I’m a fan of carry handle AR’s. Rock River Arms recently dropped a couple of new models on Instagram. They previewed these at SHOT, but I somehow missed them. Let’s take a look at what they’re offering.
Slick Side SBR’s
What popped up on IG was a pair of short barrel rifles in retro carbine style. These aren’t direct clones of anything but have a cool throwback vibe nonetheless. The A1 Carbine SBR LAR-15M is chambered in 5.56 NATO. It features a forged RRA LAR-15M lower receiver paired with a forged slick side A1 upper receiver that includes a carry handle. The barrel is a 10.5-inch lightweight chrome moly design, equipped with an A1 flash hider and 1/2-28 threading.
Additional components include an RRA single-stage trigger, an A1 CAR triangle handguard, either a collapsible CAR stock or an RRA entry stock, and an RRA A1 pistol grip. The complete rifle weighs 5.58 pounds and measures 26 1/2 inches in length. It comes with one magazine, a front sling swivel, an RRA case, along with the owner’s manual and warranty information. MSRP is $1,150 for the CAR Model and $1,350 for the Entry model.
What It Is, and What It Isn’t
RRA is by no means new to the AR world but I kind of feel they’re new to the retro world. Some of their verbiage is off and the features aren’t really correct for any historical build. The call it an A1 upper but A1’s by their mature have a forward assist. This is more of a Colt 601 or Sp1 upper. In fairness, a lot of folks call any non A2 carry handle upper an A1. They also reference the stock as an M4 stock, but that’s a CAR style stock on the build. Which is okay because it works with the triangular handguards. Speaking of which, the triangular handguards were ever only used on the Colt 607 prototype carbine, and those were made from cut down rifle handguards. So it wasn’t an issue configuration. They look cool though and have a definite retro flair so that’s okay by me.
RRA doesn’t claim their trying to clone anything. Which goes to the last point, the lower. The lower is an A2 pattern and while that wouldn’t be correct for a an early A1 or prior carry handle build, again, this isn’t a clone of anything. Both models are modern, functional, compact builds with a throwback flair. Which is going to be just fine for most folks. Not everyone has the OCD level that clone builders do. They just want a cool, fun rifle with that Vietnam era style.
What About the A1 Rifle?
At SHOT they displayed a 20-inch A1 rifle too. I don’t see that on their website yet, but presume it’s coming soon. As I said, I missed it at the show so I didn’t get a first hand look at it. It’s hard to tell in the pic from their IG page but I’m guessing it’s an A2 lower like the SBR’s. No details whether it’s a slick side SP1 style or A1 upper that I saw. It appears to have a 20 inch pencil barrel and triangular handguards. The stock might be an A2 from looking at the pic, but I either might be seeing that wrong or it could change by the time they come out. So again, probably not true clone, but a rifle with some nice retro features.
I’m totally okay with carry handle builds that aren’t clones. I grew up in the 80’s when home build AR’s were really taking off. There were all sorts of variations built that didn’t match any particular military or manufacturers model. You’d see a mix of A1 and A2 parts based on what folks had available or what their preferences were. They weren’t trying to clone anything, just making cool, functional rifles for their won use.
When I see carry handle builds now with a mix of features it reminds me of those throwbacks to the mid 80’s and early 90’s. At this point that’s a good 40 years ago, so I’d call that reetro in it’s own right. For more on Rock River’s A1 SBR’s and rifles check out their website or social media for updates.