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Posted: 11/1/2013 8:12:07 AM EDT
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I've been hearing pretty good things about the new UTG Pro free-float rail systems; thought I'd give it a try. But I'm getting some conflicting information about the construction of the thing and I was hoping someone who owns one could clear it up for me.
I'm looking at the 13" rifle-length handguard to put over a carbine-length gas system. I've heard two things that give me pause: 1) the receiver end of the handguard has just a hole for the gas tube, necessitating having the handguard installed before the gas system is assembled. 2) the internal channel that accommodates a low-profile gas block only extends a few inches from the front of the handguard and the rest of the channel is only wide enough to fit a gas tube. Either of these two would make this a no-go on a carbine-length gas system. And yeah it's only $100 to try, but I'd rather not deal with the return headaches. Could someone who owns one of these set me straight? |
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I'm a little confused by what you're asking.
13" is technically more than rifle length, it will cover the gas block area of all length gas systems. The barrel nut assembly goes on the gun first, next the gas block(low-profile) with tube is installed. Then the handguard slides over, and is tightened down. Carbine, mid, or rifle length gas system won't make a difference, they will all work with the 13": Also, take a look at their new Super Slim Handguards, I just posted a review. I now own two I like them so much--even replaced Troy Alpha rails with them). Link to installation manual 
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Quoted:
I've been hearing pretty good things about the new UTG Pro free-float rail systems; thought I'd give it a try. But I'm getting some conflicting information about the construction of the thing and I was hoping someone who owns one could clear it up for me. I'm looking at the 13" rifle-length handguard to put over a carbine-length gas system. I've heard two things that give me pause: 1) the receiver end of the handguard has just a hole for the gas tube, necessitating having the handguard installed before the gas system is assembled. 2) the internal channel that accommodates a low-profile gas block only extends a few inches from the front of the handguard and the rest of the channel is only wide enough to fit a gas tube. Either of these two would make this a no-go on a carbine-length gas system. And yeah it's only $100 to try, but I'd rather not deal with the return headaches. Could someone who owns one of these set me straight? 1. The hole is in the barrel nut, not the actual rail. That always goes on before the gas system. 2. Just about every tube style hand guard is impact extruded, and will have pretty uniform interior contours. It would add complexity, weight and cost to do what you described, for no apparent benefit. I would not hesitate to order one based on your concerns. |
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You raise an excellent point about 13" handguards covering any rifle-length gas system. I suppose that covers point number one. Their installation manual (along with another post on The Internet - so it must be true) is what was partly causing my confusion. They explicitly install the gas system after installing the handguard.
Confusion point number two was also caused by another post on The Internet stating that their UTG Pro handguard gas system channel was wide enough to fit a gas block only for the first few inches of the handguard; the rest of the way, it was only large enough for a gas tube. Yeah, I saw your review. Very informative. It's a shame that UTG has lost pretty much all arfcom goodwill with their old Chinese-manufactured parts. It seems like they really turned their quality around, but that reputation is hard to shake. |
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