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12/3/2008 12:52:06 PM EDT
I'm thinking of trying a Hogue free-float forend. It is a two-piece forend, so I assume it can be indexed. But, I don't see any sort of jam nut in any of the pictures. Is there a separate barrel nut with this system? Can you use a regular armorer's wrench to install it, or do you have to use a strap wrench? Thanks!

BTW, I e-mailed Hogue a couple days ago –– no reply yet.

12/3/2008 2:31:43 PM EDT
[#1]
I took one off an upper I had bought years ago, it was an absolute PITA. Strap wrench didn't work worth a damn. I ended up using some cut steel rod and a YHM barrel nut as a sort of spacer so that a standard barrel wrench would work.
12/3/2008 3:02:40 PM EDT
[#2]
You cannot index it.  You tighten down the barrel nut and forend with a strap wrench and where it stops and lines up with a hole that is where it stays.  Get the harder cloth type strap wrench made by Rigid, not those rubbery POS from Sears.  If you need more grip, which I doubt, use some rosin or throw a few wraps of masking tape around it.  I had one on a rifle for a while but decided it was not to my liking.  If you want a sling swivel you drill it out and put it in AFTER you have the forend locked down and gas tube/block installed.  They work but I really did not like it much and in less than a year moved up to something else.  IMO if money is a concern you might try the YHM line.  Much easier to index, locks up more solid, and is not that much more expensive.
12/3/2008 4:47:43 PM EDT
[#3]
Thanks for the replies.  The Hogue doesn't sound like the way I want to go.  What I REALLY want is LaRue –– got one on another build, and it's fabulous!  I was hoping to do a cheap and dirty build here but...  I was thinking of Yankee Hill.  One of the things I really like about LaRue is how compact they feel.  I just put ladders on it.  Anyway, thanks again.
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