At this year’s SHOT Show, LaRue Tactical introduced its Optimized Battle Rifle (OBR) in 7.62x51mm (.308). The rifle’s roots clearly lie with Eugene Stoner, the engineering genius that was instrumental in designing the AR-10. However, LaRue’s attention to detail led them to design much of this rifle “from the ground up.”
Here are just a few of the quality aspects of this great rifle:
• Both the newly designed upper-receiver and the lower are CNC-machined from billet 7075-T6 with stainless steel barrels (1/11.25 twist) offered in 16.1, 18, and 20 inches
• The rifle comes with a long MIL-STD-1913 rail, which allows the mounting of any number of night-vision or optical systems
• The side and bottom rails are detachable, which allows for reconfiguration based on the shooter’s needs. This feature also eliminates the need for rail covers
• The rifle comes with a Geissele SSA 2-stage combat trigger. This particular trigger is a semi-automatic-only version similar to that company’s select fire model. The trigger is non-adjustable, but performs like a match-grade trigger despite the “combat” nomenclature.
• The gun accepts standard M110 magazines and comes with two 20-round magazines
• Though the base rifle comes with a standard A2 Rifle Stock and birdcage flash hider, LaRue offers a number of options that allows a new owner to tailor the rifle to his or her specific needs
Once familiarization is complete, the owner can expect less than one MOA accuracy for a base price starting at $2,995 for the 7.62 model.
Mark Fingar of LaRue suggested that anyone interested in the rifle go to their website at www.LaRue.com and lick on the “OBR Information” button on the top right of the screen. There, you can then get more information about all the OBR models.
