One of the projects I'm currently working on involves a 20" barrel and a KAC Long FF RAS.  The buyer wishes to remove the standard front post sight and retention cap and replace them with a top single rail gas block which includes a bayonet lug.  Only problem is, I don't know anyone who manufactures such a part.  Anyone here know where I might locate one?

I am aware that Yankee Hill shows a bolt-on unit of this description on their website.  Unfortunately, after contacting them, they can provide no release date.  The SS barrel is in pre-production right now and the RAS is in inventory.  The only thing holding up this project's upper is the gas block.  (Yes, I have advised against a bayonet lug on a FF barrel.)

Armalite had one, or at least a lug you could add to their single rail gas block, but I can't find any info on it.  Maybe I was dreaming.

Quoted: Armalite had one, or at least a lug you could add to their single rail gas block, but I can't find any info on it.  Maybe I was dreaming.hr

I've contacted them through e-mail, but they've not, as yet, responded.  All the same, I didn't see one on their website, either.

Yankee Hill offers one on their website, but it's not yet in production and they can't tell me when it might be available.  KAC makes one, but it isn't available for sale to the general public.  NSW/Crane made one during the orignal SOPMOD project, but they've since stopped making it (not they they would have sold one to me, in any case).

heavy sigh

I've often wondered why nobody just mills the front sight off a standard A-frame and then welds a pic rail on at the same height as the flat-top upper's rail.  This would allow the use of all front sight combinations that are made for free-float rails.  And it would be properly pinned in place instead of using flimsy set screws.

Josh

Quoted: I've often wondered why nobody just mills the front sight off a standard A-frame and then welds a pic rail on at the same height as the flat-top upper's rail.  This would allow the use of all front sight combinations that are made for free-float rails.  And it would be properly pinned in place instead of using flimsy set screws. Josh

That's essentially what USW/Crane did, back in the day.  Of course, anything sight-related you'd ever want to mount to that top rail would have to be custom made for the new height.  That's where standardization comes in.  As I understand it, when KAC got the contract, they created a machined version of the same unit, which had to offer altogether better quality and uniformity of production.  Beyond asking if they sold them, though, I didn't get into the specific history of the part.

That said, my original curiosity (from a different thread) revolved around the demise of the AWB.  You'd think the full gambit of previously-forbidden parts would now be in demand.  For example, we have a wondrous selection of telestocks, rail systems, and accessories for rail systems.  There just hasn't been a single rail gas block with a bayonet lug.  I would take it as little more than a curious comment on the firearm market if I didn't actually need the part.