I know Front Sight isn't nearly as cool as a Magpul class, but it is still a great place to focus on fundamentals and get familiar with a rifle system. I attended the 4-day Practical Rifle course last weekend. I used my 18" OBR 7.62 topped with a Nightforce 2.5-10x32 and an Aimpoint H-1 in a LaRue offset mount. Here are my takeaways:
- The scope set up worked great (I think the 2.5-10 NF scope is perfect for the OBR). It does take a lot of practice to get used to presenting the rifle canted to use the Aimpoint, however. Sometimes after presenting the rifle, I'd still be looking for the red dot. I'd advise trying out the rifle with your primary choice of optic before deciding if you want to add an offset red dot of some type. I did find the Aimpoint very handy for work within 50 yards.
- I didn't have any problems with the cheek riser. I'm 6'4", and I leave the stock fully extended, so charging the rifle wasn't an issue.
- Personally, I think this system was too heavy for a single point sling, but the two-point sling included with the rifle worked great. It would be nice to have a way to attach the two-point sling swivel to the handguard without having to attach a rail mount.
- Mr. LaRue: PLEASE make a B.A.D. type device for the OBR! I run them on my carbines (including the OBR 5.56), and it was sorely missed while conducting malfunction drills using the OBR heavy.
- Dependability: The rifle works...period. I shot over 450 rnds in four days without a single malfunction. I didn't clean it for the first three days just to see if it would get dirty enough to cause problems. We had our bolt open whenever we weren't shooting (safety first...or something), so lots of Nevada dust was added to the carbon deposits. ETA: I used both Magpul and LaRue magazines interchangeably. Both worked great, but I'd only trust the LaRue mags to drop free every time during mag change drills.
- The Harris/LaRue bipod setup rocks. I would only add the bipod at the 200 yard line and beyond, so the QD feature was nice. At the 200 yard line, we had 6.5 seconds to go from standing to prone and shoot the thoracic cavity of the target. This time included deploying the bipod. I thought I liked the GG&G unit, but it would have taken too much time to deploy it under our constraint.
- Vortex flash suppressors work! We did a night shoot, and they were the best of the bunch.
- A nice trigger makes a huge difference, and the OBR has one.
- Accuracy: It's an OBR...'nuff said.
- Funny moment: A fellow student asked me, "What do you do when you're not a walking LaRue advertisement?" I chuckled, and the instructor replied, "The LaRue guys are all like that."
Bottom line: I REALLY like my OBR!
Pics:
Three days with out a cleaning = one dirty rifle. Chrome bolts are wonderful things.
A few of us got together one evening and laid out our combined arsenal. It was worth a pic. BTW, I got to shoot/handle both the ACR and the SCAR. I much prefer the SCAR.
- The scope set up worked great (I think the 2.5-10 NF scope is perfect for the OBR). It does take a lot of practice to get used to presenting the rifle canted to use the Aimpoint, however. Sometimes after presenting the rifle, I'd still be looking for the red dot. I'd advise trying out the rifle with your primary choice of optic before deciding if you want to add an offset red dot of some type. I did find the Aimpoint very handy for work within 50 yards.
- I didn't have any problems with the cheek riser. I'm 6'4", and I leave the stock fully extended, so charging the rifle wasn't an issue.
- Personally, I think this system was too heavy for a single point sling, but the two-point sling included with the rifle worked great. It would be nice to have a way to attach the two-point sling swivel to the handguard without having to attach a rail mount.
- Mr. LaRue: PLEASE make a B.A.D. type device for the OBR! I run them on my carbines (including the OBR 5.56), and it was sorely missed while conducting malfunction drills using the OBR heavy.
- Dependability: The rifle works...period. I shot over 450 rnds in four days without a single malfunction. I didn't clean it for the first three days just to see if it would get dirty enough to cause problems. We had our bolt open whenever we weren't shooting (safety first...or something), so lots of Nevada dust was added to the carbon deposits. ETA: I used both Magpul and LaRue magazines interchangeably. Both worked great, but I'd only trust the LaRue mags to drop free every time during mag change drills.
- The Harris/LaRue bipod setup rocks. I would only add the bipod at the 200 yard line and beyond, so the QD feature was nice. At the 200 yard line, we had 6.5 seconds to go from standing to prone and shoot the thoracic cavity of the target. This time included deploying the bipod. I thought I liked the GG&G unit, but it would have taken too much time to deploy it under our constraint.
- Vortex flash suppressors work! We did a night shoot, and they were the best of the bunch.
- A nice trigger makes a huge difference, and the OBR has one.
- Accuracy: It's an OBR...'nuff said.
- Funny moment: A fellow student asked me, "What do you do when you're not a walking LaRue advertisement?" I chuckled, and the instructor replied, "The LaRue guys are all like that."
Bottom line: I REALLY like my OBR!
Pics:
Three days with out a cleaning = one dirty rifle. Chrome bolts are wonderful things.
A few of us got together one evening and laid out our combined arsenal. It was worth a pic. BTW, I got to shoot/handle both the ACR and the SCAR. I much prefer the SCAR.
