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To hell with hand guards!

84ta406

84ta406

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Sort of a rant, dont be too hard on me!

Building my first and only AR and I've been piecing together everything slowly. Managed to jump in a bunch of group buys on here and save a bunch but Im coming down the home stretch, only need a BCG and a Handguard now, but holy shit! I never would have thought some of these things cost so much.. for what? Aside from the cheap magpul furniture, the prices are ridiculous! Do you guys really pay 100+? 150-200+? Ive seen the GB on here and even still the length I need is like 140, for something for my hand to go on? I have no intentions to tacticool my rifle, and aside from sights or a scope I'm not adding anything to it. What is the point of paying so much for this stuff? I understand better quality etc. as I work in manufacturing but holy shit the mark ups have to be absurd!

In any case.. if anyone has a good source for Rifle length 12" or 13.2" handguards.. that would be great!
 
I don't know what it costs to engineer, fabricate, market, sell etc. handguards, but I assume it can't be too cheap. Clearly some are made better, stronger and lighter than others which increases cost. Most of mine are from YHM. Not the most expensive, nor are they the lightest or strongest on the market. However, I choose them because they are a solid, no nonsense, no frills handguard you can count on.

Thank being said, I think I have set of plastic rifle length handguards lying around somewhere. If I can find them I will give them to you.

Dave
 
I was leaning towards the magpuls but was hoping for something a little more aesthetically pleasing for me. Will probably end up that way.

I looked on amazon and was hesitant on a bunch of them, the reviews were 50/50 and they just scream "fresh off the china boat."
 
Check out the ones listed here...

I have the GTMU on one of my ARs and like it. Rails where you want them (other than a full one on top) and no cheese-grater feel to it. Actually feels pretty good in the hand... [wink] I put another one from them on my 300 BLK rifle but don't see it listed now...
 
I've been looking at handguards as well...I was amazed at first at the pricing but then realized there were at least three tiers of pricing....inexpensive, "not too bad" and exorbitant. I looked at and fondled some from all three tiers and decided that I will eventually select one from either the inexpensive or the "not too bad" pile. The expensive ones were nice, I guess, but they just have stuff I didn't need and frankly, to my eyes, they weren't as good looking.

I am building this M4 as a basic platform anyway so I don't need all the accoutrements on it that cost tons of money and add weight. The places I'm spending a few extra bucks is the barrel, the BCG and eventually a decent set of optics.
 
Im not a machinist, but it would seem there's a shit-ton of machining that goes into making most of them. Gun and accessories are like womens shoes- theyre expensive because people are willing to pay the prices to get what they want.

You have Magpul or an A2 handguard is like $20-$30 bucks and will do the job if youre not planning to add a bunch of extras to it. I bought a cheap handguard on Amazon a couple of years ago and got what I paid for. The barrel nut had holes drilled around its circumference which were spaced unevenly. Some had a larger amount of space between the neighboring hole, and some were drilled so close together that they were almost touching. Had a hard time fitting the AR wrench on it and finally had to use a pipe wrench to put it on. Oy.
 
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If you have an FSB and can use a drop in hand guard, it doesn't get much better than Magpul especially for the money.
 
84ta406 said:
Sort of a rant, dont be too hard on me!

Building my first and only AR and I've been piecing together everything slowly. Managed to jump in a bunch of group buys on here and save a bunch but Im coming down the home stretch, only need a BCG and a Handguard now, but holy shit! I never would have thought some of these things cost so much.. for what? Aside from the cheap magpul furniture, the prices are ridiculous! Do you guys really pay 100+? 150-200+? Ive seen the GB on here and even still the length I need is like 140, for something for my hand to go on? I have no intentions to tacticool my rifle, and aside from sights or a scope I'm not adding anything to it. What is the point of paying so much for this stuff? I understand better quality etc. as I work in manufacturing but holy shit the mark ups have to be absurd!

In any case.. if anyone has a good source for Rifle length 12" or 13.2" handguards.. that would be great!
Click to expand...

As for the point of paying so much. Well some people just need to be able to say they spent 350$ on XY or Z parts. Some are not mass produced and then who ever is,making them people need to make money.

In the end if your looking for a no frills rifle should just bought a A2 or A4 rifle upper for about 500$

Also, yes I,have paid 150$ or more for a hand guard.
I have this on my rifle I shoot prone with a bipod. I like the feel of it also. Having full length rails on each side sucks IMHO.
https://www.rockriverarms.com/index...tegory_id=430&CFID=532991450&CFTOKEN=90401451

I also have 2 rifles with the NM hand guard set up.
Rock river arms part number AR0128

https://www.rockriverarms.com/index...tegory_id=305&CFID=532991450&CFTOKEN=90401451
 
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84ta406 said:
.... What is the point of paying so much for this stuff? ....
Click to expand...

