type private industry manufacturing founded 1996 founder mark and chuck larson headquarters colona illinois u.s area served u.s products firearms revenue 22 million 1 number of employees 51 200 1 website http www.rockriverarms.com rock river arms incorporated is a manufacturing company based in colona illinois that manufacturers parts and accessories for ar 15 m16 type rifles as well as complete firearms . contents 1 history 2 law enforcement use 3 references 4 external links history edit rock river arms is owned and operated by brothers mark and chuck larson . 2 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 . 3 parting ways with les baer in 1993 the larsons began to build ar 15 type rifles for eagle arms in coal valley illinois . 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 . 4 at the same time rock river arms began to build ar 15 style rifles . for a time rock river arms produced m1911 pattern pistols in addition to rifles however eventually they dropped that line and now focus their production exclusively on ar 15 pattern rifles . 3 law enforcement use edit in december 2003 after outperforming 10 other manufacturers in rifle abuse tests rock river arms was awarded a contract with the drug enforcement administration for a minimum of 5 000 lar 15 rifles to be purchased over five years . 5 as a result of rock river arms winning the dea contract other federal agencies including the federal bureau of investigation and united states marshals have also obtained rock river arms weapons under piggyback contracts . 6 references edit a b http www.indeed.com cmp rock river arms inc bourjaily philip 2009 . an inside look at the rock river arms ar 15 factory . field & stream . 114 7 65 . a b ayoob massad 28 february 2011 . the gun digest book of combat handgunnery . iola wisconsin gun digest books . pp. 7 8 . isbn 978 1 4402 2654 0 . second amendment foundation ed . 2005 . rock river arms . women & guns . little river press . 16 25 26 . petty charles october 2004 . and then there was one feds select new fighting rifle rock river s dea carbine pdf . guns magazine 56 74 . retrieved december 29 2012 . oldham scott january 2006 . rock river arms entry tactical . law and order . retrieved december 29 2012 . external links edit official site retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title rock river arms & oldid 711974870 categories firearm manufacturers of the united statesquad citiescompanies based in henry county illinois navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 26 march 2016 at 02 39 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view