When you glance at the Hornady Rapid Rack, it doesn’t look like much. In fact, it’s hard to tell exactly what it is and how it would help on an AR-15 rifle. Hornady set the standard for quality defense ammunition. From small calibers like .380 to larger blasters like the .45 ACP or 10mm, Hornady makes a self-defense round for them all.
One of their most popular rounds is the gel-filled ammo, marketed as their Critical Defense line. But Hornady doesn’t stop at ammunition. They also make some great compact safes like the RAPiD safe, which opens hands-free by swiping an RFID chip over the top of it. Now, to combine safety and speed for self-defense situations, Hornady has invented the Rapid Rack Tool. It keeps your gun safe and ready to deploy within a moment’s notice.
What is the Rapid Rack?
When I first glanced at the Rapid Rack, I’ll admit, I wasn’t impressed. The red handle reminded me of the plastic safe chamber blocks (empty chamber indicator) that come with new guns. Those aren’t much good for a gun being used for home/self-defense. But then my curiosity got the better of me and I had to know what made this thing so “rapid.”
It only took a few seconds to realize how clever this little tool really was. The Rapid Rack looks somewhat like a dummy round with a red handle coming off the end of it. That’s because it goes in the chamber and the red handle sticks out the side of the ejection port. To install it, remove the magazine from your AR-15 and make sure it is unloaded.
Now a loaded magazine can be inserted into the AR-15. In this condition, you know the gun has an empty chamber. Or more correctly, it has a dummy round in the chamber. This means the gun is perfectly safe and incapable of firing if you see the red handle sticking out of the ejection port.
How To Use the Rapid Rack
The idea of the Rapid Rack is to show the gun is safe (empty chamber indicator) but also clear the indicator of the chamber and replace it with a live round quickly. To make the gun ready to fire, pull on the red handle quickly. The Rapid Rack tool will fly out of the gun and a live round will be moved into the chamber.
The tool flies clear of the gun by using the ejector as it normally would with a bullet. The back of the tool is shaped like a bullet and when you pull on it, the ejector catches it. This causes it to fly out of the gun and your hand. I used dummy rounds in my AR to practice with the Rapid Rack before using it on the range.
When racking a round into the chamber using the charging handle, you cycle the full motion of the bolt. This makes the Rapid Rack faster than using the charging handle. I’m not sure the difference of a fraction of a second would matter in most cases, but it is technically faster.
Why use the Rapid Rack?
There is a middle ground all gun owners must find that blends gun safety with gun preparedness. Storing a gun unloaded, in a safe will keep it out of curious hands and protect it from thieves. But it does no good for home defense either. Bad guys won’t play the time-out game when you need to open the safe, retrieve the gun, find the ammo, and load it.
The middle ground is deciding how to keep a gun ready for home defense while keeping it safe from children and guests. The Rapid Rack is a perfect way to help blend that middle ground. The gun can be stored in a way that works best for the homeowner. But it also gives you a visual peace of mind that the chamber is empty. The red handle sticking out of the side means there is an empty chamber. But with one short pull on the red handle, you have a loaded gun ready to go.
Summary
Not everyone wants a safety device on their rifle. How you store your guns and the level of safety you put on them depends on each person’s home and lifestyle. If you have children and want to know your AR-15 is stored in a safe way that can be visually verified, this is a great safety device. What makes it unique is that Hornady managed to make a safety device that also readies your gun for self-defense.
It’s easy, safe, and fast. After using the Rapid Rack for a while, I liked it enough to leave it in my home defense AR-15. It’s inexpensive and works better than expected. This would be a great tool for those who keep an AR-15 in their vehicle too. If you haven’t tried one before, I’m confident you will be happy with it.
