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Posted: 12/16/2008 5:50:17 AM EDT
| what are the pro's and con's of free floating handguards, and how are the different from standard handguards? and are all after market handguards free floating? |
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No not all after market guards are FF.
The difference is that a standard two piece guard is held in place by pressure from springs. A FF (free floating) handguard (no matter whether one piece or two) has an adaptor that lets it thread on to the barrel nut. Therefore it only makes contact with the gun in one place hence the name. PROs - better accuracy (though most shooters will not see this) - more solid if you plan to mount accessories or a VFG - price (I should carify: there's much more of a price variation in FF depending on what you want where simply because there's dozens of manufacturers that make them...in contrast putting on standard (two piece quad rails) is a less popular option.) CONs -intallation (you have to remove your gas block, gas tube, and barrel nut to install one: this can bea little daunting if you've ever done it before where as a stadard hand guard or rail can be swapped in about 5 min with a hand guard tool.) |
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Free float handguards isolate the barrel from outside stress, maintaining barrel harmonics consistency when using support at the front handguard.
Layman's terms: With every shot you fire, that hot, pressurized gas that travels down the barrel behind the bullet will move your barrel. It makes your barrel will move in a sort of whip-like fashion. Let's elaborate: When you put pressure on the barrel, it interrupts that whip-like movement... your shot will be different from when it was shot free from that pressure you exerted on the barrel. The energy from the barrel "whipping" gets absorbed a little by whatever you're keeping the barrel in contact with. This changes if you use a sling, bipod, rest the barrel on a wall, tree-limb, your hand... whatever. What's more, you have to replicate that amount of stress between shots if you want to maintain consistency and predictability. 
You can't consistently replicate the stress you apply to the barrel... not by hand anyway. But you can replicate that absence of any stress. That eliminates more variables between shots, keeping more of your shots consistent and more predictable. It's a bigger payoff if you shoot at longer distances, where small gains in accuracy mean more. |
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Quoted:
CONs -intallation (you have to remove your gas block, gas tube, and barrel nut to install one: this can bea little daunting if you've ever done it before where as a stadard hand guard or rail can be swapped in about 5 min with a hand guard tool.) Not all FF rails require removing the barrel nut. The DD Omega is a FF rail and it installs in minutes with no special tools. |
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