Yes I have quite a lot of experience with LaRue products, mostly getting them shooting properly.
Just about every person who I shoot with that owns LaRue rifles has already replaced the barrels with Custom Bartlein's. If you go onto MSTN's original Thread about the LaRue Grendel you will see I was very fair with my opinions of The Grendel kit, and after alot of work I did get it shooting .5 MOA, but it does have its issues.
https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/forum/...-grendel-rifle
IMO LaRue Rifles offer nothing to justify their cost, $3,400 for a rifle with mediocre accuracy, no Sights, no Muzzle Brake, a trigger that's barely above a Rock River 2 stage, and not a single ambidextrous control, a switchblock gas system that doesn't really do anything most people still have to buy a heavier buffer to run suppressed reliably.
The only innovation they have to offer is a true free floated barrel and even with that they only averaging about .85 MOA, just enough to squeak by the sub MOA standard of today.
Think about it!! ...There is absolutely no difference between a buying OBR or a tOBR then a Rock River LAR8 or any other Plain Jane large frame AR, there is nothing special about them....Hell! The LAR8 I've seen are more accurate!! all people are paying for is the LaRue name/gimmick. And for the people who are thinking about the switch barrel design on the tOBR, give me one instance where that has actually been useful??? It does make changing a barrel easier but that's about it, And you still can't buy barrel replacement in any other Calibre than .308 anyway.
And in regards to the people who give these outrageous 5 Star fluff piece reviews and say how amazing their gun is and that there's nothing better then LaRue a rifle are full of it!! They are just Fanboys who don't want to look foolish for spending $3,400 on a mediocre rifle.
Go on to AR15.com and you will see cherry picked 1/2 MOA groups all day long, but ask one of them to do a 5x5...HOLLY SHIT!! THEY ACT LIKE YOU JUST GAVE THEIR MOTHER A CASE OF THE CRABS...
Now onto a positive note......
IMO the LaRue OBR is an awesome battle style rifle with its monolithic top rail and a true free floating barrel, it's a bit on the heavy side but if I was to be deployed again I would have no problem taking one with me, over something like a SCAR , LMT or the new HK.
Yes they are well made, But so are other rifles at half the cost.
Yes the Upper kits are well made and a good deal for the price in parts alone.
If anyone takes anything from what I've said please let it be this... Mark LaRue and his team make a decent product, and if the LaRue product line is for you, then I say go for it. But for the love of god stop over exaggerating the product, and keep it real so when everyday people ask for help from experienced shooters before they spend a months pay on a rifle , tell them the truth and don't blow smoke up their ass..
That's why I got banned last month for 30 days for a remark I made because
LRRPF52 wrote a 1000 word fluff piece that seriously overglorified the new Grendel. And it's articles like that, that people read from experience shooters and take it as Gospel, then come to find out the product they just spent their money on is not even close to be as good as people like
LRRPF52 have led them to believe.
CREWS didn't like my comments either, but he sold his LaRue Grendel after owning it for less than a month, so I'd say I'm safe to assume his was shooting poorly as well.
I've been eyeball-deep in AR15s since the 1980s. Deployed with M16A1s, A2s, M4s, M4A1s all over the world, have been working on, buying, and building all that time.
I reached a stage early-on where I didn't trust manufacturers to source quality parts or assemble to my satisfaction, and my trusted list of vendors became smaller the more I experience I've gained. I have not owned a factory-built AR15 since 1997 I think, when I bought a pre-ban Bushmaster 11.5" with 5.5" permanent FH when I was stationed at Ft. Lewis.
Everything I said about the Stealth 2.0 LaRue 6.5 Grendel is just as I said. It has the smoothest action of all my ARs, even with me polishing my bolt carrier guide rails on personal builds. If you pick up the LaRue and one of my other Grendels and rack the action, you will immediately notice the difference.
Another major difference between the Stealth 2.0 and other standard AR15s is how solid the Stealth 2.0 receiver/handguard mate is. The whole rifle feels like one, solid piece, as opposed to the hint of flex you feel in other free-float systems. The only handguard/upper mates I've felt that are that solid are LMT MRP and VLTOR VIS.
Accuracy with the LaRue 6.5 Grendel complete rifle has been so good at 100yds, that I don't bother with it anymore and have spent more time shooting it at distances out to 1000yds so far.
Here are 2 groups next to each other that show one of the worst, and the best, using 123gr BTHP Hornady American Gunner at 70 cents per round, with a
1.5-6x Burris scope and that big center dot reticle with the horseshoe that does not present well for shooting groups:
If you look at the totality of my observations and experience of the firearms industry, I have worked very hard to be accurate and fair in what I see.
When LaRue sent me the Stealth 2.0 out of the blue, I was more concerned about the inevitable problems I would discover with the rifle, and how to remain grateful, but fair to everyone who has come to value my experiences over the years. I thought about how I would point out things I didn't like about the rifle, while remaining respectful to LaRue.
What happened instead was the rifle exceeded my expectations, revealed many small details that as a student of this design, really jumped out at me, and I would sell my family's Pre-64 Winchester Model 70 .270 Win that I grew up with before selling this LaRue Stealth 2.0 6.5 Grendel.
To assume that the experiences you had with one or two samples mean that my sample must be different, and therefore call my character into question and falsely misrepresent my accurate reviews as fluff pieces is what bothers me.
For one, it's based on the common logical fallacy of anecdotal experience. You experienced x, therefore everyone else will experience the same.
Two, it's based on the false premise that because a 6061 receiver set Rock River with imitation AR15 parts throughout (I've owned them and dealt with them for years) can shoot as well, in your words, "there is nothing special about them".
I do agree with you that with the kits, they are worth it for the parts alone, even if someone wants a different barrel. I think the biggest thing people overlook is bedding their barrels in the AR15 or AR10. Once you bed, I've experienced groups shrinking substantially, usually by half, and that includes JP and Krieger barrels.
