Hi,

I'm new, after finding this place and lurking for a little while, I'm hoping to be able to use some of the information here to help me.

I live in the UK and got a .22LR AR15 from a dealer here in the UK. Only thing is I'm unsure of the history of my rifle and some people here may have a far better idea.

The lower is marked/painted (not stamped) Oberland Arms on the RHS, whom I believe are German suppliers.
http://www.elucidate.demon.co.uk/ar15com/lowerrightJPG.jpg

This would be all well and good, Germany aren't too far from the UK. However it's stamped on the LHS Rock River Arms. However, I'm not too sure it is a RRA, it's stamped differently to most other RRA lowers I have seen.
http://www.elucidate.demon.co.uk/ar15com/lowerleft.JPG

There is also an 'export only' printed on the top as seen here, the hammer also appears to have been polished.
www.elucidate.demon.co.uk/ar15com/uppertop.jpg


Can anyone shed any light on the lower? I am led to believe that RRA and oberland arms are pretty well respected manufacturers but why have both of them been involved do you think?
What exactly does the L denomination before the AR15 part signify?

The upper is a very similar story, it's a V22 upper (www.v22upper.com) and on one side, has CZ markings as you would expect:
http://www.elucidate.demon.co.uk/ar15com/upperright.JPG

However, on the left it has Victor Arms printed on there.
http://www.elucidate.demon.co.uk/ar15com/upperleft.JPG

I'm not so worried about the origin of the upper, however it would nice to know.

Is the lower going to be a good base for a .223 upper?  Can anyone explain why it may have so many markings?

I know it needs some norrells :-) I'm sorting that as I type!

Thanks

Dave

That's a older Rock River lower with a CZ 22LR upper.  Oberland ARms must have bneen the importer of the lower receiver.

Interesting, I don't know much about it but could it just be a RRA imported by Oberland arms? For example, some Wlather P-99s will say "made in Germany" then also be marked by S&W because they imported them (the newer ones anyways, I have one imported by carl walther USA)
And yes, that lower should work fine with a .223 upper.

ETA: Damn beat me to it again Rocky!

Cool. Thanks. I leave for like 10 seconds and I already have 3 replies!

Whats an LAR-15 then? I'm not quite 100% on the different denominations, especially as AR's are rare as rocking horse droppings over here.

Is it going to be a reasonable base for a 'proper' .223 upper then?

I assume the export only tag, as it's done in the same paint, was done by oberland.

Last question. How 'old' is the RRA lower then?

Dave

elucidate,
can I use the pics in my receiver markings gallery?

Thanks

_DR

I don't know about the LAR-15 marking, but it is marked 5.56 so yes, a 5.56 or .223 upper will work fine. If your not sure about the difference between 5.56 and .223 do a search or check out the ammo oracle

That RRA lower is a quality piece of gear, made by Continental Machine and Tool in Connecticut, USA.

I have several of the older lowers myself and like them a lot. Here are some of mine.

Older logo:



Newer logo:



Edited to add: The "L" in LAR-15 is simply RRA's designation, since the term "AR-15" is owned by Colt.

_DR = Yes of course you can use them. Full Res pics at:

http://www.elucidate.demon.co.uk/ar15com/FullRes/

Hey guys, is the LAR-15 marking RRA designation for a stripped lower?

Cool. The only real problem now is getting a decent upper in the UK. There is one supplier and to be honest, they aren't the best in the world and they are incredibly over priced. Might be importing from you guy's I think!

Dave

Quoted: Hey guys, is the LAR-15 marking RRA designation for a stripped lower?

Nope, that's just their model designation because like CJan_NH mentioned, AR15 is a registered trade mark of Colt.

Quoted: Whats an LAR-15 then?

Colt owns the name "AR15" and during the ban we had here, not even Colt could sell civilians a lower marked "AR15" It's very typical for non-Colt AR manufacturers to put a letter in front of "AR15" and use that as their model number.

Is it going to be a reasonable base for a 'proper' .223 upper then?

Yup, it will work just fine but I thought you guys weren't allowed to have anything that "powerful"

Last question. How 'old' is the RRA lower then?

Hard to say? They haven't been around that long (less than 10?) but used that role mark up until a little over a year ago. Maybe if you send RRA an e-mail with the serial number, they may be able to tell you?

Quoted: _DR = Yes of course you can use them. Full Res pics at: http://www.elucidate.demon.co.uk/ar15com/FullRes/

Thanks! I'll grab em.

Gotcha

Quoted: Yup, it will work just fine but I thought you guys weren't allowed to have anything that "powerful" hr

Excellent. I'll e-mail RRA to try get an idea of the age. Oberland won't be able to tell me anything I suspect, as Germans aren't usually very friendly but everyone in the US has customer service as a priority as far as I can tell.

We are allowed .223/5.56 however we have to jump through hoops to get our licence and we aren't allowed full auto or even semi auto. We have whats called straight pull, which is basically just pulling back the charging handle every shot. People have made some ingenious cocking handles to make it easier.

The one thing that does appear to be slightly better in the UK is I have full permission for a moderator for a .223/5.56 rifle and even for a 7.62 with moderator. So I can pretend to be a sniper :)

Dave

For what it's worth, my RRA lowers with the old style logo were purchased new in 2004.

It's pretty sad what has happened to Britain the last 15 years or so; it is a perfect illustration of why you need a written constitution.  You can't trust the bureaucrats to refrain from trampling all over your rights.  If someone government lackey told me I could only own a straight-pull rifle, I'd tell him to bugger off.

I own a RRA lower with the same markings, it's really nice.

Quoted: The one thing that does appear to be slightly better in the UK is I have full permission for a moderator for a .223/5.56 rifle and even for a 7.62 with moderator. So I can pretend to be a sniper :)

You do have us there! Well, in truth most of us here can have one too but we have to pay a $200 tax stamp (above the cost the suppressor and sales tax) for each one that we want to have. Most of us feel it's not worth it.

Quoted: For what it's worth, my RRA lowers with the old style logo were purchased new in 2004.

But unless you bought yours directly through RRA, they could have been NOS? I honestly have no idea when the exact cut off is? I've had my two for close to a year at least and they are the new style?

Quoted: I own a RRA lower with the same markings, it's really nice.

Call me crazy, but I prefer the understated and simple old logo over the new one.

Quoted: But unless you bought yours directly through RRA, they could have been NOS? I honestly have no idea when the exact cut off is? I've had my two for close to a year at least and they are the new style?

That's certainly possible CGV, but my FFL at the time ordered them for me direct from RRA. Perhaps RRA had some old ones laying around. I wanted two consecutively serial numbered pairs, but he went one better. I actually ended up with four consecutively numbered lowers

My new logo lowers aren't consecutive, but that's fine. They turned into completely different configs anyway.

Quoted: Quoted: I own a RRA lower with the same markings, it's really nice. Call me crazy, but I prefer the understated and simple old logo over the new one.

Yep.  All my RRA lowers are the older type.  I prefer them.

Welcome to AR15.com

Come and join the UK gang here...

http://www.ar15.com/forums/forum.html?b=8&f=5

There is definatley more than one supplier here in the uk, infact one of the better ones ( read Not sabre) is a member of the board!!

James,

Can you own a .223 upper?  or is the UK one of those countrys that prohibits military calibers?