Wierd comment by LaRue, barrel lining "proprietary information"

[teamRR]

As part of some barrels I have been picking up I was a bit interested in a LaRue model, turns out it weighs more than I was hoping so I am going to stick with something else, but in short they list very little info so I called to ask 2 questions: weight and "it looks to be lined, is that chrome?"

The response I got was this wierd "we can't give out any information on barrel lining as its proprietary".. so I said, well is it lined with something or nothing? - "sorry we can't comment on barrel lining".. WTF is that about?

Haha for $220 and some lab work, any competitor could figure this out. What could the secrecy possibly be?

 

[Compooky]

Read something like this on another forum recently and the thread has since been deleted. It was about whether or not the bolt is HP being proprietary information and they wouldn’t sell one individually.

 

[ReluctantDecoy]

They seem to have all sorts of proprietary stuff in their barrels. Here's the chamber quote. I bolded it for irony:

In an industry full of hype and less-than-useful gadgets, every once in a while there is a breakthrough that works. While the fine-details of XTRAXN™ Technology are close-hold, we will say that this evolutionary process results in higher-reliability with a wider range of ammo and operating conditions. Simply put, we just made one of the best guns in the world better!

So, what is it? The process is not a coating or a lubricant. What we can tell you is - XTRAXN™ Technology provides excellent chamber release properties, gives longer life to the extractor components, and makes the entire operating system run smoother.

So it's something, but they can't tell you, but it's not hype. lol.

XTRAXN™ Technology from LaRue Tactical - LaRue Tactical

 

[Mountain]

Easy solution: JP. Top shelf products and no BS. They are happy to sell individual components.

 

[ReluctantDecoy]

For the record, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has no record of "XTRAXN" trademark name or patent keyword search, live or dead.

 

[drgrant]

As part of some barrels I have been picking up I was a bit interested in a LaRue model, turns out it weighs more than I was hoping so I am going to stick with something else, but in short they list very little info so I called to ask 2 questions: weight and "it looks to be lined, is that chrome?"

The response I got was this wierd "we can't give out any information on barrel lining as its proprietary".. so I said, well is it lined with something or nothing? - "sorry we can't comment on barrel lining".. WTF is that about?

Haha for $220 and some lab work, any competitor could figure this out. What could the secrecy possibly be?

If its proprietary why would you want to give you a competition free shit on a silver platter?

Actually it's a hell of a lot more than $220 cuz they have to buy one of the rifles or barrels and then pay a place to analyze it.....

Don't like the mystery, then don't buy it. There are plenty of other products available.

 

[PEW]

US8938903B2 - Firearm barrel having cartridge chamber preparation facilitating efficient cartridge case extraction and protection against premature bolt failure - Google Patents

To permit ease and efficiency for the extraction of spent cartridge cases from the cartridge chamber of a firearm barrel within a wide range of temperature conditions, the internal tapered surface of the body region of a cartridge chamber is prepared by establishing circumferentially spaced...

patents.google.com

 

[Emacs]

XTRANX is a feature to reduce friction between suckers' wallets and Mr. LaRue's boat payment envelope.

 

[PEW]

For the record, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has no record of "XTRAXN" trademark name or patent keyword search, live or dead.

I matched the vague website description with a list of patents filed by Larue. I believe what I found above is XTRAXN.

 

[ReluctantDecoy]

I matched the vague website description with a list of patents filed by Larue. I believe what I found above is XTRAXN.

Good find. Strange though that they would go as far as to "TM" the name on the website, but not mention it in the patent file.

 

[teamRR]

If its proprietary why would you want to give you a competition free shit on a silver platter?

Actually it's a hell of a lot more than $220 cuz they have to buy one of the rifles or barrels and then pay a place to analyze it.....

Don't like the mystery, then don't buy it. There are plenty of other products available.

Yep that's exactly what I did, moved onto a competitors product who actually will let you know what you are buying.

I just thought it was kinda ridiculous that they can't even say "its coated with our proprietary baked-on unicorn glitter, serves the same purpose as chrome but is way betterer".. I wasn't looking for the formula just wanted to know if the barrel had a coating.

Bottom line though its silly, if they had something that great, that someone else could copy, then someone else would.

 

[ReluctantDecoy]

Wonder if the "proprietary" barrel coating is just their version of nitride (melonite, nitron, etc) which they can name whatever "X" name they want.

