Rock River Arms, Incorporated is a manufacturing company in

Colona, Illinois Colona is a city in Henry County, Illinois, along the Green River. It is part of the Quad Cities metropolitan area. The population was 5,099 at the 2010 census, down from 5,173 at the 2000 census. The City of Colona was created in 1997 by the ...

, that manufacturers parts and accessories for

AR-15 An AR-15-style rifle is any lightweight semi-automatic rifle based on the Colt AR-15 design. The original ArmaLite AR-15 is a scaled-down derivative of Eugene Stoner's ArmaLite AR-10 design. The then Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation d ...

/ M16 type

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

s, as well as other firearms.

History

Rock River Arms is owned and operated by brothers Mark and Chuck Larson. Between 1981 and 1991, the Larsons worked at Springfield Armory, Inc., where Mark was the head armorer. From Springfield Armory, the Larsons went into partnership with Les Baer to form Les Baer Custom and build custom 1911 pistols. Parting ways with Les Baer in 1993, the Larsons began to build AR-15 type rifles for Eagle Arms in

Coal Valley, Illinois The village of Coal Valley is located in both Rock Island County and Henry County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 3,743 at the 2010 census, up from 3,606 in 2000. It is mostly residential, housing families who work in or out of ...

. At around the same time, they began their own venture, Tolerance Plus (the name was later changed to Rock River Arms), producing custom 1911 pistols. The Larson brothers severed their connection with Eagle Arms in 1997 when that firm moved to

Geneseo, Illinois Geneseo is a city in Henry County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,539. Geneseo is 20 miles east of the Quad Cities, at the intersection of Interstate 80, U.S. Route 6 and Illinois Route 82. Geneseo is well k ...

. At the same time, Rock River Arms began to build AR-15 style rifles. Rock River Arms also produces

M1911 The M1911 (Colt 1911 or Colt Government) is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. The pistol's formal U.S. military designation as of 1940 was ''Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911'' for th ...

pattern pistols,

bolt-action rifles Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed). Most bolt-action ...

, and AR-15 style pistols in assorted calibers.

Law enforcement use

In December 2003, after outperforming 10 other manufacturers in rifle abuse tests, Rock River Arms was awarded a contract with the

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within th ...

for a minimum of 5,000 LAR-15 rifles to be purchased over five years. As a result of Rock River Arms winning the DEA contract, other federal agencies, including the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

and

United States Marshals The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a Government agency, bureau within the United States Department of Justice, U.S. Depa ...

, have also obtained Rock River Arms weapons under piggyback contracts. In 2017, they exported and sold a few thousand rifles to the Lebanese

Internal Security Forces The Internal Security Forces Directorate ( ar, المديرية العامة لقوى الأمن الداخلي, al-Mudiriyya al-'aamma li-Qiwa al-Amn al-Dakhili; french: Forces de Sécurité Intérieure; abbreviated ISF) is the national police ...

and to the Lebanese General Security.

Military use

Rock River LAR-15 rifles were exported to

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, the Iraqi Special Forces received and used the rifles.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official site
Firearm manufacturers of the United States Quad Cities Companies based in Henry County, Illinois