Gents I need your advice and opinions to save myself time and money of going the wrong route. I’m looking to build a light weight upper (partially out of spare parts / extra parts along with new) and need advice on the rail / upper combination.
Here is what I have so far:
(Hodge podge of parts - I know)
DD 14.5" LW CHF 1/7 barrel
VLTOR .625 low profile setscrew GB
Carbine gas tube
BCM bolt carrier
BCM extractor spring upgrade kit
POF roller cam kit
Fail zero bolt
LMT firing pin
KNS perma pin
McFarland one peice gas ring
BCM Gunfighter Mod 4 (medium)
I need feedback on what upper / rail to run.
I’m leaning towards a VTAC extreme or Troy extreme in 11" - but at the same time I would not mind a DD Lite rail in 10" as I have a 16" upper I built with a 12". I just wish DD would bring the side rails about .2" closer in and bring the bottom rail about .4" closer in - that would be my perfect rail. Or should I get something like Mega’s monolithic tubular upper and save myself having to mate the two together. I just hate that they machined the back portion which mates to the lower with their own contour rather than that of most every other lower on the market… But I digress… I need a push in the right direction. I do plan on attaching a Micro T1 and a 3V Surefire light to this upper and it will serve as training / HD so help me make sure it is GTG.
I just finished a build with a vltor mur upper and a 24" hvy barrel cut to 18". I went with the troy 13" extreme to reduce the weight but was really surprised by how great it felt due to it’s smaller diameter. It lined up perfectly with my upper and is very solid. If you want to use the rail segments put them on before you install the rail (like the directions say). Installing them later takes the skill and patience of a surgeon (don’t ask me how I know).
I’m working on something similar to yours. I’m waiting on the DD barrel. Mine will be
[ul]
[li]DD 14.5" LW barrel
[/li][li]FH/Brake (testing PWS, Ranier, and AAC against one another)
[/li][li].625 gas block shaved/cut down to one-pin mounting
[/li][li]Troy 9.0 Extreme FF tube (lighter than the VTAC version)
[/li][li]DD BCG
[/li][li]DD stripped flattop upper
[/li][/ul]
Thanks Rob And Rugerdawg - I end up in ordering the 9" VTAC, while I know it is not as light as the Troy, it is more apealing to me. I’ll have to post up some pics of the build to reward folks for their comments.
hmmm… having second thoughts about my 9" rail. I may end up buying the 11" version and putting the 9" up for sale. I’m just so used to the 16" upper with the 12" DD Lite rail that gripping the 9" all the way at the front still seems a little short for me.
Also - I can’t beleive the barrel nut is aluminum. What the hell is this? I found that out when I went to torque the barrel nut and around 50 ft/lbs my wrench slipped off the nut even though I beleive I was doing a good job of keeping it squared up. I figured i must have goofed and tried again and almost immediately it slipped off again. I take a closer look and I have little pieces of aluminum on my workbench, I discover the teeth are missing little chunks, and I’m staring in amazement as I realise the freaking barrel nut is made of aluminum. Luckily for me the nut was 97% lined up, so a few minutes with a round, pencil sized file removed a little material from the offending tooth on the nut to allow for proper gas tube alignment. I’m also not impressed with how the rail tightens over the nut, and the little void machined in between the “clamp” portion at the back of the rail. I think there are about 10 ways this could have been made better yet still allow the rail install options to index the rail properly and fasten it more securely.
rob_s that made me laugh… I think it would be easier to include the new hardware vs. trying to cut out the weld on the flash hider unpin it, remove it, and then unpin the gas block to get to the FUBAR barrel nut. At least for the time being the rail covers my FUBAR barrel nut.
I got my 11" Vtac version in yesterday. It us going to replace the 12" DD Lite rail on my middy Recce upper. Now that I know the nut is AL I took my time and came up with a trick to help folks installing this rail sans the wrench Troy includes with their version. Take a sheet of paper, fold it in half twice, wrap it around the barrel nut teeth, then wiggle the barrel wrench on there until it is flush and nice and tight. I did this yeasterday on my second install and it came out perfect. Now Rob_s can’t hurt my feelings about my FUBAR’d nuts. (I only have one messed up nut) Anyways just wanted to pass this along to save other folks the hassel of finding out on their own.
At least for the time being the rail covers my FUBAR barrel nut.