I would like to start off and say thanks to you all for the great information that is on this site.  I am a new ar15 owner and just purchased a bushmaster a3 m4 with the perminate izzy flash suppressor.  I want to put a rail on the front and don't want to remove the front site base and flash suppressor.  Troy makes a free floater that doesn't require the removal or yankee hill has a two piece that installs on the existing nut.  What is your opinion for just plain shooting at the range and out shooting rock chucks?  Is it worth the extra money to free float the rail?

Why not have the best of both worlds?  Midwest Industries makes a free floater that installs like the Troy, but is comparible in price to the YHM.  Check out the MI #20 at Bravo Company USA.

Bravo Company USA

I love my MI#20, and for the money it is nice knowing I'm giving my barrel every opportunity to be as accurate as possible.

The build that I'm working on now is going to use a PRI free float forend and a full length rail on the top that ties the forend to the upper receiver.  I believe that it's worth it if you're searching for all the accuracy that you can get.

My others all use Daniel Defense forends and I've had great success with them as well.  

I've had absolutely zero experience with any 2 piece forends, but I can't imagine that one that is free floated would be nearly as stable as a one-piece free floated forend.  Free floating the barrel from the forend doesn't neccesarily make it more accurate, but it does prevent a change in POI when going from one shooting position to the next.  

I know that you already said that you don't want to remove your front sight post or flash suppressor, but it's not that hard to do.  All that you need are the right punches and a small hammer, plus a wrench for the flash suppressor.  If you didn't live so far away I'd gladly do it for you for free, but I'm not planning a drive from Tennessee to Idaho any time soon!

You said to remove the flash suppressor is not to difficult but the rifle i have is the bushmaster 14.5 inch barrel with the welded on suppressor so it is the legal 16 inch barrel.

What is the difference in the troy and the midwest industries rails?

Quoted: What is the difference in the troy and the midwest industries rails?

Mainly the price.  They both attach the same way around the barrel nut, and are high quality alumium rails.  I believe the Troy unit allows the lower rail to detach more quickly than the MI#20 for attaching the M203, but that's not a requirement for us civilians.

YHM 2 piece

Quoted: The MI rail however is the cheapest way to get into a 2 piece FF rail, it just isn't quite what the other two are.

I disagree.  All three companies (MI, Troy, and Samson) use 6061-T6 aluminum.  All three utilize the barrel nut strap collar design, all three have hard anodize coated rails with laser engravings, and all three have a continuous top rail.

MI stands out because it is signficantly less expensive.  This is not synonymous with lower quality.  If that was the case, we'd all be shooting preban Colts exclusively.

+1 for MI rails. Fairly simple install, plus all the benifits of FF. For the price you can't beat them. I would pick one up now before the prices go up.

Quoted: You said to remove the flash suppressor is not to difficult but the rifle i have is the bushmaster 14.5 inch barrel with the welded on suppressor so it is the legal 16 inch barrel.

Sorry, I didn't factor that in.  Being welded on it tends to be a bear to get it off.  

Thanks for the information.

Based on glock24's measurement, the MI handguard is 2 inches wide. The Samson I measured is 2-1/4 inches wide. Thus, making the MI slimmer.

I ordered one tonight and look forward to installing it.

I just installed a MI 20 and love it.  The rifle is kinda on the heavier side but I think that is mostly due to the "heavy" barrel and not as much to the ~13 oz MI rail.  It went on very easily and seems to be very solid.

Just installed the MI on my Bushmaster M4. Love it. Easy install. I took the barrel off to save the delta ring. Just make sure you get it lined up with the upper reciever rail. I used a riser to keep mine aligned while torqing the screws. Ordered mine from Bravo Company. $172.00 shipped. Took 5 days to get here.

I've been contemplating getting the 9" FF MI rail, but on another thread others have made comments regarding it's weight. I already have Larue's and Daniel defense rails on others units, but what makes the MI attractive is it's price and monolithic look. Would it be worth it to get one?

For regular ole' shootin just get  a 2 peice.  The change of POI shouldnt be that much unless you should really be using .308 for what your plan is.

I installed the MI tube last night but the top rails would not match up exactly.  Maybe a 1/16 off.  Is it that critical to make sure they are exact. And if so do I move the barrel nut so they allign up?  The rail can't be adjusted either way.  It sits snug and doesn't have any play any direction.

I installed the MI tube last night but the top rails would not match up exactly. Maybe a 1/16 off. Is it that critical to make sure they are exact. And if so do I move the barrel nut so they allign up? The rail can't be adjusted either way. It sits snug and doesn't have any play any direction.

Sounds like the barrel nut isn't timed correctly. As far as it affecting anything, probably not unless you plan on mounting any optics to it, or you are concerned with the looks. As far as fixing the problem, its easy. Retime the barrel nut so the gas tube notch lines up perfectly straight up. Then reinstall handguards...

or use strapwrench-fu carefully on the floater itself seeing as it only connects directly to the barrel nut.

Mine was off too. I re-torqued the barrel nut. If the rail is off so is the gas tube. I could have hid it by mounting my Eotech enough forward to cover it but I would have known it was off and it would have bugged the shit out of me. When I looked inside the upper at my gas tube it was obviously off. After re-torquing the barrel it's dead on and so is the rail. Also when re-mounting the guards use a riser to keep the 2 rails lined up. Split the difference between the upper reciever rail and the guard rail. Keeps it lined up well.