While shopping for the right AR pistol I looked at various lengths and makes offered by BCM, Spikes, Palmetto, and some others.  Not sure how I ran into the Runner Runner Guns (“lucky” I guess – read below for explanation), but I soon found myself researching them on the Internet to find there’s very little mention, including zero reference to them on arfcom other than some people also researching their name and quality.  Feeling satisfied with their website and it’s descriptions offered, I thought I’d take a gamble.

Corresponding with the CEO of RRG was done via Facebook and email.  I left a voicemail or two at the number I found for them on their Facebook (unable to find it on the website) to ask some questions.  I actually ordered a Palmetto complete pistol lower at the same time as ordering the RRG upper but then soon cancelled the PSA lower because I didn’t want to play the 10-15 day waiting period for any movement.  I then ordered a RRG stripped lower, an RRA LPK, and a Spike’s pistol buffer kit from RRG.  Upon contacting Richard (CEO of RRG) via FB chat, we were able to change shipping on the lower so I could get it in 2 days, which I did, which is a huge benefit.  

I assembled the lower to find the LPK fitting fine and the Spike’s buffer tube kit fit fine too.  Adding the upper demonstrated an excellent fit between the two RRG receivers.  It appears this upper receiver is a forging from Mueller Industries based on the forge marking.  I’ll assume the lower is the same make.   The bolt was nice and tight in the carrier as all new BCGs are, smooth and silky after firing a mag.  The fit and finish of all components was very nice as I explain in the video below.

I’ll go ahead and post what Richard shared with me in response to some questions I had about RRG and their business as it speaks better than I do:
___________________________
Hi:

I appreciate any feedback you can provide. I welcome it. Please feel free to post whatever you like wherever you like. I hope this answers your questions, if not please feel free to follow up with me.

First I'd like to apologize for not getting right back to you but we have been busy prepping for our move to a new showroom/warehouse in June.

About us--

Runner Runner has been around for three years now. In the beginning we did only custom rifles for local customers but lately we have expanded to a bigger market. We have a presence on local forums such as texasguntalk.com. You can also check out our feedback on gunbroker at

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewUserFeedback.aspx?User=2409717

Assembly is done by three veterans, one Air Force and two Army (ex-sniper and ex-special forces). We run each product through a Q&A before shipping which includes inspection and a random test firing of uppers from batches. We always test fire upon request of a customer. We also test fire or function check upon introducing new products or batches of components. We want our products to arrive ready to go the consumer.

Our goal is for a person to just pick up and use the order and not worry about a thing. To accomplish this we source items from several places which we feel have great quality and in which we can negotiate to buy in bulk to reduce the wholesale cost which we pass along to consumers.  For example, we source stripped upper receivers from Stag Arms, Aero Precision and Ruger's machine shop on a regular basis. The reason is that the fit and finish of these places is great. The product we bought last month is the same we bought this month and will be the same we buy next month. They care about their product and we do business with people like that. This brings us to one of your questions--

We don't manufacture a lot right now. The reason is that the people we buy from have vast more experience than us and specialize in certain items. We would rather buy from a place which has been making BCGs for the past forty years and knows the ins and outs rather than making mistakes ourselves and learning something someone else already knows. To that end we are mostly an assembler right now. We are moving more to control and manufacture items in which we can't get a good supply chain and consistent products but we don't foresee a time we will make everything when the vendors we deal are industry experts in what they do.

We buy barrels from multiples places because we found certain people do barrels better than others. Right now for our 6.5 Grendel we buy direct from Satern. They know what they are doing and there is no need for us to reinvent the wheel when they do it so well. (Each week I have people send me targets of how well our barrels shoot, three shots in a quarter etc). We also get come barrel from Wilson Arms, Tactical Ambush and DC Machine. And we deal with several other places which are not well known but do outstanding work by turning blanks from various places such as ER Shaw and others. Your barrel is a Wylde chamber barrel from a place which no one has heard of. But we use them because they do so well in the Q&A and care about what they do. Yours is a phosphate over a 4140 CMV. The company that makes that barrel is careful to make sure the extensions functional properly after coating. Not every barrel we use is the same. We use 4150 in some cases, 4140 for nitride (because it accepts the melonite process better) and stainless steel in other options. It's all about choosing what we think is the best application for the best result. Is there better option?  Sure. But, it's usually at a much higher cost. We try to produce a great quality product for most people. It won't serve everyone's needs but nothing ever will.

Your BCG is a 8320 carrier with a 9320 bolt which has been ion bonded. Without going into the benefits of ion bonded we found that the company producing these for us does a fantastic job at it. All true mil-spec requirements. The company that makes these is different from our standard BCGs but both specs are the same. The reason is that we demand a certain level of quality of a product before we sell it. The head guy who makes are standard BCGs has such an attention to detail it's sick. He gets out there and measures down to the thousands of an inch. If product isn't good enough for him he gets pissed and won't let it out the door. That's a guy I will buy from all the time. And that's pretty much all that machine shop does--BCGs for OEM manufacturers.

