Now chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor, the 1121XR precision rifle appears ready to go the distance.
How Rise Armament decked out the 1121XR for the 6.5 Creedmoor:
- At tick over 10 pounds the 1121XR is manageable as a field rifle.
- It boasts a 22-inch stainless steel barrel, topped with a proprietary compensator.
- The rifle comes with Rise Armaments RA-535 trigger, which break at 3.5 pounds.
- The 1121XR runs $2,449 and comes with a hard case and two 10-round magazines.
Time was when you wanted a 6.5 Creedmoor it was strictly a bolt-action affair. But as the popularity of the long-range cartridge has grown, so have the options for launching it. Inevitably, this has meant a growing selection of semi-automatics.
In recent years, rifles that go the distance and provide lightning-fast follow-up shots have popped up in droves. Rise Armament is the latest black-gun specialist to jump on the Creedmoor bandwagon and has chosen a dandy platform for the caliber expansion. The 1121XR precision rifle, a gas-operated AR-10, has already won kudos in its original .308 Win. chambering and has the potential to turn even more heads as a 6.5.
Read More: The RISE Armament 1121XR – The Trigger that Spawned a Rifle
Will there be a tree line distant enough for a hog to escape when the 1121XR is on the hunt? The Oklahoma gunmaker is betting not, given it’s designed the rifle as a doer — not just benchrest candy. While more than capable of ringing steel set at the horizon in competition or for fun, the 1121XR looks to have a heart of a field gun. At a tick over 10 pounds, the rifle finds a sweet spot between precision-enhancing heft and manageability in and out of a stand.
As expected with a precision rifle, Rise Armament’s 6.5 comes with the features that make certain it performs. Chief among these are the 1121XR’s solid upper and lower receivers, machined from aircraft-grade aluminum billets to form the rifle’s rigid core. From there, the company has attached a 22-inch button-rifled stainless steel barrel and topped it off with its proprietary compensator. This final feature is a nice touch, certain to maintain shot-to-shot accuracy by dampening recoil.
Surrounding the barrel is a 15-inch handguard, also machined from billet aluminum and outfitted with M-Lok-compatible slots its entire length. The 1121XR also comes equipped with Rise Armament's RA-535 Advance-Performance Trigger, which offers a crisp 3.5-pound pull, no overtravel and a short reset, which should aid it in breaking off follow-up shots with expediency. The 1121XR 6.5 Creedmoor also boasts a precision-engineered bolt-carrier group, finished with black nitride to make cleaning a snap.
Overall, the rifle has a durable Cerakote finish available in three color schemes — black, foliage green and flat dark earth. The 1121XR ships with a hard case and two 10-round magazines. And at present, it has an MSRP of $2,449. The rifle is due out in 2018, but is yet listed on Rise Armament's website.