Review and Range Report - lengthy, but hopefully informative
LaRue OBR 5.56 (Model LT-15, Optimized Battle Rifle)
Background:
I was all set to build my own very accurate mid-range AR type rifle when I received an email from LaRue saying they were coming out with a 5.56mm version of the OBR. I took a look at the specs vs. what I wanted to put together, and they came out pretty close. I have been impressed with LaRue products in the past, and figured that for the specs I wanted and the price, I'd go ahead and pay a bit extra and get a complete rifle with factory warranty and all that.
So back when they first shipped them out a little while ago, I was one of the first to receive the new LaRue OBR 5.56 with a Wylde chamber and 1:8" twist rate. I went with the 18" barrel for a litte extra velocity and because I already have other 16" and 20" AR-15s and AR-10s.
Specs:
Wylde chambered with polygonal rifling in 1:8" twist rate
Guaranteed sub-MOA with Federal gold medal match 77 grain
Continuous upper rail with 10MOA cant
Lother Walther LW-50 stainless steel 18" barrel
CNC machined from billet 7075-T6
1/2 x 28 threaded barrel with A2 flash hider
Port selector for use with suppressors
Hand polished hard-chrome bolt / carrier with max staked keys
Geissele SSA combat trigger
Magpul CTR stock (comes in Urban Dark Earth (UDE) finish spec'd by LaRue - seems grey to me)
Magpul MOE grip
Fully floated barrel coated coated in black manganese phosphate
Flared magwell
LaRue tactical sling
LaRue picatinny handstops (2)
Additions I made to the standard configuration:
LaRue/Troy BUIS
Burris PEPR scope mount
Nikon Buckmaster 4-14x40 BDC scope (already had on hand)
Burris FastFire II reflex sight
First Impressions:
The fit and finish on this rifle is outstanding. The upper and lower fit together very, very snugly. Although there is a snug fit, the machining is very good, so there is nothing that hangs up when joining the receivers.
The barrel is well free-floated in the LaRue handguard, which is bolted to the upper to form a continuous optics rail. The rail also has a 10MOA cant built into it, which will give your scope a wider effective adjustment range for longer ranges.
You also get 3 short picatinny rail sections that you can bolt onto either the sides or bottom of the handguard. If you don't need them, it lets you shed some weight by leaving them off. They include some blue thread locking compound if you do decide to mount the rails.
The quality of the finish on all parts is very even and well done. I can't speak for durability yet, but see no reason it wouldn't be. The Geissele SSA trigger is a good compromise between target/precision shooting and "combat" shooting. For pure target work, I'd prefer a slightly wider trigger like my bolt guns.
The Magpul CTR locks up pretty tight for a collapsing stock, but it could use a cheek riser for scope work. The MOE grip is nice, too, but I would have preferred the adjustable MIAD grip. I don't think I will bother to switch, though.
The flared magwell helps with quick mag changes and is a nice touch. I also like the standard curved trigger guard in case you need to use it with gloves.
The hard chrome bolt is does clean up easier than many other finishes and kind of looks cool, although it is a shiny spot on an otherwise fairly matte rifle.
The LaRue sling is quite nice, but I don't plan to use it with this rifle as it is more of a tactical sling and I bought this rifle to use for precision work, mostly.
Range Report:
I forgot to grab anything from my ammo stash, so I had to buy some at the local 100yd indoor range. They were out of match ammo, so I bought some Blackhills remanufactured FMJ 55gr 5.56mm ammo that came in a blue box. I hadn't used this before, but with the reload label on it I figured I'd be looking at groups maybe in the 1-3" size at the 100yd targets.
All firing was done from a bench with the forend on a cheapo plastic range rest with the rear end unrested and stock firmly to my shoulder.
I had bore sighted the Nikon at home so I would be on paper, and the first two shots were right on top of each other but a bit left and high. They were overlapping enough that through the rifle scope I thought the second round had somehow missed the target.
I then dialed over to the right twice as much as I should have, but I wanted clear shot separation to help easily locate my next hit. I was able to pick that one out easily and then dialed in the second windage adjustment, which turned out to be right on and was also clearly visible.
With windage dialed in now (which is nice and simple at an indoor range), I then adjusted for elevation and shot a five round group at the upper left diamond. Not too bad, but strung out a bit due to trigger pull, I think. I moved over to the upper right diamond for another five round group and was really starting to get used to the feel of the rifle and trigger at that point.
Next, I shot five rounds at the lower left diamond, then ten rounds at the lower right and another ten rounds at the center. On the center target, I had a bad trigger pull or maybe a flier on the first shot, so I changed POA to that hole and fired the rest of the ten round group there instead of going for the bull. I figured I had a few nice groups on this target already, so why let a flier mess up my last one?
Post-firing Impressions:
Man, the accuracy for this rifle is pretty impressive and backs up the factory test target, which shot less than a half inch five round group with Federal 77gr match ammo. The Black Hills reloads I wound up using are apparently very consistent, too. I'm looking forward to trying out some match ammo and some longer ranges outdoors to see what she can really do.
Since this is primarily a bench rest/prone/improvised rest rifle for me, I am thinking about putting a Magpul PRS stock on here to help balance out the front to rear weight ratio, and would move the CTR to one of my other rifles. I have a PRS on an AR-10 and like it so we'll see.
Other than that, I don't plan to change anything about the rifle itself for now. I may add a LaRue quick release scope mount in place of the Burris, and I may mount the FastFire on a 45* offset at that point. If I do that, I might switch over to a scope with target/tactical turrets. I didn't mount one of those because the turrets would have been too tall to use the FastFire in its current location.