Our goal is to make a great quality product at an affordable price. And if something isn't right we will make right. For instance, I just had a person who wasn't able to get their .300 blackout upper to work with ammo they were using. We took another upper and fine tuned it and tested it until we had a solution for him. We then took back his upper and changed it to fire this specific ammo. At no charge. We want this level of service. If you buy from us it's going to work, or we will make it work for you, whatever it takes.

Lastly, where does Runner a Runner come from?  Lol. Well, I used to be a professional poker player. In poker when you have the winning hand and there are only two cards left and there are only two cards which can beat you and they come back to back its a very rare event. It's called Runner Runner. And the person getting that is very lucky. That's where the name comes from. Runner Runner is lucky. When I created the company I thought it was a nice okay on running guns and such.

Please let me know how you like the product. I'm always interested in people think.

Thanks,
Richard O'Neill
CEO Runner Runner Inc.
Runner Runner Guns
[email protected]
Tel:   702.900.3736
Fax:  877.628.6111
_______________________________

I realize I have somewhat of a mystery barrel not knowing who made it.  I also realize my cost was lower using the 4140 mystery barrel and for my purposes (fun, home defense), I don’t need the arfcom standard ‘mil certified 4150cmv” blah blah blah stuff since I’ll never know the difference.  The 3-year track record of RRG puts us in the proverbial testing ground era for this company like it was with Palmetto early on.  I’m confident by Richard’s remarks that RRG will produce good workmanship and stand by it personally and punctually and I look forward to putting many thousands of rounds through my new RRG pistol (700rds so far).

Shooting this gun, like any AR I’ve had, was eventless.  Smooth, reliable operation with consistent piles of brass between 3 and 4 o’clock.  Being a noob with an AR pistol, it took me a while to figure out how I prefer holding this gun.  I put a thick foamy tube over the pistol buffer tube and it put my cheekweld out a ways causing me to cant my head more to get a good centered eye through the red dot tube.  I’m sure I”ll be shaving it off and trying something thinner, or maybe I’ll do a paracord wrap.  I am getting a rubber end to both exentd the tube about ¾” for better shouldering when I feel like shooting it that way (for accuracy out past 100yds) and so I don’t damage the buffer tube.  The foamy tube I put on it from Exile Machine was so thick I had to shave down some of it so the charging handle could extend out without scraping.  

Once I utilized my sling in a two-point configuration with proper tension, I had excellent control and good follow up shooting ability.  Picking up various targets between 20, 50, and 100 yards was fast and precise as it would be with a rifle.  At night, I tested with a friend’s 44magnum Desert Eagle to show the difference between what I’d assume would be my flash signature without a muzzle device, and with the YHM Phantom I got on this upper.  My video shows a modest orange glow from the muzzle which is what I’d expect from a 16” barrel, but not from a 10.5” barrel.  I was surprised by the more than adequate flash suppression.  I do intend to use this gun for a primary home defense weapon so I wanted to tame the flash in case I had to fire in my home and not go blind.  Good job YHM, especially for $28!

The handguard is a Diamonhead handguard and it’s addressed and displayed in the video so I’ll let you watch that.

In summary, I’ve got no reservations about recommending folks give these guys a go.  Veteran Q&A assembled guns alone is a great reason to give them patronage, and doesn’t hurt that they’re made in Texas instead of Illinois or Connecticut! Lol  Time will obviously tell how their products hold up so I humbly submit my first impressions of this fine Runner Runner Guns AR pistol and I’d like to thank Richard O’Neill for taking the time to detail for me what he’s brewing up in McKinney these days.

Review video
http://youtu.be/7z3_leEgjuI

Random shooting video hitting steel at 100yds without much effort
http://youtu.be/tgQTRBKPHzg

Flash suppressor video
http://youtu.be/dydJyKB0yqs

Someone know how to embed video?

pay for a membership to this site to become an industry dealer and then you will be able to embed videos. AFCOM doesn't allow dealers to shill business or products through free accounts.

 

A little harsh there.  No, I'm not a dealer or related.  I'm a customer trying to help other arfcommers who have asked about Runner Runner Guns and went unanswered.  I looked here and didn't find anything on this 3 year old company so I thought I'd contribute.  Thanks for the benefit of the doubt guys.

Also, I've told the owner of this company about the exposure of ar15.com and how he could benefit by becoming part of the industry professionals on this forum.  Of course now he may be put off by the response.

 










 

I'm much obliged.  And hopefully the folks at RRG will get on arfcom and get plugged in as a industry pro.  They offer a lot.