Hive, I'm considering a GII hunter or recon, I'd really like the hunter but do want to end up with a collapsible stock, quad rail (mainly so I can put sites on the rifle), and thread the muzzle for a qd suppressor mount.
So I have a few questions before I buy one:
What's the barrel diameter of the recon and hunter before, at, and after the gas block?
Does the recon and hunter use the same buffer, are the springs stock ar springs or stronger?
Are there quad rails or railed gas blocks that fit the hunter?  If it's a barrel nut issue is there a barrel but that fits the hunter and can handle conventional quad rails?

Does anyone know if dpms will be be offering uppers or parts to build uppers later on?


Thanks!

You should have no problem picking up a recon barrel nut and hand guard from folks that have gone with an aftermarket alternative.

Personally, at this point in time if the Hunter has the barrel length you want, that is probably the reason to go with it.

Might see something more coming out of SHOT 2015 (there was a GII lite hunter that was shown before, but haven't seen them released yet) so if you can hold off that long, might be a good idea just in case something comes out that is exactly what you want, or at least closer.

The parts situation with the GII hasn't changed for months. Apparently the guns themselves are selling well enough that they can't spare the parts yet.

Do the carbon fiber Handguards on the gii use a special barrel nut different from the gii recon?  I like the gii hunter but dislike the super slick carbon fiber.  The whole barrel nut/handguard thing really confuses me on the gii.  I thought it was supposed to accept standard AR15 spec Handguards but I guess it doesn't?  
I did see a gii barrel nut and gii extractor for sale on the dpms website.

They aren't ALL different, but yes it's confusing.

What I understand is that the AP4 and MOE can use standard AR15 handguards, when it comes to non free-float pieces.

Carbon fiber is different yet (since the tube is held to the nut differently), then the Recon and SASS(?) use the threaded barrel nut for threaded free float tubes.

MI, Nordic, and I think one other manufacturer are selling GII free float tubes, so replacing isn't that difficult. Still not a huge selection, hopefully that gets better in the next few months.

Thanks for the info.  So if I wanted to replace the carbon fiber with a MI keymod handguard they make specially for the gii I would need to purchase a gii recon style barrel nut as well?  Thread the barrel and replace the handguard and I think that hunter model is the way to go.

I have not delved into the aftermarket handguard realm yet (waiting on SLR's piece) but my understanding is that most/all come with the proper barrel nut.

Check with MI, I'm sure they'd be happy to clarify.

Also, a member here confirmed that the Nordic pieces thread onto the Recon barrel nut, so if you can get a Recon barrel nut from someone, you could use a thread-on Nordic piece as well. Can't recall where that thread is, might have to google search for it.

So something like the DD Omega rail would work on the 308 G2 MOE since it uses a standard barrel nut?

The barrel nuts aren't "standard", but whatever the external dimension that affects fitment must be the same. For your specific question I hope someone can tell you authoritatively. I've never dealt with non-free float stuff.

The handguard sizes are the same, but the barrel nuts are larger than a standard AR15 nut, although the teeth locations are the same.  In between the teeth, there is more OD than on an AR15 nut.

That is why the G2 needs different barrel nuts and new handguards need to accommodate for the dims.  There are also more than one type of G2 barrel nut.  One is defined as a short model, which is this one: