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My(poor) experience with the LAR8

Swift

Chief Bagel Technician
Full Member
Minuteman
Aug 4, 2010
1,461
0
35
Cleveland, OH
I just wanted to share some of my experiences with the LAR8 and RRA's customer service in particular in hopes that it may help a buyer in the future.

I've had my LAR8 for about 8 months now. It shot very well for about 150 rounds, then began malfunctioning. The action would not cycle after a round was fired. Initially I got discouraged and threw it in the back of the safe and pursued other projects. I finally dusted it off a month ago and tried calling RRA before I dug into the weapon but after 3 days of constant busy tones I got impatient. After an hour or so of troubleshooting, I decided to tear down the gas system.

Both of the allen screws in the gas block had backed out and the block was no longer indexed with the gas port. The movement had also dented the gas tube so I ordered a replacement. At the same time I also ordered 3 of their polymer mags and a set of A2 handguards

The magazines came in and each came with a note informing me that due to "progressive enhancements in the LAR8 rifle" I may have to fit the mags myself. They also are NOT anti-tilt which grinds my gears. Each mag took 30 mins of filing and each of them now fit differently in the weapon. Not really acceptable for $20 magazines and the large frame ARs have been out long enough that they should have settled on a design by now.

Now obviously I couldn't talk to RRA about this because their phone lines have been jammed for weeks which is also unacceptable. I understand they're busy but so is every shop in the industry and I know most of em are picking up their phones or at least giving me the chance to leave a message with a callback #. RRA just gives you a busy tone. Also left out of my order were the handguards, but I could only send an email about those.

Today, as the weapon sits, it's an MOA shooter when it functions but it inexplicably hiccups every hundred rounds or so and I can't even get a hold of em to set up a repair. Needless to say, I'm very disappointed in the LAR8. I knew who they were going into it but this was gonna be a stock weapon so I wasn't concerned with compatibility; but when the weapon doesn't work in factory trim and you can't get a hold of even a salesperson without days of first exchanging emails, it becomes very discouraging.

Now this is just one experience and not meant to start a flame war. I don't have anything personal against RRA, but I want to give an honest opinion for anyone who might be in the market and wants real, no bs information. If RRA gets these malfunctions cleared up, I will be very happy to own it and shoot it. Until then, their QC and CS is in the doghouse.
 
Re: My(poor) experience with the LAR8

That's unfortunate man. Good to know and I'll pass it on to others. There's absolutely ZERO excuse for not having so much as an answering service.
 
Re: My(poor) experience with the LAR8

I'm sorry to hear about your experiences. I don't care what the current climate is re: ARs/parts/accessories or how "big" a company you are dealing with...there is NO EXCUSE for not being able to raise a human being on the phone for weeks on end.

I'd get the problem straightened out (on your own with some trial and error or with RRA's CS dep't) and then dump the rifle like a bad habit. There are just too many high quality, large-frame ARs out there that are capable of absolute reliability and MOA (or better) accuracy to put up with RRA's BS when it comes to CS issues, poor designs/mags/fitment issues, etc.
 
Re: My(poor) experience with the LAR8

sorry to hear your troubles . just curious but did you try the mags before you filed on them . mine fit just fine the way they were . you might try the industry forum over at arfcom steve is active on there boards and responds pretty quick to post about malfunctions. you might also try some fal mags they work pretty good .
good luck and I hope you get going soon and enjoy your rra as much as I have mine.

IMG_20120928_152614.jpg
 
Re: My(poor) experience with the LAR8

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jwb47</div><div class="ubbcode-body">sorry to hear your troubles . just curious but did you try the mags before you filed on them . mine fit just fine the way they were . you might try the industry forum over at arfcom steve is active on there boards and responds pretty quick to post about malfunctions. you might also try some fal mags they work pretty good .
good luck and I hope you get going soon and enjoy your rra as much as I have mine.

IMG_20120928_152614.jpg
</div></div>

Your rig looks great. The MOE handguards look really good. Did they require any bs RRA specific adapters?

And yes, I expect new mags to fit out of the box so I tried them first. I had to turn the weapon upside down and rap the bottom of the mag pretty good to seat it and had to pry it out after it bound my mag release.
 
Re: My(poor) experience with the LAR8

Witholding merchandise from a shipment is theft. Possibly unintentional, but theft all the same.

File a chargeback if you paid by credit card. That'll get their attention and get you an email at least.


If not, you get the mags for free since they screwed up the order.
 
Re: My(poor) experience with the LAR8

Keep trying them. I had issues with my first two, early model, LAR-8's and I had nothing but great service from them. It did take me a couple of tries to get through to them, though. I think I had the best luck early in the morning when they first opened.
 
Re: My(poor) experience with the LAR8

Another thought.......

You might try getting ahold of the RRA moderator over on AR15.com and see if that would get you a contact faster. You could try posting a message to the Rock River forum in the industry section of AR15.com also. They are usually pretty good about checking that forum everyday.
 
Re: My(poor) experience with the LAR8

Sorry about your poor experience. This is exactly the point some were trying to make when Elfster went ballistic on those other two threads; this is why people buy GAPs and LaRues.
 
Re: My(poor) experience with the LAR8

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Steelhead</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Another thought.......

You might try getting ahold of the RRA moderator over on AR15.com and see if that would get you a contact faster. You could try posting a message to the Rock River forum in the industry section of AR15.com also. They are usually pretty good about checking that forum everyday. </div></div>

I'll have to register over there then. I mentioned the fitment of the magazines and feeding issues in my email and today I finally got a response: "Yes, the handguards are on backorder. Thanks."

That was literally the extent of the email. What a joke. This is why I need to get someone on the phone, not some bs salesperson behind an email address.
 
