Hunting

Rock River Arms QMC Carbine

The RRA TRO-STD 14.5-inch, free-floating handguard is rugged and large enough to shield your support hand from barrel heat, without being overly heavy. A full-length Picatinny rail up top is paired with three-included, removable Picatinny rail sections—two short and one long. Added accessories for testing include Magpul RVG forward grip, Magpul RSA QD Rail Sling Attachment and Blue Force Gear Vickers Combat Sling, and Samson Manufacturing flip-up iron sights.

Equally as good is RRA’s Two Stage Trigger, which has a two-pound take-up, then a crisp 2.5 pound break. While slightly wider and perhaps a tad less refined in feel than more expensive and well-known competitors, it also can be had for about 70 percent of the price at $125, which is very reasonable for a trigger of this quality. Rounding it all out is a Hogue pistol grip, RRA’s Winter Trigger Guard, and the RRA Star Safety Selector, which has a serrated half-dome on the end to aid in rapid manipulation. Tipping the scales at 7.9 pounds, the QMC comes in a plastic rifle case with one proprietary 30-round RRA windowed magazine, three accessory rails, and a packet with various sundry instructions.

With two-large large, serrated handles for ambi manipulation, RRA makes manually running the bolt that much easier with a standard-equipment BCM Gunfighter charging handle.

As the QMC rifle comes with no iron sights, I topped it with a Trijicon Miniature Ruggedized Optic (MRO). A die-hard Aimpoint fan, I have nevertheless come to appreciate the MRO, thanks to its cone-shaped tube, 2 MOA dot, and easy to adjust controls. With the same 50,000 hour battery life, the MRO sells for about $200 less than a T1/T2 series Aimpoint, which is probably a reason why we are seeing more and more of them on many ARs out there. The MRO I was provided came in its miniature Pelican-style box, with a 1/3 co-witness, thumbscrew mount, which worked fine and stayed on the rifle with no issues.

Between the Beast muzzle brake and heavier 16-inch barrel, the QMC proved incredibly flat-shooting and easy to stay on target with, and made all that much easier to shoot accurately with by its two-stage trigger. As we’ve come to expect from Rock River rifles, reliability was 100-percent throughout testing.

Proceeding to the range, I initially zeroed at 50 yards from prone, monopoding off the magazine. Inside 10 rounds I was centered and shooting five-shot groups the size of a quarter or less, thanks to the two-stage trigger, muzzle brake, and small red dot. I then put the QMC through my usual series of drills, where it performed quite well, both in my hands and that of two friends who were enjoying the sunny, 80 degree day of gunfire with me. If not as svelte as some other more anemic looking ARs now popular, it handled fine and absorbed recoil well. No malfunctions or hang-ups were encountered while utilizing mainly 55-grain M193, all fed through about a half-dozen different types of magazines, including Magpul, Daniel Defense, stock GI, Lancer and Troy, as well as the RRA magazine that came with the rifle. So far, so good.