Some vendors price items as high as the stupidest buyer will tolerate?
I really don't understand either....

For my last build, I bought a complete upper, less bcg & charge handle for about $225. Free floating aluminum quadrail handguard....the whole enchilada...it appears to be very nice quality.. shoots well and no issues after about 500 rounds.

I've seen several M4A3 uppers offered for sale recently for less than $200. I can't bring myself to believe that the relatively inexpensive parts are all crap.

Jack
 
Samson makes nice handguards, and relatively resonable. Look at the Revolution series then shop online for the particular model u want. I found one way below what their website listed.
 
mac1911 said:
Not knowing your set up.
I have used the hogue free float tubes on a few builds. They are inexpensive and made well. Although there is no provisions to mount anything.

Rock river arms is having a sale on their branded free float hand guards also


Be sure to add the sling swivel stud.
https://www.rockriverarms.com/index...tegory_id=309&CFID=532991450&CFTOKEN=90401451

Not bad for 60$
Click to expand...

Heres my build, its mainly a target/varmint rifle.

-Anderson closed lower from the group buy
-LPK is from AWS on here when they did a buy
-Grip is a Magpul
-Stock is CAA. CBS model. Very comfortable so far. Purchased on here as well.
-Upper reciever is from Damage Industries, 1913 rail top, USGI contract M4 marked, M4 feed ramp, hard-coat annodized to MIL-A-8625 type III class 2, Dry-Film Lubed, machined and painted T-slot marked positions. Precision machined to mil-spec from a 7075 T6 aluminum forging.
-Green mountain 20", 223 Wylde Chamber, 1:8 twist, 416 stainless steel, Fluted, honed, passivated, bead blasted matte finish, Nickel Boron extension with M4 feed ramps, and has a rifle length gas block
-Lantac Dragon Muzzle brake
-Syrac Ordnance Adj. gas block.

The one from RRA isnt bad at all but I was hoping for something with a top rail atleast so I can put my Magpul BUIS on the front. I suppose I could get a different gas block with a rail on top though.
 
There is a lot of machining on a hand guard and it runs 360 degrees around it. Some are just screaming to rip warm flesh from anything they touch and others are as smooth as a babies bottom.
 
From your build I see you bought a lantac dragon brake. I have one too and love it. But if you spent over $100 on the lantac why would you want to be cheap with the handguard?
 
sgeary said:
From your build I see you bought a lantac dragon brake. I have one too and love it. But if you spent over $100 on the lantac why would you want to be cheap with the handguard?
Click to expand...

Got it on sale for $80 to be honest. Plus it serves a bigger purpose to me aside from somewhere for my hand to grab. Is there a big difference between say a YHM hand guard or say a Noveske? To me its like looking for a new car and seeing the same exact cars at different dealers with all different prices, in the end theyre still the same. I would like something nicer than the magpul but Im too cheap to pay for something ~$150. Always been the same way with cars, big engine, crappy looking car lol
 
84ta406 said:
Got it on sale for $80 to be honest. Plus it serves a bigger purpose to me aside from somewhere for my hand to grab. Is there a big difference between say a YHM hand guard or say a Noveske? To me its like looking for a new car and seeing the same exact cars at different dealers with all different prices, in the end theyre still the same. I would like something nicer than the magpul but Im too cheap to pay for something ~$150. Always been the same way with cars, big engine, crappy looking car lol
Click to expand...

Will the noveske look nicer than a YHM? Probably but will it out perform it, no. Check out primary arms for their sales. The have a seekins precision/ primary arms keymod rail that goes on sale for under $100 regardless of the length. It's a very nice rail for the money. Nice deal on the lantac, wish I saw that and grabbed another!

http://www.primaryarms.com/sppakm15/p/sppakm15/
 
Thats my point. I have a hard time justifying the cost with no added benefit. And honestly they all look the same to me for the most part, and quite ugly.
 
84ta406 said:
Thats my point. I have a hard time justifying the cost with no added benefit. And honestly they all look the same to me for the most part, and quite ugly.
Click to expand...

here is my "varmint build with the Hogue free float. I got it on sale for like 70$ with the sling swivel to mount the bipod. You could easily mount a small rail also.


I could easily add a railed gas key or buy a shoter tube and instll a A2 front sight base for iron sights if needed.

 
Coincidentally, this morning I just happened to finish installing a piece of rail on the front of one of my rifles that was lacking iron sights.

Pretty sure this is a DPMS FF tube. I have a Leupold VX2, 4x12, scope on this rifle and it has bugged me that it doesn't have backup irons. I finally got around to fitting a piece of rail to it. It took me way longer to get the bottom profile of the rail to the right height and curve for the tube than it took to install it.





This is the tube:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/1413269192/dpms-free-float-tube-handguard-ar-15-aluminum-black

I have these 45 degree offset sights on most of my ARs. I like them and can transition to them pretty quickly.
 
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