Ar free float

[bigjohn]

Looking for a recommendation for a new toy. My last one, has an alg on it and I like it but I put that together a few years ago. Looking for a light weight one. 15 inch or longer

 

[outrider58]

I've always used Midwest Industries and for budget builds I really like UTG Pros(made in USA). Very solid. Both in Mlok

 

[RJRjr]

I just put the Midwest combat lightweight on my last build with a Criterion barrel. Nice rail. They offer the combat and a lightweight combat.

 

[bigjohn]

Thanks

 

[-Mil-Surp-Phreak-]

https://www.joeboboutfitters.com/Matrix-Arms-AR-15-Foxtrot-M-LOK-Handguard-15-p/ma-foxtrot-mlok-15.htm

Put one of these on my 16inch upper and very happy with it especially at this pricepoint. Very lightweight and solid and VERY slim.

 

[alucard0822]

Will depend on how you run your support hand, and if you like a larger or slimmer rail. I really like the Aero M4E1 receiver set with an S1 ATLAS rail. Slim, feels great with a C grip, sturdy, inexpensive, integral sling sockets, Mlok, it's pretty awesome. Midwest industries, Fortis, SLR, and a few others make nice slim rails with full length rails and some nice features and hardware.

 

[dagmars]

I have purchased multiple items from PA https://www.primaryarms.com/ I bought a spikes nickleboron BCG a you want7075 T6 anodized charging handle; gas block and gas tube and dust flap assembly.
I bought 2 complete lower ar15 assemble kits from PSA they are real nice; the buffer tube is not 7075 t6, I like the rest of the kit. https://palmettostatearmory.com/pal...ower-build-kit-flat-dark-earth-516445631.html
BCA has nice SS fluted Heavy Barrels. you can say well it is not a faxton but hey they are reasonable and on the money and look good https://www.bearcreekarsenal.com/ca...luted-stainless-carbine-1-8-twist-barrel.html.
My hand guards I got from a outfit out of Las Vegas real nice 7075 MLOC I will look for their link if want

 

[trickg]

I think they're out of stock on the 15" at the moment, but Palmetto State Armory sells these handguards - mine was the 12.5" - I didn't want one to cover the whole barrel, so I got the aesthetic I was going for.

They typically offer this in 10", 12.5", 13.5", 15" and 18".

I am very happy with mine. I coated it in Aluma Hyde 2, Magpul FDE.

https://palmettostatearmory.com/psa...ht-13-5-mlok-partial-picatinny-handguard.html

 

[dagmars]

I neve post a pic lets see if it works https://img.gg/h2dNYlD

nope newb get no priv

 

[DaemonAssassin]

I have purchased multiple items from PA https://www.primaryarms.com/ I bought a spikes nickleboron BCG a you want7075 T6 anodized charging handle; gas block and gas tube and dust flap assembly.
I bought 2 complete lower ar15 assemble kits from PSA they are real nice; the buffer tube is not 7075 t6, I like the rest of the kit. https://palmettostatearmory.com/pal...ower-build-kit-flat-dark-earth-516445631.html
BCA has nice SS fluted Heavy Barrels. you can say well it is not a faxton but hey they are reasonable and on the money and look good https://www.bearcreekarsenal.com/ca...luted-stainless-carbine-1-8-twist-barrel.html.
My hand guards I got from a outfit out of Las Vegas real nice 7075 MLOC I will look for their link if want

NiB bolt carriers have tolerance issues, and the NiB coating is prone to cracking and flaking off.

IMO BCA is not worth the money due to issues that have crossed my bench. Gas port is undersized or oversized (undergassed or overgassed and creates cycling/reliability issues), muzzle threads are not correct thread pitch, muzzle crown is messed up in some way, short/long headspace (can cause severe issues with the rifle, including kaboom), barrel extention is not properly installed, index pins that have fallen out or are installed in a way that it looks like somebody used a sledgehammer to install them, and the list goes on. If you want to trust your life to a bargain basement barrel, be my guest. But I won't ever use a BCA barrel. I'll run a KAK Industries value line barrel over a BCA barrel if I really need a barrel. I lean towards Faxon and Ballistic Advantage at the low end of the spectrum, and then I'll go up to Shilen, Lothar Walther, Bartlien, Lilja, and I forget the other one.

You want a safe and reliable AR, it'll cost you.

 

[trickg]

I lean towards Faxon and Ballistic Advantage at the low end of the spectrum, and then I'll go up to Shilen, Lothar Walther, Bartlien, Lilja, and I forget the other one.

You want a safe and reliable AR, it'll cost you.

The rifle in the pic above has a Faxon 16" HBAR, 1:7 twist barrel - so far we've had absolutely no issues with this rifle - it is accurate, and we have yet to have a malfunction in several hundred rounds.

Funny thing though - I didn't buy that barrel because of the brand. I bought that barrel because it was a Black Friday special for $99, but hey - sometimes we just get lucky, right?

