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Bachster486
16 November 2009, 18:03
Looking to replace my stock handguard with a rail.

I have a DPMS AR with a non-romovable carry handle. I have my EOTECH mounted to the carry handle.

Question: If I bought a new handguard rail, would I be able to mount my EOTECH on it?? It seems to me the rail has enough "wiggle" in it to make my EOTECH not reliable at a long distnce shot. Would a free floating rail solve my problem??

I see pictures of lasers mounted on the rail all over this site and in magazines. Seems to me a laser would be unreliable as well due to the small amount of play in the handguard or am I missing something??


I want to have all the data prior to getting a rail.

Thanks for your input.

Paulo_Santos
16 November 2009, 18:32
Definitely get a Free Float Handguard or switch out the A2 to an A3 upper receiver.

rebelEMPIRE
17 November 2009, 00:43
You will need a free float rail system or a monolithic rail system for best results. The reason why lasers are more acceptable for mounting on the hand guard is because they are more commonly used for short range applications.

In my opinion, for 100 dollars, you could buy a new upper receiver instead of a new rail system, and with the extra money saved, you can count those toward other goodies or maybe one of the more inexpensive drop-in rail systems.

Eric
17 November 2009, 01:48
I have a DPMS AR with a non-romovable carry handle. I have my EOTECH mounted to the carry handle.
Which puts it far too high.


Question: If I bought a new handguard rail, would I be able to mount my EOTECH on it?? It seems to me the rail has enough "wiggle" in it to make my EOTECH not reliable at a long distnce shot. Would a free floating rail solve my problem??

If you take this route, a solid FF is going to be your best bet. The two piece drop in type will shift around and screw up your POI.

While mounting an optic on a forward rail can work, best results are going to come from mounting on the flat-top upper receiver. If it were mine, I would hold off on the rail for now and get the upper swapped out first.

scumhunter
17 November 2009, 06:36
If it were mine, I would hold off on the rail for now and get the upper swapped out first.

Me too.

103m 95g
17 November 2009, 14:10
would something like the Midwest industries A2 cantilever mount address the OP's situation?
http://www.midwestindustriesinc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=98

Paulo_Santos
17 November 2009, 15:37
would something like the Midwest industries A2 cantilever mount address the OP's situation?
http://www.midwestindustriesinc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=98

That would work, but look at the price. I'd rather get an A3 upper receiver.

Bachster486
19 November 2009, 11:34
Thanks for all the advice. You are right that the cheapest way is to buy a new receiver. But I like my handle for whatever crazy reason.
Eric made a great point in that the sight is so I high that I had to get a new stock with an adjustable cheek piece.
I now see how guys can have multiple AR's set up mutiple ways. These guns are addictive.

Creeky73
19 November 2009, 20:47
let me chime in on this one, as I faced this same circumstance myself. The problem with simply advising to get a flat top upper for the weapon, this requires the end user to either A) foot the bill for a gunsmith to install this part if you don't have the proper tools, or B) acquire the proper tools to do this yourself, which if you haven't been tinkering around with AR's (my case) you will find that these tools are NOT cheap when added all up together. Now, the gunsmith option isn't a bad option at all IF you have a gunsmith that you can count on to put everything back together properly, which I found out the hard way you cannot always count on. After having one of these jacklegs butcher my gun, I decided to never trust another smith in this area with my guns, and am now working on acquiring the tools to do anything I need. If you plan on using a torque wrench for the barrel instead of just "snugging" it up where you want, the cost gets especially high. In the end, I found myself wishing I would have simply left the carry handle upper alone, put on a real solid free-float handguard, which there are several on the market that do not require much in the way of specialized tools, and mounted the optic to it. After I buy all these tools, I am most certainly going to feel the need to build another AR with all the spare parts and nice expensive tools laying around. While I am not opposed to having two good guns like this, my wallet is screaming for me to get these projects over with.