Anyone have any experience the LaRue "Stealth Sniper" Upper?

[DogBonz]

Ok, so, the name aside.... does anyone have any experience with the LaRue Tactical Stealth Sniper System. I know that the name is uber cheesy, but the write ups that I have read are glowing (not that I trust gun rag writers) but the polygonal barrel caught my attention, and being form LaRue, I would expect good things.

It comes with a M16 bolt and carrier and Wylde chamber and is a mid length gas system.

So, any input?

Thanks in advance,

-Fred

 

[DogBonz]

Anyone...

Anyone have anything to say about these AR15 uppers?

 

[Will Learn]

I have heard nothing but good things about Mark Larue's products. That being said theres just no way I could justify spending $1200 on an upper. I think they just use a WOA( http://www.whiteoakarmament.com/ ) barrel and their upper receiver/BCG and float tube.

Personally I'd just try and get a quote from WOA on a similar product(like with the SDM barrel). I bet you could save a few hundred bucks. What gets me is that they don't really get into the specifics as far as what makes the upper so valuable. I'm skeptical that the extra couple might be for the Larue name(which is very reputable).

I think I'd spring for a gas piston SPR upper like this- http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=2&f=206&t=149739 for that kind of money.

What ever you get let us know how it works. Good luck

 

[DogBonz]

Thanks for the info

While $1200 is a hard pill to swallow, the upper is the heart of the AR. After seeing my AR fail in a carbine class, I now know that I money doesn't matter as much as survivability. The comparison between the amount that I paid for the class, ammo, lodging, food, gas, tolls, etc and the extra few hundred dollars for a top of the line upper becomes a moot point. I know that Polygonal rifling increases bullet velocity and reduces wear on components, so I am highly interested to see how this preforms in a rifle barrel.

 

[Will Learn]

I think there are different ways to go about getting a reliable AR, the gas piston being one of them. I'd say call around and ask about the products. Explain your situation and how your rifle failed you before.

As far as ultimate reliability is concerned I don't know if the Larue stealth upper would suit your need. I'm not by any means saying its unreliable as I have no experience with it personally but my understanding is that it is a high precision rifle. Usually high precision weapons(like target 1911s) are built to tighter tolerances and therefore may give up some reliability. I don't know if this is the case with the Stealth upper but it might be something to inquire about.

What kind of carbine do you have and how did it fail(gas system error or mags maybe)? I would think that if you dumped that much money into a class they would help you get the thing running reliably. You might try working with what you have and trying some things to get it running good. Make sure(or have a competent gunsmith) the gas system is installed properly and that the gas key is staked right. Then from there throw some Magpul self leveling followers( http://www.magpul.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=80_98&products_id=198 ) into your mags. Try lubing your BCG with CLP, take it out and shoot it until it is running good. I've went through FTF failure problems in the past and these are the steps I took to get mine going(its 100% now). Good luck.

 

[DogBonz]

Will Learn

My rifle, a DPMS carbine, was perfect for a few thousand rounds, but during sustained fire drills, where we would dump a mag or two or three in a few seconds or a minute, it would malfunction in a number of ways. This was with Black Hills ammo, so I highly doubt that ammo was a factor. The best thing that we could figure was that it was "over heating". Meaning that as the metal parts heated up and expanded the the tolerances became smaller and smaller until the parts started binding on each other. I had failures to extract spent cases. Failures to feed. Double feeds. You name it. But only while the carbine was hot. It would cool off and be right as rain. right up until it got too hot again.

In this class I saw DPMS rifles, including mine, go down. Bushmasters went down. The only weapons that ran 100% were Colts, LMT's and Sabre Defense. Just to clarify, I am not looking to just throw money at the problem. If it costs $200 or $2000, I don't care. I want a 100% (or at least a 99.99%) reliable AR, as it will be my only one.