Rainier Arms Hammer Forged Barrel

[UWone77]

I was kicking around the idea of testing out some Rainier Arms components. Some of the various boards I frequent occassionally have threads asking how good Rainier Arms components really are. Well, that's a good question. As much money and time as I spend there, I really don't know the answer. Everything I've used that is branded Rainier has worked fine, but I've never had the time to put it to "serious" use as I have other rifles for that.

Recently, I've aquired a Rainier Arms new Cold Hammer Forged Barrel. I was told that this maybe a limited release for now as everyone is having a hard time keeping up with production. I noticed it wasn't even listed on the site anymore. As you'd expect from Rainier, this barrel has all the right specs:

16" Government Profile
4150 Chrome Moly Vanadium
Chrome lined
Midlength Gas
1/7 Twist
HP Tested
MPI Tested

At $285, it also includes a low profile gas block, which beats paying another $40 - $50 for one. Using this barrel, I put together basically a complete RA rifle using almost all RA parts to use and abuse. I plan to lube the gun only without cleaning it. Pictures of the carbon build up will of course be posted. It will be put through various courses of fire with many different shooters.

Rainier Arms Lower
Daniel Defense LPK
Mil-Spec receiver extension
Mil-Spec charging handle
Rainier Arms Billet Upper
Rainier Arms RA-X11 Rails
Rainier Arms CHF Barrel
Rainier Arms Thunder Bolt BCG
Rainier Arms XTC Compensator
Magpul MBUS front & rear
Magpul AFG2
Magpul MOE grip
VLTOR stock

Here's a quick snapshot:



Once the upper was put together, I put 90 rounds through it to check function. I then handed it off to John here in the video. He decided he wanted to do 500 rounds of just straight mag dumps. I know mag dumps have no training value, but that's what he wanted to do with his rounds to see if there were any hiccups with the setup.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v6...t=MyMovie2.mp4

During his time with the gun, he had 1 FTF and once where the bolt did not lock back. Both are likely magazine issues.

Current round count: 5,005

I will update this at various points with round counts. All stoppages and malfunctions will be noted.

[tac40]

Thanks for posting, keep us updated with your T&E.

[UWone77]

Over the weekend had another shooter take it out for some courses of fire. He had 2 fail to lock backs, again due to the suspect magazine. Once I have the rifle back, I'll toss the junk magazine.

Day 1
390 rounds fired
Sited in for 50 yards, held zero all day. Shot in quick pace “courses” of 60 rounds each.

Magazines used:
1 ok industries - last shot fail to lock back
2 ok industries
3 pmag
4 pmag
5 ok industries - last shot fail to lock back
5 ok industries
6 pmag
7 pmag
8 ar stoner
9 ar stoner
10 ar stoner
11 ar stoner
12 ar stoner

Day 2
210 rounds fired
All 210 rounds fired as quick as magazines could be changed. All shots approximately 35 - 50 yards. No noticeable change in accuracy as the barrel heated up.
All pmags – no issues

Total round count while in my possession = 600

Total rounds through 1255. First post updated

[UWone77]

My next shooter put 1260 rounds down the pipe. I guess when people hear "torture test" everyone thinks mag dumps. This gun was run dry as there was a bit of a break down in communication, as I wanted all shooters to lube the gun generously but not clean it. In the end it didn't appear to bother the rifle as it didn't suffer a single malfunction.

Link to Video:

http://s1264.photobucket.com/albums/...=VIDEO0034.mp4

Note that the XTC is doing its job as there is virtually no muzzle rise, but blowing lots of gas to the sides.

[UWone77]

My next shooter decided to run the gun dry. I would have preferred lube, since the last thousand rounds were run without lube as well. Since it's the a torture type test, what the hell.

Here are the results:

1136 rounds of mixed brass and steel cased ammo during a 2 hour shooting session. There were 2 malfunctions.

At 550 rounds a steel case failed to eject after firing. The shooters had to use a hammer and rod to get the spent casing out of the chamber.

At 800 rounds a lesson in why it's important to stake the castle nut came into play. Here's a picture:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shannon...ng/7601389386/

I blame this on myself as I had a sling plate attached, but could not decide whether or not to take it off before donating this rifle for this test. I ultimately forgot about it and thus never staked it. The sling plate and castle nut worked itself loose and the selector detent spring popped out. The shooters were able to put it back and hand tighten the castle nut. There were no problems for the rest of the range session.

Basically, the last 2k rounds through this rifle has been with no lube, impressive in my opinion for a gun with no coatings.

Some video of it being shot:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shannon...57630646759282


http://www.flickr.com/photos/shannon...57630646759282

It's looking a bit dirty after 3,651 rounds

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shannon...7630646759282/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shannon...ng/7601316616/

It's already with the next shooter, so it should be passing the 4k mark by the weekend.

[UWone77]

375 rounds were shot through the gun with another 2 shooters today. Ammo used BVAC and PMC.

Shooters reported 3 double feeds and one case broke in half. They believed it was likely an ammo issue as it was BVAC... Other than that the thing ran great.

Gun was generously lubed this time around with CLP




Current round count 4,026 without any cleaning. First post updated

[UWone77]

Had a new shooter today put 329 rounds though the gun. Looks like there was one malfunction. Here's how he described it:

" had one failure to feed and the bolt really rammed the side of the round. Easily and rapidly cleared. I shot it hot and fast and it was smoking good."

Not much to add, the gun is still chugging along without cleaning. The last shooter appeared to be surprised how dirty it was.

Round Count 4,355

[Stickman]

Interesting, nice to see the comments along with the malfunctions.

[UWone77]

Another shooter this weekend put 300 rounds through it. No malfunctions reported. Here is his range report, short and sweet:

"Put 300 rounds of PMC 55 gr thru the rifle, out of a new pmag. No malfunctions of any kind. Fired as fast as I could get away with, which was about 1 shot per second. Rifle got fairly hot. Had to go to my shooting gloves to comfortably hold it."

Pic of the BCG now:



Current Round count: 4,655. May wrap up this test after it hits 5k.

[UWone77]

Only 140 rounds this last weekend, I may wrap this up around the 5k mark. 80 rounds of steel cased ammo and 60 rounds of brass. My shooter elected not to lube it. No malfunctions noted.

Round count 4,795

[UWone77]

This coming weekend, I had a volunteer willing to do an accuracy test. Stay tuned for results. I am not looking forward to cleaning this gun when we end this test.

[UWone77]

My volunteer struck out with his attempt to shoot for groups. He wasn't able to mount the optic properly. Not sure what the problem was, but ended up cranking off 30 rounds for function. He will try again.

[UWone77]

The gun has exactly 5k rounds through it. My picture skills at the range failed me, so you'll just have to take my word that this gun still shoots 2" groups at 100 yards with Remington UMC ammo. I won't be able to do better as I'm you're average 4 MOA shooter. This was a fun test and I'm looking forward to the next long term project. I'll post a final review on the board in the AR discussion section.

A couple of quick pics of the components after 5k.

[Stickman]

Very nice!

[landshark]

Interesting to see that it will held at least 2 MOA after all of that. Been looking to get some gear from these guys, barrel included, thanks for putting this together. Nicely done