 

[Mountain]

US8938903B2 - Firearm barrel having cartridge chamber preparation facilitating efficient cartridge case extraction and protection against premature bolt failure - Google Patents

To permit ease and efficiency for the extraction of spent cartridge cases from the cartridge chamber of a firearm barrel within a wide range of temperature conditions, the internal tapered surface of the body region of a cartridge chamber is prepared by establishing circumferentially spaced...

patents.google.com

Nice work.

What I don't understand is the below:

2015-01-27
Application granted

2015-01-27
Publication of US8938903B2
Status

Expired - Fee Related

2033-01-21
Adjusted expiration

So he missed a fee payment and it expired? Does the last date indicated expiration now or just an artifact of the original grant and it's still expired. If the patent expired because he was too busy making boat payments then that would explain the secretive 'It's proprietary'. Once folks are all set for a patent, they generally like to openly promote such features.

Honestly, after reading the patent application I don't see it offering any true functional advantage over existing fluted chamber designs such as HK's. Those have been in existence for decades.

 

[teamRR]

XTRANX is a feature to reduce friction between suckers' wallets and Mr. LaRue's boat payment envelope.

Honestly their barrels are very reasonable in the realm of decent stuff, $240 or so for a 16 inch w/ ramps.

LaRue makes some really great stuff at a great price, ie their MBT2S is about 90% of a geissele for less than 50% of the $$.

 

[teamRR]

Wonder if the "proprietary" barrel coating is just their version of nitride (melonite, nitron, etc) which they can name whatever "X" name they want.

It appears to be silver, thought it was chrome from pictures until they went and made it mysterious.

 

[ReluctantDecoy]

It appears to be silver, thought it was chrome from pictures until they went and made it mysterious.

Nitriding doesn't have to be black. That's just the most common version. However, if they added titanium, then you'd have a silver color.

Edited to say: and Nitriding is more than just a coating. It actually impregnates the base metal, so they could claim it is not just a paint, lubricant or coating.

 

[AFAR/PFAR]

The response I got was this wierd "we can't give out any information on barrel lining as its proprietary".. so I said, well is it lined with something or nothing? - "sorry we can't comment on barrel lining".. WTF is that about?

It's LaRue. They make decent stuff, but everything they say is some sort of catch me, f*** me smoke & mirrors bullshit. They have been doing that for a long time. Mark used to be quite vocal on some other boards.
That said, I don't necessarily blame them for playing the proprietary game to separate folks from their money.

 

[teamRR]

I guess worth mentioning too, weight on the 16 inch predatAR was 28 ounces. Description makes it sound lighter like an optimum profile spikes or faxon gunner but it is more medium weight. I ended up going with a Wilson Combat at 29 ounces.

Whole requirement in this case is I wanted a 5.56 chamber, in an 8 twist, 16 inch, chrome, that is reasonably accurate. When you get that anal options are more limited.

 

[Mountain]

Honestly their barrels are very reasonable in the realm of decent stuff, $240 or so for a 16 inch w/ ramps.

LaRue makes some really great stuff at a great price, ie their MBT2S is about 90% of a geissele for less than 50% of the $$.

Nice. I need another match trigger and for the price vs. Geissele it's worth checking out the LaRue.

 

[teamRR]

Nice. I need another match trigger and for the price vs. Geissele it's worth checking out the LaRue.

I'm usually somewhere between Plaistow and Newton, if you want to see what they are like I have 3 or 4 installed.

 

[teamRR]

And the Larue triggers dont self destruct like the geisselle's do.

Their barrels are all wylde chambered mid weight, mid gas length barrels

They're heavier than some but handle heat better than lighter barrels....and they are tack drivers

That's incorrect, the Stealth is .223 wylde, the PredatAR is 5.56 nato.

 

[dlarge]

FWIW, I really do like my LaRue barrels. The build quality is excellent. Same for the trigger.

 

[Mountain]

I'm usually somewhere between Plaistow and Newton, if you want to see what they are like I have 3 or 4 installed.

And the Larue triggers dont self destruct like the geisselle's do.

Their barrels are all wylde chambered mid weight, mid gas length barrels

They're heavier than some but handle heat better than lighter barrels....and they are tack drivers

Thanks for that offer. Haven't been that direction in months, since wu flu shut down my international travel and I don't drive to Logan. I went ahead and ordered, seems that LaRue has a Black Friday sale already- $80.

Never heard of Geissele's coming apart. I have the SSA in a match rifle and the SSA-E in a 6.5 CM AR and have used them for years. Some folks say the RRA NM trigger is as good as the SSA but by my trigger finger there's a pretty big gap. In fact I don't remember which AR has the RRA because I have cheaper triggers + trigger job that work as well or better- I can't tell the difference anymore. I have always thought that someone could make a trigger that functions as well as the Geissele but not at those stupid prices. Hoping the LaRue works for me.

