AR handguard question

[landon410]

quad rails are very popular and I have one on my rifle, however I don't want a quad rail, I'd prefer a birail, I only want the rail on top and botton with nothing on the sides, does anyone makes this?

I have a 2 piece drop in carbine length handguard, I don't want some super high end expensive handguard either.

[tstuart34]

I would looking at getting a smooth or a keymod hand rail and then you can add rail sections to the bottom of it to attach what every you want. They will come with barrel nuts if you have to replace them. Once nice thing about the Troy and Sampson rails is you can use the stock barrel nut.

[bkoenig]

I have both quad rails and tube type handguards.  IMO, quad rails suck.  They're not very ergonomic and they often weigh more.  I have a Samson Evolution and a Midwest Industries SS and I really like both of them.  They're light and modular.  The Samson is especially nice.  I think I got it for $130 on sale.

I'm thinking about maybe getting a Nordic free float for my next upper.  It's about $85, but doesn't come with the rail sections so in the end it will be about the same as a Samson.

[RobertH]

I have YHM, Midwest Industries and ALG Defense. All are awesome. I think ALG is lightest and best deal. ALG is owned by Bill Geiselles wife, so you know its great stuff.

[gsd]

Brian and Robert said it best. I've used Samson and Midwest Industries rails on just about everything. Only gripe I have with the Samson is the proprietary spacing for the rail sections. And they are TALL sections, I had to take a handstop apart to get it on.

[landon410]

the midwest SS drop in looks pretty darn close to what i want. but $135 is still pretty steep for me for a cosmetic upgrade on a gun i don't shoot all that much

[bkoenig]

The solution is to shoot it more. 

[gsd]

The solution is to shoot it more. 

Flawless response.

And landon, if you dump that much money into it, you will want to shoot it more. This i know to be fact.

[landon410]

I'm about to jinx this all the heck, but I'm up for a promotion at work and for a job at a different company both with pay bumps, but wait, I still don't own land so the amount of trips to the range won't change.
At least my AR would look good!

[OnTheFly]

Flawless response.

And landon, if you dump that much money into it, you will want to shoot it more. This i know to be fact.

Logic at its finest. Pure and simple

Fly

[lneuke]

I don't understand all the recent quad rail hate, it's really just personal preference.  You can get lightweight quad rails like Centurion Arms, and that's without having to the extra weight of keymod sections.  Which brings me to my other point, what is the first thing you put on a keymod rail? Picatinny rail sections, like what are already built in to a quad rail.  You're really only saving a significant amount of weight (6 oz or so) if you run it completely slick, in which case there are even lighter options out there.  Otherwise you have to also keep in mind the weight of accessories if that's entirely what you're concerned with. 
Another disadvantage is that if you're not running tape switches, you have to reach up the extra distance off of the smaller handguard to fire your light/lasers that are sitting on top of the keymod sections.  To me it just doesn't feel natural.  On a quad rail, the distance isn't as much since your hand is resting on top of the rails. 

It really only comes down to personal preference or how it feels when you shoot it.  I don't have the biggest hands by a long shot, but I just prefer the feel of the larger quad rails.  I also like the fact that when I mound my flashlights/lasers I don't have to reach up a mile to find the activation buttons. 

[landon410]

i don't like the quad rail because it isn't comfortable to me, I have a vertical grip and don't wrap my thumb around it, it goes upward and comes into contact with the side rails. i also don't run anything on the sides

I have 2 things on my rails and could do without one of them.
I have a 45 degree BUIS on top and a vert grip on bottom.

I might ditch the BUIS and put ladder rails on everything, the side rails are just unneeded, they take up space and my hand hits them oddly and even though you've pointed out the weight difference is near nothing its still a weight difference.

now I'm thinking maybe a MOE and run the vertical grip on it so the only rail would be 3 or 5 rail and would be covered with the grip.

[RobertH]

now I'm thinking maybe a MOE and run the vertical grip on it so the only rail would be 3 or 5 rail and would be covered with the grip.

ive had MOE hand guards and they are fine, but i changed them out because they are not free floating and were not as versatile and i wished they were.

if you want to feel or see some different rails or free float handguards, just ask.  im sure someone around here can help you out.  and i would pay at least $100 for good USA made free float hand guards.  skip UTG, etc.

[bkoenig]

If you go with MOE and have a mid length gas system I have a used set if you're interested.

[bk09]

http://franklin-armory.myshopify.com/collections/handguards/products/fsr-handguard

Gotta say the most comfortable handguard I have ever felt is the Franklin Armory FSR. The ergonomics on it helped seal the deal in me getting a M4-SBR-L. If you follow them on Facebook they are always posting discount codes too.