AR Sponsor
Posted: 1/6/2016 10:18:04 AM EDT
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I am almost finished with my build, am waiting on a good price for the YHM Phantom Slant brake and I will be finished.
I am starting to create a new "build list" for some of the smaller accessories. I made a build list for the entire gun and it seemed to keep me on track pretty well and not over spend or "settle" for something I didnt intend on putting on the build. I have seen Handguard Endcaps, particularly the YHM (my rail is a carbine length keymod free float from YHM with a 16' Voodoo barrel.) I am using this gun for multiple purposes; home defense, coyote hunting, range fun. Am I correct in my assumption that end caps are, most importantly, for aesthetic purposes and then 2. for keeping debris out of the free float? Since I will be coyote hunting, I will be walking through woods and fields, but have sling mounts. I cant really picture myself dragging the barrel through weeds and sticks where it would risk getting debris in it. I guess my question, for more experienced coyote/small game hunters, have you come across a time where you were glad you had it capped, or you wish you wouldve? Or am I correct in thinking it is mainly aesthetic? |
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I've only seen pics of the inset YHM end cap and not in person. Does that cap make contact with the handguard when the rifle is fired? It looks extremely close, and I wonder how that clearance reacts during barrel harmonics. If there's any way they can touch, it kind of kills the reason to have an FF handguard. Anyway, I guess one reason I've never seen one in person is the fact that almost no one uses one. Seems like a part looking for an unnecessary application.
OP, on the walking in the field with your rifle in the brush and such, what kind of sling and rifle angle do you use when carrying your AR? I use a two-point sling. When the vegetation gets thick when I'm hunting, I just tighten the slider on my sling to pull the rifle up higher and tilt the barrel up higher at the same time. Hunting while walking in brush that high isn't usually very productive anyway...dead weeds/grasses crunching like pop corn. Also most handguards have lots of holes and openings anyway for all manner of grass and twigs to stick into. I'd just adjust my manner of carrying the rifle while in thick vegetation and leave the end cap idea on the table. As I'm sure you well know, the barrel is extending well past the open end of the handguard, and getting debris or brush stuck in the barrel while carrying it low is a bigger consideration. I don't find myself needing to be "at the ready" at all times, especially when making my way through thick vegetation. Sometimes I even go to slinging the rifle to my back for brief periods. People are different and conditions can be different, but this is what I do. |
| I have one, they don't touch the barrel (lots of space), and all they realty do is "finish" the free float look. They also have holes drilled all the way around to all one to feed a gas tube through them. So it's another thing that has to be indexed if you are using them that way. They wouldn't keep stuff from accumulating between the tube and the barrel at all. Most of YHM free floats have holes all over them anyway... so stuff is going to get in... like pieces of grass and sticks, but they will likely also fall out with a little shaking. |
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I built a 6,8 hunting AR and then added a Gatorgrip tube later. No end cap.
Working thru heavy brush means not shoving the barrel forward into it. First the float rings like a bell, second I'm trying to control the muzzle and my son was forward of me about 50 yards. I hold at a low ready and try to keep branches from hitting it - unsuccessfully. It's also the same temp as the great outdoors, which means gloves are mandatory in fall/early winter. I don't have any accessories on it, which basically makes it an expensive and useless mount. So, for the second build I just installed B5 polymer handguards on my 10.5" pistol and 1) they are warmer, 2) they are practically noiseless. Some would say to add ladder guards or whatever as they would net the same result, but they would be more expense and heavier, making it worse. Do you see a trend? I had no issues with the rifle handguards on the 6.8 the first two years. Freefloats aren't all that, and most importantly, they cannot make a barrel more accurate than it is. They only reduce the inaccuracy caused by putting too much pressure on the barrel with a sling or hand. And that varies with the optic and shooter. The problem is that we are wrapped up in a race over who has the prettiest tube and not what you get for the money. End cap? Sure - with B5 handguards to match and money saved. |
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Quoted:
I built a 6,8 hunting AR and then added a Gatorgrip tube later. No end cap. Working thru heavy brush means not shoving the barrel forward into it. First the float rings like a bell, second I'm trying to control the muzzle and my son was forward of me about 50 yards. I hold at a low ready and try to keep branches from hitting it - unsuccessfully. It's also the same temp as the great outdoors, which means gloves are mandatory in fall/early winter. I don't have any accessories on it, which basically makes it an expensive and useless mount. So, for the second build I just installed B5 polymer handguards on my 10.5" pistol and 1) they are warmer, 2) they are practically noiseless. Some would say to add ladder guards or whatever as they would net the same result, but they would be more expense and heavier, making it worse. Do you see a trend? I had no issues with the rifle handguards on the 6.8 the first two years. Freefloats aren't all that, and most importantly, they cannot make a barrel more accurate than it is. They only reduce the inaccuracy caused by putting too much pressure on the barrel with a sling or hand. And that varies with the optic and shooter. The problem is that we are wrapped up in a race over who has the prettiest tube and not what you get for the money. End cap? Sure - with B5 handguards to match and money saved. Oh man!...you missed the mark. It most definitely is all about "looking good". You cannot be tacticool with stupid plastic handguards. When I'm walking by myself in the bush, with no one around for miles and miles, I must look cool and menacing. C'mon...get with the program. 
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