RISE Armament first came onto my radar back in 2018 at the Athlon Outdoors Rendezvous in God’s Country: Montana. I was drawn to the colorful rifle that had a folded flag painted on it. Come to find out, RISE Armament was heavily involved in supporting Folds of Honor, a charity that provides educational scholarships to the spouses and children of our glorious nation’s fallen and disabled military service members. Being a disabled veteran myself, this spoke to me on a personal level. Since then, I’ve grown to not only appreciate the fine weapons that have come from RISE Armament, I’ve also come to respect the company itself.

RISE Armament’s “rise” in the firearms industry came thanks to its exceptional single-stage drop-in AR triggers. Today, RISE is also known for a fine selection of firearms. Previously, I’ve extensively tested the RISE Watchman LE (.223 Wylde). The quality and accuracy truly amazed me; his all despite me abusing it so hard I removed some of the anodizing. This brings me to another offering from RISE Armament called the 1121XR.

About the RISE Armament 1121XR

RISE Armament now has quite a following in the long-distance shooting circles as well. Why? Enter the 1121XR. This selection is available in either .308 Win. or 6.5 Creedmoor. While I can’t comment on the .308 Win. version, I did get a chance to shoot the 1121XR in 6.5 Creedmoor at the 2020 Athlon Outdoors Rendezvous.

When I walked up to the range tables under the RISE Armament canopy, I noticed a rather attractive FDE-Cerakoted “boomstick” just screaming out to be abused. It was indeed the RISE 1121XR. It truly was an impressive sight, and resembled a real long-distance thumper.

The first thing I noticed was the Cerakote job that comes in black, FDE, or foliage green. Then I noticed that RISE doesn’t mess around like some other companies, who tend to put cheap stocks on their serious guns. RISE chose to go with the Magpul PRS stock, which is right at home on a rifle as serious as the 1121XR.

RISE Armament also chose to use its RA-535 Advanced-Performance Trigger (single stage) for this rifle. It’s an exceptional trigger, given how it’s performed in another AR that I currently own. As for the barrel, RISE opted for a 22-inch 416R stainless steel, air gauged, button rifled, free floated barrel. RISE’s RA-701 Compensator tops the barrel off and seriously reduces recoil.

The handguard is a 15-inch slimline variant offered by RISE. It features a typical accompaniment of M-LOK slots and a pic rail up top. the 1121XR weighs in at 9.7 pounds with no optic, which isn’t too shabby. Lastly, an MSRP of $2,449 puts it in the ballpark of many serious shooters.

Range Time

The 1121XR from RISE Armament is a serious long-distance communication provider. At the 2020 Rendezvous, we wanted to see how far we could stretch the 1121XR. My goal was to get out to one mile. With a 6.5 Creedmoor rifle like this, it should be doable, even with some wind kicking up—and it was.

I was able to tell a steel target to “Get off my lawn!” at one mile out. And honestly, it didn’t take much effort. RISE Armament’s spotter was, well, spot on in this case (pun intended). This rifle is unreal, and I’ve only had a brief amount of time behind the trigger. This was the first time I’ve hit targets out to a mile in a semi-auto rifle.

While it’s a bit early to call it “the best,” the 1121XR was certainly a very impressive rifle. I’ll let time and me putting it through its paces dictate just how good it really is. But, if the RISE Armament 1121XR preforms during extended testing as good as it did recently out to one mile, then I’ll definably call it one of the best long-distance semi-auto rifles out there. For more information, please visit RISEArmament.com.

Rise Armament 1121XR Specs

• Caliber: 6.5 Creedmoor (also in .308 Win.)
• Action: Semi
• Barrel Length: 22 inches
• Overall Length: 43.75 inches
• Weight: 9.7 pounds
• Barrel : 416 R Stainless Steel, air gauged, button rifled, match grade, with a 1:8 twist and 6 grooves
• Gas System: Rifle Length
• Trigger: RA 535 Advanced Performance Trigger
• Muzzle Device: RA 701 Compensator, 5/8-24 thread pitch
• Receivers: Precision Machined 7075 Billet Aluminum
• Handguard: 15” streamlined aluminum handguard with MLOK slots
• Finish: Cerakote Black, FDE, and Foliage Green available
• MSRP: $2,449