I recently bought another barrel for a build and it's a Ballistic Advantage HBAR 16", 1:7 twist. Hopefully this one will be just as good.

 

[DaemonAssassin]

The rifle in the pic above has a Faxon 16" HBAR, 1:7 twist barrel - so far we've had absolutely no issues with this rifle - it is accurate, and we have yet to have a malfunction in several hundred rounds.



Funny thing though - I didn't buy that barrel because of the brand. I bought that barrel because it was a Black Friday special for $99, but hey - sometimes we just get lucky, right?



I recently bought another barrel for a build and it's a Ballistic Advantage HBAR 16", 1:7 twist. Hopefully this one will be just as good.

I really have nothing negative to say about Faxon barrels. As a matter of fact, I have a Faxon Match Series 300BLK 10.5 inch barrel on my SBR. It is a stupid accurate barrel. I also have a Faxon Match Series 308 Win 18 inch barrel on my AR-10, and it is stupid accurate, too. Both passed on my gauges, and I'm happy with them. I can say the same thing about Ballistic Advantage barrels, too.

All I was saying is that the lowest I'll go is a Faxon, BA, or KAK barrel because of my experiences with them being nothing but positive.

 

[DaemonAssassin]

I neve post a pic lets see if it works https://img.gg/h2dNYlD

nope newb get no priv

You need to use a link that ends with a image file extension like jpg, gif, etc...

 

[calicojack]

I've always used Midwest Industries and for budget builds I really like UTG Pros(made in USA). Very solid. Both in Mlok

Yes!

 

[trickg]

I really have nothing negative to say about Faxon barrels. As a matter of fact, I have a Faxon Match Series 300BLK 10.5 inch barrel on my SBR. It is a stupid accurate barrel. I also have a Faxon Match Series 308 Win 18 inch barrel on my AR-10, and it is stupid accurate, too. Both passed on my gauges, and I'm happy with them. I can say the same thing about Ballistic Advantage barrels, too.

All I was saying is that the lowest I'll go is a Faxon, BA, or KAK barrel because of my experiences with them being nothing but positive.

After doing some reading and research, I'm right there with you. I knew next to nothing about building an AR in its entirety until this last build, (prior to that I'd only ever put together "builds" with completed uppers) and in hindsight, after having researched things a bit more, I can't believe how fortunate I was to luck into a Faxon barrel.

From what I've read about certain bargain basement barrels, it can really be hit-or-miss. Tolerances are wonky and inconsistent, and accuracy can be a real issue. Of course take that with a grain of salt - I have very little personal experience regarding it except for this one build, so perhaps I just got very lucky that this gun both looks and shoots great.

I wanted to go with another Faxon barrel for the upcoming build I'm planning, but I found a better deal on a Ballistic Advantage. Those seem to review very well, and one guy I was chatting said to the effect, "I have built hundreds of ARs, and I use BA barrels a lot - they're a great bang for the buck."

Sorry - I know this thread is about finding a good handguard. I think it would be tough to go wrong with an Aero or Midwest Industries, or something like that. I have a Midwest Industries drop-in quad rail and I like it a lot. It snapped in, it's good and snug, and the quality seems pretty high for what it is - I can imagine that their free-floating handguards are going to be solid too.

 

[alucard0822]

NiB bolt carriers have tolerance issues, and the NiB coating is prone to cracking and flaking off.

IMO BCA is not worth the money due to issues that have crossed my bench. Gas port is undersized or oversized (undergassed or overgassed and creates cycling/reliability issues), muzzle threads are not correct thread pitch, muzzle crown is messed up in some way, short/long headspace (can cause severe issues with the rifle, including kaboom), barrel extention is not properly installed, index pins that have fallen out or are installed in a way that it looks like somebody used a sledgehammer to install them, and the list goes on. If you want to trust your life to a bargain basement barrel, be my guest. But I won't ever use a BCA barrel. I'll run a KAK Industries value line barrel over a BCA barrel if I really need a barrel. I lean towards Faxon and Ballistic Advantage at the low end of the spectrum, and then I'll go up to Shilen, Lothar Walther, Bartlien, Lilja, and I forget the other one.

You want a safe and reliable AR, it'll cost you.

I really have nothing negative to say about Faxon barrels. As a matter of fact, I have a Faxon Match Series 300BLK 10.5 inch barrel on my SBR. It is a stupid accurate barrel. I also have a Faxon Match Series 308 Win 18 inch barrel on my AR-10, and it is stupid accurate, too. Both passed on my gauges, and I'm happy with them. I can say the same thing about Ballistic Advantage barrels, too.

All I was saying is that the lowest I'll go is a Faxon, BA, or KAK barrel because of my experiences with them being nothing but positive.

