[Steelhead]

I've had a RRA LAR-8 Varmint 26" since the day they came out. I also had at one time a 16" carbine model LAR-8. I got rid of the 16", because I hardly used it. The Varmint model is one of the most accurate semi-auto's I've ever shot. I use reloads mainly in mine and have found a great load using Nosler 180 gr. Ballistic Tips. I haven't had any problems with "new" looking metric FAL magazines. I have had issue with some older looking magazines, that still function fine in the FAL, but do not like the Rock River. I have a couple of the polymer magazines from Rock River, but I don't like them very much. As stated by some else, they do not drop free. I think I tried some Federal 175 gr match in the rifle and found that they shot well.

Here's a typical group from my LAR-8 Varmint. This is 10 shots, which include a cold bore dirty barrel first round:

 

[Nuke Man]

I had issues with the FAL mags double feeding. I switched over to the polymer mags and have not had a single issue.

 

[Libertarian0317]

Thanks for all the response. Im ordering 6 polymer mags on tuesday hopefully they will work. If not mabye ill invest in some magical mag ferry dust.
Has anyone shot suppressed with thier LAR-8, I have a AAC break on mine and wonder how bad it would gum up if I suppressed it.

 

[KChen986]

I have a 20" LAR-8 HBAR. It's about a half-MOA gun in the right hands. I have made hits on a 4" steel plate at 800yards. It runs with any FAL mag I slap in it, and ironically, it's my FALs which will malfunction with different FAL mags (I'm guessing the inch & metric issue?).

Advice?

1.) KNS anti-rotation pins. I've had 2 RRAs with their 2-stage match trigger. Both had trigger pin walk issues. Get the .1555 pin.

2.) Mine loves FGMM 175gr. That's what I use to get about half-MOA groups.

3.) The gun seems overgassed, and recoils pretty strongly. Not sure if it's a function of the 7.62x51 cartridge, or oversized gas ports. I'm waiting for a suppressor to clear ATF, but depending on reliability, I might grab a heavy buffer to counter-act the gas ports.

5 shots, 1 flyer.

 

[wielywilly-g]

I have the 26 varmint and have 6 fal inch and 6 RRA poly mags. The poly mags are not tight, but they don't gravity drop out. Someone on here recommended an area to remove some material on them but I have not tried it. The FAL inch mags work fine.

When new, my chamber was about .0005" too tight and cycling Fed GMM by hand would sometimes pull the bullet from the casing and get powder everywhere and have to get the cleaning rod to tap the bullet out. I called and made an appointment and took it to RRA and they fixed it while I waited. Very nice folks. They said mine was the first one they had gotten to work on with the S&B 5-25 on it. Looking back I probably should have taken it off but it came to no harm. They offered me a new barrel or a ream job and I picked a ream job since it had such tight groups and I didn't want to chance a new barrel. I have been wanting to enter it in Elf's 300yd shot but I am bulking at the $70 ammo cost entry fee since times are hard right now and I don't reload yet.

I changed the handguard on mine to a full len halfquad and ran into the proprietary barrel nut thing so I know what you are saying there.

 

[mtrmn]

I have the original RRA pattern rifle, the Bushmaster BAR10, 20" HBAR A2. Very accurate with the right ammo. FAL mags are not near as good as the polymer mags in my gun. The polymer mags must be fitted to the gun, then they drop free. The polymer mags feed with little/no resistance compared to obvious drag with the brand new FAL mags I have.

I fit the polymer mags with a pocketknife and a small triangular file by inserting/removing the mag a few times and removing material where it gets shiny from the drag. The mags need fitting because they were made to fit several generations of the design, some of which required extra material to properly fit the magwell. The material to be removed is normally on the front and rear surfaces of the mag, and mine came with a paper that shows a square pad of material the needed to be removed for my gun.

 

[wielywilly-g]

Thanks MTRMN!

 

[Libertarian0317]

Thats a nice looking Rock River. Thank you for the imput Ive found few people who could tell me what MOA the could squeeze out of them. Did you find any after market rails that would fit your rifle?

 

[wielywilly-g]

I only looked at RRA for different rails. They had what I wanted so I didn't look aftermarket.

This is using each GMM at 109yd. That first rnd was a little crazy.

 

[dang472]

How did that PRS mount up? I've heard there are some clearance issues with the charging handle on the LAR-8. I know of a shop that offers an adapter to make it work but it looks like yours is a standard fitment.

 

[wielywilly-g]

I took about 1/8" off that adjustable cheek part to let the charging handle come all the way back when the cheek piece was up in position. I also put a charge handle side pull on. I believe it was from Badger. The PRS was the model made for the AR10.

 

[daxromana]

I have had two AR-10 custom builds and my LAR-8 is hands down a better shooter. It loves the 175 SMK at high speed. I am able to get 2650 comfortably from my 20" barrel without pressure signs. I don't shoot groups on paper, but at 300-650 yards on steel plate I am able to call my shots reliably. It does like a hot load to get the bolt to lock back on the FAL mags, but I don't have a problem with the dozen or so metric mags I have. Buy with confidence.

 

[jbirdhunter]

I have had two AR-10 custom builds and my LAR-8 is hands down a better shooter. It loves the 175 SMK at high speed. I am able to get 2650 comfortably from my 20" barrel without pressure signs. I don't shoot groups on paper, but at 300-650 yards on steel plate I am able to call my shots reliably. It does like a hot load to get the bolt to lock back on the FAL mags, but I don't have a problem with the dozen or so metric mags I have. Buy with confidence.

daxromama can you tell me what you are using for your load?