Gear Review: LaRue Tactical Picatinny Rail

Not all scope rails are made the same. Well, they’re supposed to be since there’s a spec and all, but they’re not. When you’re kitting out your precision rifle, a good foundation is the cornerstone of the whole thing, so choosing the right rail is essential. LaRue Tactical made some interesting claims about their rail, and since I had a Remington 700 in need of one, I asked if they’d send one to try out . . .

I know what you’re thinking — a length of rail might be a little on the small side of things to review. But it really is important to start on the right foot if you’re going to try to get the most out of your gun.

For a while I’ve been using Weaver mounts on my rifles. You know, the ones you get at your local Bass Pro Shops for like $10. And while they work well for light use, the level of abuse I put my guns through meant that I was removing my scope and tightening them down about once a month. Even the liberal application of Loctite didn’t seem to help.

That’s about the time I started salivating over the LaRue Tactical picatinny scope rail for the Remington 700. LaRue products have the reputation for being awesome in terms of build quality, and a standard and continuous rail interface means that I could mount a whole lot more stuff on my rifle…like a red dot, or an EOTech, or something. You know, just to liven things up a bit from time to time.

When I called the guys at LaRue to beg for politely request one, they mentioned something that I was a bit skeptical about. The talent and brains behind LaRue Tactical started out in aerospace engineering (or so the story goes) so precision machining is in their DNA. That means their stuff is closer to spec and more consistent than anyone else’s they could find. Not being one to just take them at their word, I decided to break out the calipers and find out for myself.

The spec for the lugs on an M1913 rail are .188 inches in length along the rail, +/-.006 inches. You’ll notice that the LaRue rail lugs are within .001 inches of each other. The competitor, which may or may not be a Knight’s Armament URX railed handguard, is comparatively sloppy and doesn’t fall within the margin of error for the spec. At all.

Well played, Mr. LaRue. Well played.

Moving on, the rail comes in two flavors: straight and 20 MoA for those who want to get a little more distance out of their scope before it bottoms out. Fair warning: the 20 MoA will screw with your cheek weld if you have it exactly where you want it already, as it raises the glass a touch.

The rail itself is a nice long section, long enough to let you get a good wide stance on your scope rings yet short enough so the bell of most larger scopes will still hang off the front instead of hitting the rail. And if you are so inclined, you can even hook up a bubble level to the rail section.

So what’s the verdict? I think they’re delightful. They’re finely machined, they work perfectly and they’re relatively cheap.

LaRue Tactical Scope Rail

Cant: Straight or 20 MoA
Price: $75

Overall Rating * * * * *
The only question left is how to keep the LaRue guys from remembering to charge me for keeping the rail.