By popular demand, here's the next instalment...
KS,
I don't dislike LaRue although I don't think highly of Mark LaRue. I don't live in the States and ML has a policy where he only sells directly from his website to American citizens. One time he rang me to find out how I had accessed one of his mounts, via a Queensland retailer. He was polite and chatty on the phone while soliciting this information. Shortly after he shut down access to Australia. The Queensland retailer now sells ADM and I have swapped out all his mounts for SPUHR (Sweden). What benefit he thinks he achieved by doing this I don't know because he has not stopped Aussies and Kiwi's from sourcing mounts. Probably pointless explaining to him that our soldiers have fought alongside yours against common enemies. This, and the feverish brand loyalty that people like his fan boys display simply punctuates how these things are just guns. The branding that goes with it is just clever marketing.
As for his guns...Sure, I have no doubt they are reliable but my concern about LaRue is that they are not Olympic-quality barrels. To me, 90% of the gun is the barrel and all I am interested in is how well they shoot, the ergonomics and how reliable they are. LaRue's secret barrels are not the best barrels and the associated parts are not what I would consider the best. For example, he does not use full ambi parts which is arguably compulsory for bilateral shooting, or at least for a 'premium' gun (four ambidextrous parts make it fully ambidextrous; charge handle, mag release, safety selector and slide unlocking lever). This is not simply a case of upgrading these parts as it also requires a dedicated lower. Something like a Ranier Ultramatch Ambi, or a San Tan, or CMT Tactical Ambi or Seekins or the old Mega Ambi Billet. LaRue also does not use all 7075 aluminium on the four main receiver parts; upper, lower, handguard and buffer tube. If you buy a LaRue with optics it is not the best available scope. Although I have never used his trigger I am also entitled to believe it is not as good as a Gieselle NM. LaRue's dealings with non-US citizens is unusually nationalistic but separate from my opinion of his company's fully assembled rifles. His mounts are however very good which is what he first started out retailing.
If I have upset you in any way then in a light-hearted way I am glad because I want to emphasise it is just a gun we are talking about. Our rifles should not be self-extensions or identity prosthetics, although I do admit to deriving a sense of purpose from them. Brand loyalty is not a 'religion' worth getting fired-up about. Guns are just tools made out of metal and plastic in a factory. If however brand loyalty and aesthetics are important to you then go for it, but if you just want the most accurate, reliable gun then I would argue no retailer out there currently has that monopoly. Plus, you will never know what they did and the decisions they made when putting it together. Some things you just have to do yourself... To be absolutely sure.
KS,
I don't dislike LaRue although I don't think highly of Mark LaRue. I don't live in the States and ML has a policy where he only sells directly from his website to American citizens. One time he rang me to find out how I had accessed one of his mounts, via a Queensland retailer. He was polite and chatty on the phone while soliciting this information. Shortly after he shut down access to Australia. The Queensland retailer now sells ADM and I have swapped out all his mounts for SPUHR (Sweden). What benefit he thinks he achieved by doing this I don't know because he has not stopped Aussies and Kiwi's from sourcing mounts. Probably pointless explaining to him that our soldiers have fought alongside yours against common enemies. This, and the feverish brand loyalty that people like his fan boys display simply punctuates how these things are just guns. The branding that goes with it is just clever marketing.
As for his guns...Sure, I have no doubt they are reliable but my concern about LaRue is that they are not Olympic-quality barrels. To me, 90% of the gun is the barrel and all I am interested in is how well they shoot, the ergonomics and how reliable they are. LaRue's secret barrels are not the best barrels and the associated parts are not what I would consider the best. For example, he does not use full ambi parts which is arguably compulsory for bilateral shooting, or at least for a 'premium' gun (four ambidextrous parts make it fully ambidextrous; charge handle, mag release, safety selector and slide unlocking lever). This is not simply a case of upgrading these parts as it also requires a dedicated lower. Something like a Ranier Ultramatch Ambi, or a San Tan, or CMT Tactical Ambi or Seekins or the old Mega Ambi Billet. LaRue also does not use all 7075 aluminium on the four main receiver parts; upper, lower, handguard and buffer tube. If you buy a LaRue with optics it is not the best available scope. Although I have never used his trigger I am also entitled to believe it is not as good as a Gieselle NM. LaRue's dealings with non-US citizens is unusually nationalistic but separate from my opinion of his company's fully assembled rifles. His mounts are however very good which is what he first started out retailing.
If I have upset you in any way then in a light-hearted way I am glad because I want to emphasise it is just a gun we are talking about. Our rifles should not be self-extensions or identity prosthetics, although I do admit to deriving a sense of purpose from them. Brand loyalty is not a 'religion' worth getting fired-up about. Guns are just tools made out of metal and plastic in a factory. If however brand loyalty and aesthetics are important to you then go for it, but if you just want the most accurate, reliable gun then I would argue no retailer out there currently has that monopoly. Plus, you will never know what they did and the decisions they made when putting it together. Some things you just have to do yourself... To be absolutely sure.