Someone on another board asked how to sell his AR as he's moved on with them. I told him to keep it since he most likely won't get much money out of it unless it's a new unused BCM, DD, Aero or another top tier AR.

I went on to say if it was a Bushmaster, Wyndham, RRA or Oly arms, it's not worth it to sell.

Well another member took issue with me not rating Rock River amongst the top tier.

Am I missing something? As far as I know, it's a mid-grade brand. Sure, there's lots of them in Highpower, but outside that, as far as I know, it's just a meh brand. I have their 2-stage trigger and it's nice, but other than that, I have nothing else to gauge them off of.

Thoughts?

quote:

As far as I know, it's a mid-grade brand. Sure, there's lots of them in Highpower, but outside that, as far as I know, it's just a meh brand. I have their 2-stage trigger and it's nice, but other than that, I have nothing else to gauge them off of.

You nailed it.

You are on target and tracking. Two decades ago RRA was marketed as top shelf but it wasn’t, it was just mid.

But I was an armorer and can fix issues I might find, so name has never been a big issue to me. I carried a stock bushmaster at work for a decade and shot better than anyone else at the department.

On par with other quality makers.

The question should really be what is different between a RRA and say a Daniel Defense? For example, what type of barrel is used, is the bolt HPT/MPI tested, is the bolt properly staked, etc.? You'll have to dig down and compare the specs to really find out if there is a qualitative difference.

10+ years ago in the days of "The Chart", we had a good idea of what RRA was putting into their guns. Today...no idea. They have historically chosen to go their own way on things like furniture and churn out a lot of ugly, heavy stuff. They probably make a plenty usable rifle (I own one), but for what they generally are charging, a better gun that is more of a known quantity can be had.

They only have a name in the industry because of their DEA contract from 2005 or so. They are a relatively local company to me (about an hour away) so they had a lot of the LE market around here 15 years ago, but most agencies have moved on to things like Sons of Liberty, Daniel Defense, etc.

I think you assessment was accurate. People suffer terrible confirmation bias because their sample of one gun has never let them down, no matter how many dozens of rounds they put through it.

I have an AR15 build that started with a RRA matched receiver set, BCG, and 2-stage trigger. I've since changed the trigger to a Wilson Combat single stage, but the RRA receivers and BCG are still going strong. It's probably 15 years old with at 4000 to 4500 rounds -- I don't shoot it all that often. Magpul PRS stock and DCM 24" bull barrel. It's definitely a sub-MOA rifle out to many hundreds of yards with the right factory ammo.

The RRA receiver set fits very well together. A punch is required for disassembly. Fit and finish are quite good. Not as purdy as my Wilson Combat and SI Defense receivers, but still quite good. The BCG is holding up well. The bolt is properly built. I believe it's my only remaining parkerized bolt -- I've since gone with NiB and the like. The bolt's lugs are showing minimal wear, which is great for a parkerized bolt with this mileage.

I do not consider RRA to be a top tier rifle/components maker, but what I have has worked very well. When its current DCM barrel gets shot out, I plan to replace it with a better barrel - Wilson, Bartlein, Krieger - and keep on shooting.

quote:

Originally posted by DaBigBR:
10+ years ago in the days of "The Chart", we had a good idea of what RRA was putting into their guns. Today...no idea.

Yep, "there was a time." The person Benny ran into is the the only person I've heard from in recent years saying anything other than RRA is mid-tier.

I have 2 RRA NM guns. Both very good. On one I added a White Oak NM upper. White Oak is a little better.

Thanks all! I didn't think it was worth arguing over and I just let it go, but I didn't want to be off the mark on my comments either. You all confirmed my gut feeling about them.

Tony.

I had a few of their uppers and one lower way back and thought they were very nice. (1998-2002 ish?) I was impressed.

That's the problem with anything, be it guns or cars of toasters. "So and so was average, then they were really good, then they were crappy." Or "My Stihl chainsaw is amazing, still going strong since 1977." Which really only helps you if have a time machine to go back and buy one.

The first AR I built was on a RRA lower and LPK. It has an ALG trigger in it now but otherwise it's unmodified, and has always functioned perfectly.

I have two RRA ar upper/lower rifles. One is a mixmaster 14.5” colt socom barreled, BCM trigger, Larue quad railed, magpul furniture gun that serves on HD duty. Eats everything I throw at it. Not my favorite build but it does everything I need it to do. RRA is exactly what you describe, solid mid-tier rifle. The cost of ARs has dropped to the point the secondary market is virtually decimated for mid-tier guns.

Mid-tier, but I wouldn’t mention RRA in the same breath as Olympic

quote:

Originally posted by DaBigBR:


They only have a name in the industry because of their DEA contract from 2005 or so. They are a relatively local company to me (about an hour away) so they had a lot of the LE market around here 15 years ago, but most agencies have moved on to things like Sons of Liberty, Daniel Defense, etc.

For sure that’s no more. DEA, FBI and ATF are all issuing a semi-custom Colt 11.5 inch gun these days.

As to the Rock River, they are really another “meh” brand.

My first AR was a Rock River, but later sold it. At the time, the fit between the lower and upper was notoriously tight with many of their rifles, and I got tired of using a hammer and wooden punch to pop out a takedown pin to open it, even after 500 rds. I got an LMT to replace it and was much happier.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
Someone on another board asked how to sell his AR as he's moved on with them. I told him to keep it since he most likely won't get much money out of it unless it's a new unused BCM, DD, Aero or another top tier AR.

I went on to say if it was a Bushmaster, Wyndham, RRA or Oly arms, it's not worth it to sell.

Well another member took issue with me not rating Rock River amongst the top tier.

Am I missing something? As far as I know, it's a mid-grade brand. Sure, there's lots of them in Highpower, but outside that, as far as I know, it's just a meh brand. I have their 2-stage trigger and it's nice, but other than that, I have nothing else to gauge them off of.

Thoughts?

you fell into the Tier Trap,


folks get wrapped around the Tier too much,


I'll go out on a limb to say that an AR is an AR, for most folks,

some need the extra doo dads, and most (including me) modify them a bit ,
and even that bit alters the ranking in 'the tier'


risking a good rashing, and lightning strikes, I will say that the Tier has moved about a bit, brand wise a lot,


esp since most AR buyers rarely leave them alone, as in modify them heavily,


and honestly, as a dealer, when buying used AR's , that Tier does not matter one bit,

Run of the mill mil-spec weapon.

With a 2-stage trigger.

Like the older Bushmaster XM15, sans the 2-stage

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
You are on target and tracking. Two decades ago RRA was marketed as top shelf but it wasn’t, it was just mid.

Keep in mind that in the last two decades AR’s have come a long way, and there wasn’t much to choose from … I remember before the 94 ban when Colt, Bushmaster & Armalite were the “top makers” and you could actually find them available to buy. Then RRA came along and Bushmasters QC started to slip (several carriers with improperly staked keys and seemingly hand tightened barrel nuts slipped out).
Olympic Arms were rumored to have the best barrels & tightest upper to lower fit.
After that the market exploded, specialty manufacturing of furniture, triggers & barrels hit the market and mil-spec wasn’t good enough. The days of only having a choice of 16” carbine or 20” rifle was over.

At least that’s how I remember the recent AR history

Solid middle of the road rifles. I carried a RRA Tactical Entry rifle on duty for years and never had any issues or concerns with it. Liked it well enough I bought one of my own for my first AR15.