Speaking of both Rock River Arms and after the discussion on “what .308 for 3-gun Heavy Metal” I started doing some research on .308/7.62 NATO caliber ARs. The AR platform is the “best bet” for me in 3 gun as it has the widest array of available parts, aftermarket support, and most of all though is a platform that I’m already familiar with, so there isn’t the learning curve that’s associated with picking up a new rifle.
Sadly, I don’t have three grand sitting around to just buy the JP Enterprises LRP-07 which is basically God’s own 3-gun Heavy Metal rifle; however after looking around I’ve got two solid candidates, one of which is the Rock River Arms LAR-8 A4.
I like that the LAR-8 A4 is a pretty vanilla gun; a flattop upper and a boring handguard give me room to customize the rifle up from there and build an ideal 3 gun rifle out of it. The LAR-8 takes FN FAL mags, which I’ve come to understand are common like hydrogen, so sourcing spares shouldn’t be a problem. All that being said however, I do not have any personal experience with this rifle, and the only Rock River guns I’ve shot have been pistol caliber AR carbines, which were an absolute hoot…but a little different from a full on .308.
Since I’m shopping, I’m wide open to any feedback from people that have shot/owned this platform, or built a .308 AR from RRA parts.
I was just about to buy the midlength LAR-8 since I had a bunch of FAL magazines when I realized how foolish it was to make such a decision based something so trivial. I do like the LAR-8, but in the end I went with a DPMS Panther 7.62 NATO Oracle. -Rob
CMMG makes a DPMS compatible lower that takes G3 magazines.
If you’re goingt o choose based on magazine cost, that’s the hands-down winner.