AR Sponsor
Posted: 12/29/2008 10:10:05 AM EDT
| I have been skulking in the shadows for a while but this is my first post. I looking at upper receivers for my AR 15. I intend to put on a four rail forend or buy an upper receiver with one already installed. My question is about free floating it. I know that it may improve the accuracy. I am a pretty good shot but even without it the rifle would out shoot me. How hard is the installation and the maintanance? Is it as sturdy as a non free floated forend? I won't be using it like a club but I play a little hard sometimes and want to know if it will stand up without bending, twisting, etc. Thanks ahead of time for any advice. |
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It will hold up if you buy one of the top tier rails. Daniel Defense LITE is considered by most the rail system that all others are judged by. After using the LITE rail myself it's the only one I use, for free floating that is.
However, unless you're building a precision rig you don't need to free float. Buy a two piece non free float from Midwest Industries or Troy and save yourself a bunch of cash on the rail and tools you don't have to buy. |
| as saisd above unless your trying to ring out as much accuracy as possible from your AR you don't need a free float tube. I use a Surefire M73 which is rock solid but alot of people don't like them cause the upper rail doesn't line up with the toip rail on the receiver. Midwest Industries makes a great rail for $130, it's the MI #17 |
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Quoted:
as saisd above unless your trying to ring out as much accuracy as possible from your AR you don't need a free float tube. I use a Surefire M73 which is rock solid but alot of people don't like them cause the upper rail doesn't line up with the toip rail on the receiver. Midwest Industries makes a great rail for $130, it's the MI #17 +1 |
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There are alot of rails out there.
The Midwest Industries Design is nice and pretty affordable, I wanted a 13" or longer rail though so I went with Troy Industries 13.5". RRA also makes affordable rails. Larue and Daniel Defense make some too but are expensive. Take a look here: http://www.militarymorons.com/weapons/ar.uppers.html He provides reviews on tons of different rail systems. |
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Well first you need to understand that a free float, only allows you to mount optics in a forward position, so that your optic will maintain zero. It has nothing to do with providing accuracy to the ar it self.
Understanding that DD or Larue would be my pick. Sorry about that , yes you are all correct i just opened my mouth with out enough info. |
| It also keeps external forces from applying pressure on the bbl. Your hand at a different place than normal on the handguard, an extra tight wrap on your sling, the use of a bipod, etc, etc, etc, all reasons to free float which have nothing to do with mounting optics. |
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I doubt maintenance would be an issue unless you drive over it with a tank. Install is easy with the right tools. You need a block to hold the upper, a armorers wrench for the forearm you choose and a little wheel bearing grease for the threads. There are some free-float rails that are made to go on without all that fuss buy cutting off the delta ring and clamping on the factory barrel nut. I hope this helps. Keep up the skulking, it's amazing how much you can learn just checking out this site.
Good luck. |
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Quoted:
I have been skulking in the shadows for a while but this is my first post. I looking at upper receivers for my AR 15. I intend to put on a four rail forend or buy an upper receiver with one already installed. My question is about free floating it. I know that it may improve the accuracy. I am a pretty good shot but even without it the rifle would out shoot me. How hard is the installation and the maintanance? Is it as sturdy as a non free floated forend? I won't be using it like a club but I play a little hard sometimes and want to know if it will stand up without bending, twisting, etc. Thanks ahead of time for any advice. I hate it when people say the rifle will out shoot them. The rifle and you are two separate factors that add equally to the accuracy equation. If you can hold 2 moa and your rifle is a one moa gun you are going to have 3 moa groups. The more accurate the rifle the more accurate you will be. Pat |
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Well first you need to understand that a free float, only allows you to mount optics in a forward position, so that your optic will maintain zero. It has nothing to do with providing accuracy to the ar it self. this ain't true. a free float tube doesn't necessarily have a quad rail for you to mount optics on, although many of them do. free floating the bbl removes the standard handguard mounting system on an AR-15. the delta ring clamp set up restricts bbl harmonics. mounting the handguard to the upper receiver without contacting the bbl improves bbl harmonics, and thus provides a potential accuracy improvement. any accuracy improvement gained solely from free floating the bbl will be VERY slight and probably only noticeable by an experienced shooter hitting targets @ distances several hundred yds away. ETA: in my opinion: if you don't have a magnified scope, you don't NEED to free float. that said, i WANT a Larue Tactical 7.0 FF rail on my carbine and i don't have a magnified scope. the only things holding me back are the price & installation time. |
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Quoted:
I have been skulking in the shadows for a while but this is my first post. I looking at upper receivers for my AR 15. I intend to put on a four rail forend or buy an upper receiver with one already installed. My question is about free floating it. I know that it may improve the accuracy. I am a pretty good shot but even without it the rifle would out shoot me. How hard is the installation and the maintanance? Is it as sturdy as a non free floated forend? I won't be using it like a club but I play a little hard sometimes and want to know if it will stand up without bending, twisting, etc. Thanks ahead of time for any advice. I'm not trying to hijack your thread, but if the rails do not come apart how do you clean and oil the barrel to stop rust and corrosion? I've never fondled a free float rail before. If I'm already happy with my accuracy would non-FF have any obvious disadvantages? |
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Well first you need to understand that a free float, only allows you to mount optics in a forward position, so that your optic will maintain zero. It has nothing to do with providing accuracy to the ar it self.... Are you sure about that? Doesn't FF eliminate pressure points like bipods, slings and other influences on the barrel? |
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Quoted:
I have been skulking in the shadows for a while but this is my first post. I looking at upper receivers for my AR 15. I intend to put on a four rail forend or buy an upper receiver with one already installed. My question is about free floating it. I know that it may improve the accuracy. I am a pretty good shot but even without it the rifle would out shoot me. How hard is the installation and the maintanance? Is it as sturdy as a non free floated forend? I won't be using it like a club but I play a little hard sometimes and want to know if it will stand up without bending, twisting, etc. Thanks ahead of time for any advice. I'm not trying to hijack your thread, but if the rails do not come apart how do you clean and oil the barrel to stop rust and corrosion? well, i only clean the inside of my bbl and the part in front of the handguard any way I've never fondled a free float rail before. If I'm already happy with my accuracy would non-FF have any obvious disadvantages? not to my knowledge, but then again i've never owned an AR with a free floating fore-end |
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Well first you need to understand that a free float, only allows you to mount optics in a forward position, so that your optic will maintain zero. It has nothing to do with providing accuracy to the ar it self. Understanding that DD or Larue would be my pick. That's wrong. Almost all target/sniper/benchrest rifles are free-floated and it has alot to do with providing accuracy. |
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Quoted:
Well first you need to understand that a free float, only allows you to mount optics in a forward position, so that your optic will maintain zero. It has nothing to do with providing accuracy to the ar it self. Understanding that DD or Larue would be my pick. Wrong. |
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