@Brownells_ar15

I noticed that these were discontinued late last year, with me posting about them in an unrequited thread of hope as I tried to get one 3D-printed at the very least. I really needed one, and still do want one for my BRN-Proto AR-15 build, as the 3D-printed grip I'm using now just isn't the same finish as an injection-molded polymer part.

That said, there were clearly some QC issues with them and dropping demand, as I sure had to RMA mine and I'm not sure if that's what caused them to be discontinued. That also said, I'm genuinely curious if there is some stack or stash of these lying around somewhere, be they defective or returned items that were not liquidated. They dropped off suddenly from the website, both from distributors & Brownells.

Is there any way to get ahold of these? I've been informed that the CAD files for the grip are proprietary and owned by Brownells, so they can't just be freely distributed for ad-hoc end user enthusiast 3D-printing.

AR180 Parts sells 3D printed ones

I have no idea of the quality.

I've handled the AR180 parts handle. It's 3D printed, so not sure of long-term toughness, but it has thick walls, so should be fine. One thing is that the backstrap is slick, I've seen someone use grip tape for some added texture.

Why did you have to RMA yours?

I grabbed one when Brownells sold the last of them and it looks great on my BRN-10. No issues.

Heat shields for the handguards were much harder to locate.

Yes, so if you re-read my OP you'll see I mentioned I got one of those 3DP ones, but the file itself seems to have come from Brownells, that's why BigRix over at AR180s can't digitally distribute it.



I had to RMA mine because the insert for the lower was trapezoidally cut, not rectangularly, so it would not fit on any lower, be it mil-spec or even AR-10. I would have had to dremel it quite a bit, something I was not feeling like doing at the time, and I had no idea that just a month after RMA-ing it that it would be discontinued.

There were no heatshields made for that AFAIK. Honestly some aluminum tape on mine did just fine with the pencil profile barrel.

If you have a spare grip, please let me know.

Interesting.

The opening on mine was tight. I had to flex it on because the lead edges didn't have enough width/clearance in the gap, but it fit.

I don't have a spare; sorry.

They did introduce factory heatshields towards the end of production. They were also sold separately.

Not sure how legit this website is, but they have a good photo.
https://www.deguns.net/brownells-brn-10-rifle-length-handguard-liner

I swapped parts around to end up with the lightweight barrel, open flash suppressor, brown furniture, heatshields, and the retro pistol grip.

Don't want to get side-tracked, but those are not heatshields for the BRN-PROTO handguard. Those were heatshields that were made for the BRN-10 handguard, which was a rifle-length, AR-10-sized handguard equipped on the BRN-10 rifles they made. If you managed to fit those to the mid-length handguard, that's fine and dandy, but it would not have been 'correct'. The BRN-PROTO handguard was Portuguese-design, hence no venting portholes; the BRN-10 handguard was modelled after the original Stoner design, of course.

The BRN-PROTO was an AR-15-sized rifle, and no heatshields were equipped there AFAIK. @Brownells_ar15 correct me if I am missing something here?

Ok my mistake. I thought we were talking about the rifle-length handguards.

Unfortunately, we don't have anything laying around that the system shows, but I can ask the Product Team if they have a spare somewhere that's collecting dust.

Fingers crossed

If they find exactly one please PM me sir

I've also been looking everywhere for a brown grip if anyone has a lead let me know too

@AKzgalore

I know this post is now almost six months old, but I felt the need to correct some information.  The heatshields referred to above ARE for the BRN-PROTO handguard.  The BRN-10 and the -PROTO both use 20" rifle length barrels with the same handguard. (see -PROTO photo below)


The first models of both the -10 and -PROTO were made without shields, but later ones did have them.  The sheilds were also sold separately for retrofit.
The mid-length Portuguese-style handguards you refer to were intended for a BRN-10 version that never got made, and were never sold with heat shields.  They were never referred to as PROTO handguards, and were not intended for an AR-15 type rifle (at least not yet).  They are still available from Brownells.
https://www.brownells.com/gun-parts/rifle-parts/rifle-handguards-parts/brn-10-portugese-mid-length-handguard-no-heat-shield/