Pictures to follow.
LaRue OBR 5.56 (Model LT-15, Optimized Battle Rifle)
Background:
I was all set to build my own very accurate mid-range AR type rifle when I received an email from LaRue saying they were coming out with a 5.56mm version of the OBR. I took a look at the specs vs. what I wanted to put together, and they came out pretty close. I have been impressed with LaRue products in the past, and figured that for the specs I wanted and the price, I'd go ahead and pay a bit extra and get a complete rifle with factory warranty and all that.
So back when they first shipped them out a little while ago, I was one of the first to receive the new LaRue OBR 5.56 with a Wylde chamber and 1:8" twist rate. I went with the 18" barrel for a litte extra velocity and because I already have other 16" and 20" AR-15s and AR-10s.
Specs:
Wylde chambered with polygonal rifling in 1:8" twist rate
Guaranteed sub-MOA with Federal gold medal match 77 grain
Continuous upper rail with 10MOA cant
Lother Walther LW-50 stainless steel 18" barrel
CNC machined from billet 7075-T6
1/2 x 28 threaded barrel with A2 flash hider
Port selector for use with suppressors
Hand polished hard-chrome bolt / carrier with max staked keys
Geissele SSA combat trigger
Magpul CTR stock (comes in Urban Dark Earth (UDE) finish spec'd by LaRue - seems grey to me)
Magpul MOE grip
Fully floated barrel coated coated in black manganese phosphate
Flared magwell
LaRue tactical sling
LaRue picatinny handstops (2)
Additions I made to the standard configuration:
LaRue/Troy BUIS
Burris PEPR scope mount
Nikon Buckmaster 4-14x40 BDC scope (already had on hand)
Burris FastFire II reflex sight
First Impressions:
The fit and finish on this rifle is outstanding. The upper and lower fit together very, very snugly. Although there is a snug fit, the machining is very good, so there is nothing that hangs up when joining the receivers.
The barrel is well free-floated in the LaRue handguard, which is bolted to the upper to form a continuous optics rail. The rail also has a 10MOA cant built into it, which will give your scope a wider effective adjustment range for longer ranges.
You also get 3 short picatinny rail sections that you can bolt onto either the sides or bottom of the handguard. If you don't need them, it lets you shed some weight by leaving them off. They include some blue thread locking compound if you do decide to mount the rails.
The quality of the finish on all parts is very even and well done. I can't speak for durability yet, but see no reason it wouldn't be. The Geissele SSA trigger is a good compromise between target/precision shooting and "combat" shooting. For pure target work, I'd prefer a slightly wider trigger like my bolt guns.
The Magpul CTR locks up pretty tight for a collapsing stock, but it could use a cheek riser for scope work. The MOE grip is nice, too, but I would have preferred the adjustable MIAD grip. I don't think I will bother to switch, though.
The flared magwell helps with quick mag changes and is a nice touch. I also like the standard curved trigger guard in case you need to use it with gloves.
The hard chrome bolt is does clean up easier than many other finishes and kind of looks cool, although it is a shiny spot on an otherwise fairly matte rifle.
The LaRue sling is quite nice, but I don't plan to use it with this rifle as it is more of a tactical sling and I bought this rifle to use for precision work, mostly.
Range Report:
I forgot to grab anything from my ammo stash, so I had to buy some at the local 100yd indoor range. They were out of match ammo, so I bought some Blackhills remanufactured FMJ 55gr 5.56mm ammo that came in a blue box. I hadn't used this before, but with the reload label on it I figured I'd be looking at groups maybe in the 1-3" size at the 100yd targets.
All firing was done from a bench with the forend on a cheapo plastic range rest with the rear end unrested and stock firmly to my shoulder.
I had bore sighted the Nikon at home so I would be on paper, and the first two shots were right on top of each other but a bit left and high. They were overlapping enough that through the rifle scope I thought the second round had somehow missed the target.
I then dialed over to the right twice as much as I should have, but I wanted clear shot separation to help easily locate my next hit. I was able to pick that one out easily and then dialed in the second windage adjustment, which turned out to be right on and was also clearly visible.
With windage dialed in now (which is nice and simple at an indoor range), I then adjusted for elevation and shot a five round group at the upper left diamond. Not too bad, but strung out a bit due to trigger pull, I think. I moved over to the upper right diamond for another five round group and was really starting to get used to the feel of the rifle and trigger at that point.
Next, I shot five rounds at the lower left diamond, then ten rounds at the lower right and another ten rounds at the center. On the center target, I had a bad trigger pull or maybe a flier on the first shot, so I changed POA to that hole and fired the rest of the ten round group there instead of going for the bull. I figured I had a few nice groups on this target already, so why let a flier mess up my last one?
Post-firing Impressions:
Man, the accuracy for this rifle is pretty impressive and backs up the factory test target, which shot less than a half inch five round group with Federal 77gr match ammo. The Black Hills reloads I wound up using are apparently very consistent, too. I'm looking forward to trying out some match ammo and some longer ranges outdoors to see what she can really do.
Since this is primarily a bench rest/prone/improvised rest rifle for me, I am thinking about putting a Magpul PRS stock on here to help balance out the front to rear weight ratio, and would move the CTR to one of my other rifles. I have a PRS on an AR-10 and like it so we'll see.
Other than that, I don't plan to change anything about the rifle itself for now. I may add a LaRue quick release scope mount in place of the Burris, and I may mount the FastFire on a 45* offset at that point. If I do that, I might switch over to a scope with target/tactical turrets. I didn't mount one of those because the turrets would have been too tall to use the FastFire in its current location.
Pictures to follow.
