thoughts on ff rails for this ultra budget recce mod of a2 carbine

I have a dpms a2 carbine, and I'm actually happy with it, shooting about 3 moa with wwb, excluding the occasional flyer, with either the a2 irons (RIBZ'd @ 50/250) or cheap red dot setup (trs 25 with 2.5x mag in front) but I think it's me, and the rifle (hbar 1/9) could probably shoot better than my eyes and shaky hold.

I want to upgrade it, but keep it revertable to stock, so rather than get another upper when I'm OK with this 16" barrel, and the high sights are OK, (I do a chin type weld), I think I need rails as a first step.

Long 11" type rails are out, as I"d need to cut down the fsb, and I have no need for rail gadgets, so it looks like carbine rails. FF seems the way to go, why not get a 1/2 MOA? So, do I go with 7" UTG pro, or MI Gen 2 free float rails? or are there better alternatives in this budget range?

I have no intentions of adding things like cans, night vision, etc, so I don't need rail space, in fact the round tubes and barrel just sticking out looks kind of cool, but a bit odd when there is no cap/cover like what YHM offers, while still maintaining free float.

Now I realize that many are giggling about the "recce" part in my subject, and I'm laughing with you on it, but my next wishful upgrade would really be optics, like a DR Spector, more than say a ss 1/7 barrel. But here's really what I want - more accuracy and reliability than an M4, and not as long and heavy as a Mk12. 16" barrels are good IMHO, and ff sounds good.

I like 1:9 because I shoot budget ammo 55gr a lot, and expect to continue that.

Or should I just get the UTG or MI drop ins, live with 1/2 MOA non ff benefit, and save for a 2nd upper?

Would be interested in all of your thoughts on this first step of rail upgrades. I realize I'll have to dremel off the delta cap, but I will get a spare, so I can always revert the rifle back to factory stock.

If the two choices are utg and mi then i would go with mi. You will see an improvement free floating that barrel. But i would not expect 1/2 moa.

Dude, this is kind of a mess. To boil it down, though:

You have an A2 carbine that you say you are happy with. Embrace that. You say you have no need for rail gadgets, so don't get a rail. There's no need to be throwing out buzzwords like "recce" and talking about putting a Spectre DR on top of a fixed carry handle. If you want to do that stuff, get a second upper. Until then, realize what you have and what it is good for and drive on.

I can show you what my answer was:

Now imagine that on an upper with a fixed carry handle.

Slap on a fixed front sight.

You are trying to make that rifle something it's not. A high priced optic isn't going to magically make you a better shooter. Cool gadgets on a rifle ain't going to shoot a gnats ass off at 100m. A good barrel, good trigger, and good ammo will do that. A DPMS barrel with bulk 55g ammo won't. Keep it stock, and use the money to start building another rifle, or buy more ammo.

ETA: Oh, and calling it a recce rifle doesn't change the fact that is an M4 carbine. Call it what it is.

Any regrets on chopping off the fixed FSB? I take it you probably considered a new upper, or at least barrel before cutting, right?

Any noted accuracy from the FF rails? Did you go for the long rails for looks or function? or both?

Thanks.

Sure, there are regrets when you do something you can't take back; however, I like the functionality of this set up much better.

The reason I went with this is I bought a 1-4, got it zeroed off the bench, but when I went prone my group moved up about 6" at 100 yards.

Did some research, and found out about barrel pressure points effecting accuracy, so I started looking into free-floating my barrel. I was going to go with a 2 piece drop in, but the cost of getting one that is a true free float was out of the question, so I started looking at other options.

I like the Samson first because it isn't a quad rail. I don't need all that rail space, but can add what I want/need to this one. It is also pretty light weight, so that is an added bonus. It also attaches to the stock barrel nut, so I didn't need to buy any tools to do this job.

Accuracy so far is normal for me, but it is more consistent.

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