Changing handguards on a Rock River LAR-8

adrenaline junkie

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Minuteman
Dec 1, 2011
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North Missouri
I want to put a different handguard on my Rock River, but where do I start?

The problems I see at the moment...

They have their own "Proprietary" nut, and the free float tube on my gun has a nut incorporated into the hand guard.

The "tool". I don't even see on their site where there's a "tool" for removing and installing a barrel nut. They have one for the AR 15, but not for the LAR 8.

Have any of you changed a hand guard? What tools and handguards did you use?

They really should have stuck with the same DPMS/armalite system everyone else did. I think they're going to be relics in a few years with the larger "10" sized AR's.
smirk.gif
 
Re: Changing handguards on a Rock River LAR-8

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: adrenaline junkie</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I want to put a different handguard on my Rock River, but where do I start?

The problems I see at the moment...

They have their own "Proprietary" nut, and the free float tube on my gun has a nut incorporated into the hand guard.

The "tool". I don't even see on their site where there's a "tool" for removing and installing a barrel nut. They have one for the AR 15, but not for the LAR 8.

Have any of you changed a hand guard? What tools and handguards did you use?

They really should have stuck with the same DPMS/armalite system everyone else did. I think they're going to be relics in a few years with the larger "10" sized AR's.
smirk.gif
</div></div>

The barrel nut wrench is listed as a "Quad Rail Wrench" on their website: LAR-8 barrel nut wrench

Check this thread out from the RRA Industry forum on ARFCOM: LAR-8 barrel nut wrench thread

My gunsmith used an AR-10 barrel nut wrench with no issues, but I had the standard barrel nut. He also used a barrel vice instead of an upper receiver vice block.

I've got the JP VTAC 12" on my LAR-8 Midlength.
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Re: Changing handguards on a Rock River LAR-8

Something to keep in mind when taking the original guard off - RRA has been known to use loctite or some type of threadlocker. I had to use a good bit of heat to get the barrel nut to break.
 
Re: Changing handguards on a Rock River LAR-8

No web site says specifically not to use anything but their nut. It says other threads may fit but are not deep enough. Just FYI.