To hell with hand guards!

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.

basically what I have done with anything I have added to my tubes. They do make rails with a radius on the underside. finding one that fits is the key. any how if you can put together a ar you should e able to make somethimg work or pay more for something with rails or the ability to bolt on rails easily where you want.
 
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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!

Having had cheap crummy amazon grade utg ones and currently running mid level troy ones, I would never put crap ones on any gun I build. Either go with plastics or get something halfway decent. The solid fit alone is worth it, not to mention weight savings. Primary arms was selling Seekins handguards that had primary arms logos (I think this is why they were having a hard time unloading them, forcing the mark down) for $99 that looked pretty nice, I'd pick one up if I was in need. Seekins is quality stuff.


Personal preference of mine is to stay away from quad rails. Unless you like all kinds of crap on your gun and you need them, stick with as low profile as you can get, single rail up top.
 
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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."

There is a basic choice that drives price.

Do you want a standard plastic, non free floating handguard?

Or do you want something free floated? Which is typically made of aluminum or carbon fiber??

I realize it too late for you probably, but I'm a big fan of the AeroPrecision enhanced upper, which directly accepts their handguard. Which is as reasonably priced as you are going to find in the $125 range.

Don
 
As you can see you learn a lot after the fact.....
There are many options and not all are expensive. Midway has rifle length Hogue rubber grip on sale for 64$ at the moment.
 
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.

If you are going to spend a lot of time shooting the rifle ie class, competition or high volume practice. The a quality thin, comfortable, lightweight and strong handguard is worth it. Having a guard that throws off the balance, fatigues and chews up your hand or comes loose really sucks. If you are just going to shoot off the bench at the club, then it really doesn't matter what you get.
 
You are lucky..a bunch of years ago I paid $400 for a Knights Armament M4 RAS which was also nearly impossible to get,no other options that I knew of.Pre LaRue,DD,LMT,Noveske etc..

These are the glory days of cheap handguard/rail options.
 
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70$ light weight keymod rail ...
You are a machinist you can get a raw extrusion for dirt cheap just make a barrel but and cut to length .
 
cheap ones seem to be a lot heavier, i think you're paying for better materials and design for strength and lightness.

i have a heavy cheapie on one rifle, works fine, especially on a bipod lol
 
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70$ light weight keymod rail ...
You are a machinist you can get a raw extrusion for dirt cheap just make a barrel but and cut to length .

Where did you get yours Ben? My machines are so tied up I cant touch them. I was making all my tooling on the bridgeport the other day for a production job. A Vf4, vf5, tl1 and two cnc knee mills, all full for production stuff.
 
Knights Armament usually has blemished handguards for short money. I like Samson's too but maybe that's just cz my friend used to work there.

But like others have said, if it's just a bench gun get something that is cheap and looks pretty. If you're mounting optics or an IR laser to it and it needs to be rock solid, spend the money.
 
Wow. Those are dirt cheap, appear to be nice, light, and even come with a barrel nut.

The 15" I got is pretty nice, it's aluminum and not a lighter alloy . It looks like a quad rail that they milled of the rail sections on 3 sides then cut keymod into.

Came with
6 rail sections
Extra screw for keymod
Extra screw for rail to barrel nut.
Two shims to get it to index .
Two Allen keys one for keymod and one for the rail to but screws .
I'm using this on my dmr so in just going to put a bipod and maybe off set sights .

I was going to buy there side charger but I found another place selling it for closer to 200$
 
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The 15" I got is pretty nice, it's aluminum and not a lighter alloy . It looks like a quad rail that they milled of the rail sections on 3 sides then cut keymod into.

Came with
6 rail sections
Extra screw for keymod
Extra screw for rail to barrel nut.
Two shims to get it to index .
Two Allen keys one for keymod and one for the rail to but screws .
I'm using this on my dmr so in just going to put a bipod and maybe off set sights .

I was going to buy there side charger but I found another place selling it for closer to 200$

What's the weight on these, for that kinda money theyou must be heavy
 
cheap ones seem to be a lot heavier, i think you're paying for better materials and design for strength and lightness.

i have a heavy cheapie on one rifle, works fine, especially on a bipod lol


All the super cheap ones I have tried have been garbage: Both the metal and the finish have been weak, the machining has been rough, and the edges sharp.

You get what you pay for, to a certain extent (up to about $200).

Install a $50 handguard next to a $150 one and you can tell. Perhaps not when they are both in the box or pics on the web but in the real world quality costs money. Chinese crap is cheap for a reason. If you want to build a 5 MOA chinese knock-off crap rifle then go for it.

ETA: The other thing you will have trouble with cheaper rails is indexing properly which doesn't mean much until you mount a front sight and try to shoot.
 
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All the super cheap ones I have tried have been garbage: Both the metal and the finish have been weak, the machining has been rough, and the edges sharp.

You get what you pay for, to a certain extent (up to about $200).

Install a $50 handguard next to a $150 one and you can tell. Perhaps not when they are both in the box or pics on the web but in the real world quality costs money. Chinese crap is cheap for a reason. If you want to build a 5 MOA chinese knock-off crap rifle then go for it.

ETA: The other thing you will have trouble with cheaper rails is indexing properly which doesn't mean much until you mount a front sight and try to shoot.

Yeah. But everything else that Roush Sports makes is fairly expensive. I doubt they would turn out junk.
 
I picked up an ALG Defense M-Lok handguard from Primary Arms for right around $100. Solidly built, very lightweight, and even came with a proprietary barrel nut wrench for installation.
 
It's a little suspicious that there's no weight listed in the entire ad. Just says its "super light" etc. There are a bunch of cheap rail systems that work, but you usually end up paying for them in extra weight.

-Mike
 
I picked up an ALG Defense M-Lok handguard from Primary Arms for right around $100. Solidly built, very lightweight, and even came with a proprietary barrel nut wrench for installation.


I've seen the ALG & the UTG Pro which both sell for the $100 range. Each has its mounting peculiarities but once mounted properly they both function fine and are fairly lightweight.
 
It's a little suspicious that there's no weight listed in the entire ad. Just says its "super light" etc. There are a bunch of cheap rail systems that work, but you usually end up paying for them in extra weight.

-Mike

Yeah. But everything else that Roush Sports makes is fairly expensive. I doubt they would turn out junk.

What's the weight on these, for that kinda money theyou must be heavy

I'll weigh it later today it's not super light like a alloys bcm uses.

Free float rails are not that expensive to make after the start up cost. A few supply house now off quad rail as a stock shape.
It's a basic aluminum extrusion .
So you can get 8ft + lengths fairly cheap now. The way the barrel nut attaches to it is 6 screws so no machine work needed on the inside.

Chop to rough length . 4 ops for each side . Anodize and it's done.
 
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