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Posted: 6/11/2009 4:14:20 PM EDT
| I am trying to figure out which handguards to buy for my 14.5" barreled upper. It seems there are so many options, OEM, round, oval, mil spec, etc... Can anyone explain the difference between all the carbine length handguards? |
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I am trying to figure out which handguards to buy for my 14.5" barreled upper. It seems there are so many options, OEM, round, oval, mil spec, etc... Can anyone explain the difference between all the carbine length handguards? As tripletrpper said, there are literally hundreds of options-railed forends, freefloat, non-freefloat, freefloat tubes...you name it  For this reason your question is pretty broad. If you could list the intended uses for your new carbine you would get a better answer-competition, plinking, home defense, varminting etc. What distances will you shoot? How accurate do you need to be?
Here are a few different types of handguards in my collection: 
-On top are standard Colt CAR (skinny) handguards. -Middle are standard Colt M4 handguards. -Bottom are Rock River Arms midlength handguards on my 9mm upper. -On the right is a PRI freefloat tube that was used for my skunk slaying carbine: 
Some handguards have a weaponlight built into them. This is a Surefire M500 weaponlight forend: 
The Surefire M500 handguard/forend is nice, but they are pricey and lack a viable LED option. Some people don't like the fact that they aren't freefloated. Sorry I can't give you more information-I don't have any other types of handguards to show you. Hopefully someone will pop in with some pics of other railed forends/handguards to help you make up your mind. Good luck with your search
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For what it is worth I did a lot of looking when I was shopping for a replacement for my stock handguards that came on my Stag. It came down to either MI or YHM as both seem to be well built and on the affordable side. I ended up with MI 2 piece rails that I picked up from the EE. Fit and finish are good with only a scant amount of play (less then my stock handguards). As I will not be jumping out of planes with my rifle I figured these will be more then serviceable.
rk |
My Knight's Armament Corp. (KAC) M4 RAS carbine rails with KAC rail panels and VFG If you have any plans to mount a weaponlight and a vertical forward grip later on just get the KAC M4 RAS rails, buy once, cry once and never look back. There are KAC rails for sale at reasonable prices in the Equipment Exchange (EE) section, that's where I bought mine new at a good price. |
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I do not like the M4 handguards. Too big for me. The regular car guards are perfect. 2nd that. OP, don't be overwelmed by all the choices as it'll narrow down pretty quick. M4 handguards suck in my opinion, bad ergonomics. If you have reg. carbine (round not oval) handguards you caught a break. Use them them as you get used to your iron sights and look at the AR porn threads at all the cool rigs and when you see something you like ask people to rate it. Good Luck |
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I hear UTG is all the rage on this site. Go for it! C'mon brother-the OP might not know you're being sarcastic. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile I will say that the FF carbine quad rail is much better than I ever thought. I will not disclose how I know that at this time! |
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