Re: My(poor) experience with the LAR8

I hate to hear of your experience with RRA as well. I also own the LAR-8 and have nothing but great things to say about it for now, but I completely understand the frustrations of having an issue and just needing someone to listen to it.

Sending off emails that never get replied to is beyond annoying.

I had a family member order a RRA upper a while back, and after 120 days of being back ordered without so much as an email to let him know what was up, he canceled his order. They called to tell him he couldn't cancel it, it was about to ship. He told em not to ship it because he'd already bought another (BCM and it shipped same week), but they did anyway and charged his card. AmEx took care of him, but RRA seems to be a company that could care less about their customers. That's just been my impression so far.
 
Re: My(poor) experience with the LAR8

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: tylerw02</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Sorry about your poor experience. This is exactly the point some were trying to make when Elfster went ballistic on those other two threads; this is why people buy GAPs and LaRues. </div></div>

I've had issues with both GAP and Larue service too, so to insinuate that you get better service from them is false. Everyone is going to make someone unhappy eventually, I don't care if they are RRA, GAP, Larue, S&W, or whomever. Unless they've totally fallen flat on their faces, RRA will do the OP right, once he makes contact.
 
Re: My(poor) experience with the LAR8

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Steelhead</div><div class="ubbcode-body">...once he makes contact. </div></div>

Doesn't really matter if you can never get a hold of them. And out of curiosity, what CS issue did you have with GAP?
 
Re: My(poor) experience with the LAR8

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ORD</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I'm sorry to hear about your experiences. I don't care what the current climate is re: ARs/parts/accessories or how "big" a company you are dealing with...there is NO EXCUSE for not being able to raise a human being on the phone for weeks on end.

I'd get the problem straightened out (on your own with some trial and error or with RRA's CS dep't) and then dump the rifle like a bad habit. There are just too many high quality, large-frame ARs out there that are capable of absolute reliability and MOA (or better) accuracy to put up with RRA's BS when it comes to CS issues, poor designs/mags/fitment issues, etc. </div></div>

^^ this is why I do not buy used weapons!
 
Re: My(poor) experience with the LAR8

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: THEBEARRRRRRJEW</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jwb47</div><div class="ubbcode-body">sorry to hear your troubles . just curious but did you try the mags before you filed on them . mine fit just fine the way they were . you might try the industry forum over at arfcom steve is active on there boards and responds pretty quick to post about malfunctions. you might also try some fal mags they work pretty good .
good luck and I hope you get going soon and enjoy your rra as much as I have mine.

IMG_20120928_152614.jpg
</div></div>

Your rig looks great. The MOE handguards look really good. Did they require any bs RRA specific adapters?

And yes, I expect new mags to fit out of the box so I tried them first. I had to turn the weapon upside down and rap the bottom of the mag pretty good to seat it and had to pry it out after it bound my mag release. </div></div>

no adaptor needed . they were a bit snug to start but I just got them both started on the edge of the delta ring then slapped them together.
my rifle has a low serial number and I got my polymer mags in the first shipment so maybe thats the difference . I hope you get up and running it sucks having a rifle you like but it wont run right.
 
Re: My(poor) experience with the LAR8

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Broker</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Steelhead</div><div class="ubbcode-body">...once he makes contact. </div></div>

Doesn't really matter if you can never get a hold of them. And out of curiosity, what CS issue did you have with GAP?

</div></div>

I wanted to add a Surgeon bottom metal to my GAP built .308 bolt gun. Called them up and they said they wouldn't do it for me, because they didn't have a template for it. Seems kind of funny since I've seen rifles from them with the Surgeon BM. They said they'd be happy to put a Badger BM on for me though. I already had the Surgeon and like the Surgeon better than the Badger. Kind of rubbed me wrong at the time.

No matter, I did it my self, saved me a bunch of money, and it's working great and I have the satisfaction of knowing I did it myself.

I have two GAP's and would/will buy another. I'll buy more RRA too.
 
Re: My(poor) experience with the LAR8

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Steelhead</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Broker</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Steelhead</div><div class="ubbcode-body">...once he makes contact. </div></div>

Doesn't really matter if you can never get a hold of them. And out of curiosity, what CS issue did you have with GAP?

</div></div>

I wanted to add a Surgeon bottom metal to my GAP built .308 bolt gun. Called them up and they said they wouldn't do it for me, because they didn't have a template for it. Seems kind of funny since I've seen rifles from them with the Surgeon BM. They said they'd be happy to put a Badger BM on for me though. I already had the Surgeon and like the Surgeon better than the Badger. Kind of rubbed me wrong at the time.

No matter, I did it my self, saved me a bunch of money, and it's working great and I have the satisfaction of knowing I did it myself.

I have two GAP's and would/will buy another. I'll buy more RRA too. </div></div>

I'm sorry that happened. I woulda tried again and spoke with someone else. GAP is normally very good about treating their people like customers rather than profit(coughahemrra)

After they told me I can exchange the mags for the cost of shipping both ways(I already paid it once to get em here) I told em to shove the handguards and ordered a set of the MOEs.
 
Re: My(poor) experience with the LAR8

No need for you to appologize. I was just trying to make the point that no one is perfect. I've had great service from GAP too, especially from George himself. I'll still buy from them in the future.
 
Re: My(poor) experience with the LAR8

Just an update to add insult to injury. I canceled the backorder on the handguards and ordered a set of MOEs. In another testament to the inconvenience of their constant design changes, it took 2 hours of filing, dremeling and busted knuckles before they went on and I still had to wrap the front in electrical tape because it wants to back off under torque. Now I just hope they hold up until the A2s are back in stock or I can justify/find a DD.
 
Re: My(poor) experience with the LAR8

If you want PM me a number. I will have someone call you. I personally know multiple people who work at RRA.