FIRST LOOK: COMPLETE RIFLES FROM LANTAC

We know it’s not always easy to get excited about new AR-15s - even from LANTAC.  One of the big lessons from this year’s SHOT show was that when the entire western world standardizes on a single rifle platform, everyone is now stuck doing variants of the exact same gun.  We saw various colours of AR-15s, and various configurations, and editions with somebody’s signature on them, and ones that had been in a movie, and, as predicted, a whole pile of various renditions of bolt-on micro-stocks.  But at their core, they were all the same gun.

If you’re not going to build guns in fancy colours, or goofy collector editions, what do you do to distinguish yourself in the AR-15 market?  You just build guns really, really, well.  That’s the route that Wellington, Nevada’s LANTAC has taken with their first ever complete guns, and the results are pretty impressive.

LANTAC will be familiar to some as the manufacturers of the Dragon muzzle brake and to others for their rather exquisitely machined Spada-S hand guards, and still others may know them from their collaborations with legendary boutique rifle builders Noveske, but up until now they had not ventured into complete rifles, and in fact the guns on display at SHOT were so fresh they were serial numbers 0001 and 0002, and LANTAC’s own website offers little to no information on them.

But they are very, very nice.  Triggers are Chip McCormic ECT-1s, and they feel incredible.  It’s worth noting that the CMC triggers are a competition trigger, so this is definitely a gun from the tactical-competition crossover world, but if you can live without a mil-spec drop-tested index finger exercise machine, the ECT-1 does give you an unreal press and reset.

Serial number two is also sporting their Blast Mitigation Device, which is a drilled shroud that features quick-release attachment to the Dragon brake.  This is high up on our list of toys to play with, since we like the recoil reduction of the Dragon, but boy, shooting guns with muzzle brakes is not something you do next to friends, or next to walls, so having the option to tame it as necessary would certainly be handy.

So yes, the LANTAC Raven rifles come with all the goodies, and if you’re looking to run a crossover competition-tactical gun, we can’t think of a reason to look much further than these.  They won’t be cheap by the time they get here, but this is Canada and you’re a gun aficionado.  Hey, at least it’s cheaper than boats, planes, or divorce lawyers.