 

[Mountain]

I know a guy that has had two break on him

They replaced them but.....having a trigger break more than once is bad juju......lots of things can break and still have operational bang stick.....trigger isnt one of them

IIRC the larues are made of tool steel

RRA are a nice improvement over single stage but the larue is nicer imho

Larue MBT VS Geissele SSA / G2S: Which is the best AR15 Trigger? - The New Rifleman

There is no greater Ford v Chevy argument in the AR15 trigger world. Which one of these two set the standard for the best 2 stage AR trigger?

www.thenewrifleman.com

One guy, two broken triggers is a different story than two guys, broken triggers for each. Remind me to ask guys if they know JPK and have broken Geisseles before I let them shoot my AR's.

 

[teamRR]

Thanks for that offer. Haven't been that direction in months, since wu flu shut down my international travel and I don't drive to Logan. I went ahead and ordered, seems that LaRue has a Black Friday sale already- $80.

Never heard of Geissele's coming apart. I have the SSA in a match rifle and the SSA-E in a 6.5 CM AR and have used them for years. Some folks say the RRA NM trigger is as good as the SSA but by my trigger finger there's a pretty big gap. In fact I don't remember which AR has the RRA because I have cheaper triggers + trigger job that work as well or better- I can't tell the difference anymore. I have always thought that someone could make a trigger that functions as well as the Geissele but not at those stupid prices. Hoping the LaRue works for me.

They are nice and I have had great luck with them both in the AR15's and 10's, never an FTF either. If someone inexperienced shoots one of those rifles I kinda have to warn them, the light pull and the break really sneaks up on you.

 

[teamRR]

The MBT 1S is also great, unfortunately since the early summer they sold out and still haven't restocked. The ALG ACT is an ok alternative but isn't as good.

 

[Mountain]

Thanks for that offer. Haven't been that direction in months, since wu flu shut down my international travel and I don't drive to Logan. I went ahead and ordered, seems that LaRue has a Black Friday sale already- $80.

Never heard of Geissele's coming apart. I have the SSA in a match rifle and the SSA-E in a 6.5 CM AR and have used them for years. Some folks say the RRA NM trigger is as good as the SSA but by my trigger finger there's a pretty big gap. In fact I don't remember which AR has the RRA because I have cheaper triggers + trigger job that work as well or better- I can't tell the difference anymore. I have always thought that someone could make a trigger that functions as well as the Geissele but not at those stupid prices. Hoping the LaRue works for me.

Props to LaRue- trigger already on the way.

I'll take a look at them next time I need a barrel. Wonder if they do 458 socom...

 

[Mountain]

Follow up- (and continued thread drift, though it is an endorsement for LaRue...)

LaRue MBT delivered. Here's the unboxing video:



LOL I HATE HATE HATE unboxing videos. Absolute dumbest thing on the internet. Reminds me of the "OW My Balls!" show in the movie Idiocracy.

Anyway, great packaging by LaRue and by appearances seems higher quality than the Geissele- at a fraction of the cost. I'll report back once I have a chance to install and shoot.

 

[mac1911]

As part of some barrels I have been picking up I was a bit interested in a LaRue model, turns out it weighs more than I was hoping so I am going to stick with something else, but in short they list very little info so I called to ask 2 questions: weight and "it looks to be lined, is that chrome?"

The response I got was this wierd "we can't give out any information on barrel lining as its proprietary".. so I said, well is it lined with something or nothing? - "sorry we can't comment on barrel lining".. WTF is that about?

Haha for $220 and some lab work, any competitor could figure this out. What could the secrecy possibly be?

Anything a manufacture can claim as “its special mmkay” is a way to get a few more $$ out of you. Some sort of nitrate , melonite or what ever finish is being called these days.
Seems like good quality steel is harder to get ? I feel like they use “cheaper” steel and try all these after finishes to make up for it?
what do I know....

 

[mac1911]

Follow up- (and continued thread drift, though it is an endorsement for LaRue...)

LaRue MBT delivered. Here's the unboxing video:



LOL I HATE HATE HATE unboxing videos. Absolute dumbest thing on the internet. Reminds me of the "OW My Balls!" show in the movie Idiocracy.

Anyway, great packaging by LaRue and by appearances seems higher quality than the Geissele- at a fraction of the cost. I'll report back once I have a chance to install and shoot.

I have a gen 1 detach mount for the AR and a few other larue accesorries, all good and came with some cool swag. No idea where the hats or towels are stashed away.