In the shotgun pictures forum on page 26 there are some pictures of a Mesa Tactical prototype rail. [ very, very sweet] On page 27 Mesa states that it might be ready at the end of the year. I was just wantng an update or any news about the prototype rail.

Good question... i hope someone who knows comes along and tells us soon.
and +1 to it being very, very sweet.

The rail is done.  That's the simple part.

The hard part was the forward mount.  Our initial design back in the spring of last year was for a barrel clamp or magazine clamp.  But we backed away from this method because it would mean tools would be required to field strip the weapon, and we have never been happy with that.  So we developed a system that we call FCAM (floating combat accessory mount) that allows the barrel to be removed with no tools.  The problem we then ran into was manufacturing the bracket.  The bracket design was simply not suitable for stamping, as we had originally intended.  We have to come up with another way to fabricate the bracket.

Several folks have suggested we simply release the rail with the barrel clamp.  But then we have no doubt this would lead to customer frustration later after we introduced the FCAM system (the clamp rail would not be compatible with the FCAM rail).

The problem we have as a company is that while there are quick fixes available to all these issues, we are usually unhappy with the quick fix and so spend a lot of time looking into better solutions.

We will be introducing an FCAM system for the Benelli M4 at the SHOT Show.  After that happens, we will be able to focus more on the Remington solution.

Thanks for the reply. I hope you find the solution you are looking for!

P.S. Did I mention its very, very sweet!

Very nice Mitch. Looking forward to seeing what you've got at the ShotShow.

I think you could make the front with a modified barrel clamp. One that slip fits much like the Benelli M4 rail assembly when installing the barrel. The barrel clamp would never be removed. Probably easier to do then to make a modified sling loop or magazine extension.

-Steve

Look what *is* new at Mesa Tactical:

www.mesatactical.com/product_info.php?products_id=105p

Comes in 4-round and 6-round versions too!  Very cool...