I'll second this, basically mirrors my own experience, Faxon, KAK and BA are my 3 goto "budget" barrels also. I have built with a LOT of BA barrels, and they tend to run small gas ports especially on the Hanson series, and the LR308 barrels tend to have tight almost to barely min spec headspacing. Faxon are awesome, especially their gunner series, tend to be some of the best lightweight contour barrels around. Would also add Rainier Ultramatch to the list of awesome precision barrels, every single one has been well finished with excellent accuracy and reliability. Be sure to get the newer series with standard .750" gas block journals, their older barrels had a proprietary .800" or .875" gas block journals, but at least they included a Superlative arms adjustable gas block. Proof Research is my favorite "money is no object" barrel, groups are epic, and i'm a sucker for carbon fiber. BCA barrels flat out suck, have seen more have problems than not, even PSA isn't great, but at least they have better service and a warranty.

As for NiB BCGs, they require a better quality control to work, might get away with a cheap phosphate or nitride BCG, but a cheap NiB will flake or have spec problems. Good NiB BCGs from the better manufacturers can be fine, but even then they cost more and most all manufacturers ditched them in favor of Nitride, IMO it was a fad that has passed.

 

[jrumann59]

I'll second this, basically mirrors my own experience, Faxon, KAK and BA are my 3 goto "budget" barrels also. I have built with a LOT of BA barrels, and they tend to run small gas ports especially on the Hanson series, and the LR308 barrels tend to have tight almost to barely min spec headspacing. Faxon are awesome, especially their gunner series, tend to be some of the best lightweight contour barrels around. Would also add Rainier Ultramatch to the list of awesome precision barrels, every single one has been well finished with excellent accuracy and reliability. Be sure to get the newer series with standard .750" gas block journals, their older barrels had a proprietary .800" or .875" gas block journals, but at least they included a Superlative arms adjustable gas block. Proof Research is my favorite "money is no object" barrel, groups are epic, and i'm a sucker for carbon fiber. BCA barrels flat out suck, have seen more have problems than not, even PSA isn't great, but at least they have better service and a warranty.

As for NiB BCGs, they require a better quality control to work, might get away with a cheap phosphate or nitride BCG, but a cheap NiB will flake or have spec problems. Good NiB BCGs from the better manufacturers can be fine, but even then they cost more and most all manufacturers ditched them in favor of Nitride, IMO it was a fad that has passed.

A good NIB BCG goes north of $100. Most common NIB BCGs have tolerance issues on the bolt and lugs, basically they did not take into consideration the thickness of coating sending things out of spec. Also some manufacturers do a crappy job of coating the interior of the BCG. I have picked some up at gunshows and the area where the bolt rides feels like 80 grit sand paper. There are some good ones, Toolcraft makes a nice NIB BCG.

 

[RJRjr]

This is a 14" Midwest combat lightweight handguard with a 16" criterion hbar. Wanted the phosphate barrel but got tired of waiting for it to come back in stock. Only ar I have with a free float handguard.

 

[trickg]

A good NIB BCG goes north of $100. Most common NIB BCGs have tolerance issues on the bolt and lugs, basically they did not take into consideration the thickness of coating sending things out of spec. Also some manufacturers do a crappy job of coating the interior of the BCG. I have picked some up at gunshows and the area where the bolt rides feels like 80 grit sand paper. There are some good ones, Toolcraft makes a nice NIB BCG.

Toolcraft NiB BCGs are running $99 (unmarked) from PSA. That's what I bought for my upcoming build.

I hope I don't have issues with the plating - I don't know how much use these are going to get at the range, but I'll keep an eye on it.

The last BCG I bought was also from PSA, but I think it's their home-branded BGC, only I bought one that was unmarked, labeled simply as a "Premium NiB BCG." Does PSA make their own BGSs in house, or are they made by someone else?

 

[alucard0822]

A good NIB BCG goes north of $100. Most common NIB BCGs have tolerance issues on the bolt and lugs, basically they did not take into consideration the thickness of coating sending things out of spec. Also some manufacturers do a crappy job of coating the interior of the BCG. I have picked some up at gunshows and the area where the bolt rides feels like 80 grit sand paper. There are some good ones, Toolcraft makes a nice NIB BCG.

IMO Toolcraft and AO are the flat out bare minimum BCGs to use, they are great, in-spec, and spending less will give you problems. I would recommend nitride. The vast majority of their NiB bolts were done by a 3rd party, and can still have issues. For a Nib BCG to be good they have to compensate for the coating thickness, then coating wear. NiB BCGs might be really tight, then break in, or be OK when new and get loose over time. It's not as hard as Nitride or chrome either, so the coating can get scuffed easier too, all in all it was a fad that is over. Have a couple good NiB BCGs from Iron city Rifleworks and they have held up, but I didn't get too deep into the NiB craze before I saw problems, and then Nitride became the way to go.

DD and BCM are the way to go for a defensive build, JP or Radian for Precision, Taccom for 9mm. I do really like the Brownells/Toolcraft lightweight BCGs too for competition stuff, it's really light at 8.2oz with FA cuts, nitride steel, and $120.