LaRue 6.5 Grendel Rifles

[LRRPF52]

Mark told me it would be here Friday. My very good buddy at the LGS called me up this morning and said, "It's here. Come get it before they put any more drool on it." (His words, not mine.)

One thing that was really worrying me inside was how I might feel about this rifle if I didn't like it, or if I felt like I need to make some changes to get it "up to my standard", and how Mark would feel after being so generous to me if I messed with it.

I pull the thing out of the box and the included, very nice FDE hard rifle case.

First impression was, "Dayum, I like this thing." The Stealth 2.0 upper/handguard combo is very slim, very sleek, very well-built.

Fit and feel of the upper-to-lower union is like a freaking vault-no really. The last time I recall a billet receiver fit like this, it was after a tensioning device had been installed.

The Cerakote finish is better than I can do myself, very uniform, matte textured, even, and clean. I started to wonder why I've been doing a lot of what I do in my personal build processes.

MBT-2S trigger breaks like a tiny icicle, very light and crisp on the 2nd stage. Included A-PEG grip feels great, matches the color of the FDE Cerakote. My wife says the grip fits her hand perfectly...(uh oh).

As I clear the action, the BCG rides inside the receiver like snot on an oilslick, unlike how AR15s normally feel (as if you were grinding small rocks together inside). New anodized finishes and parkerized finishes don't play well together, so everyone here who has cycled a new standard AR15 knows what I'm talking about. With this one, none of that is there. It just feels like silk, no really.

The included Tranquillo muzzle brake appears to be well-designed, with staged baffle spacing and carefully-cut vertical ports for muzzle climb taming.

The barrel has a deep black sheen to it, as does the matching gas block. There appears to be some type of device to prevent gas leakage at the gas tube/block junction. Fit of the gas block and barrel inside of the handguard show perfect concentricity, with no deviation from center of bore. You can see that Mark has a passion for not only perfect execution of alignment and fit, but that he knows how to maintain a team that is able to reproduce that type of machining and parts interface that are easier with a one-off, not so easy when you start cranking out volume. The LaRue elves apparently like making Santa happy.

Following that trend, the mating of the 1913 rail at 12 o'clock on the handguard aligns perfectly with the rail on the upper. This is one area that always bugs me a little with my builds because it never really is perfect when you take handguard from Company A and attach it to an upper from Company B. In this case, you have to look closely to see that they aren't one-piece. I love that.

The RAT stock has internal compartments with polymer sleeves that contain sections of cleaning rod. The Receiver Extension Tube is precision-made, and has etched markings for stock adjustment location. There is no wobble or rattle of the stock on the RET, and the recoil pad feels great in the shoulder, appears to be made from elastomer. Trigger adjustment of the stock is nice, as is the cheek weld, very comfortable with no beard-rippers in it.

The overall fit, feel, and balance of the rifle is really ideal.