i have a noveske 14.5 on the way and i want to get a dd lite rail the mount the thing. question is, how far does the 9 and 10 inch models extend? my guess is that the 9 stops just short of the gas block and the 10 goes just beyond the gas block? does anyone have any pictures of their 9 and 10 inch lite rails with noveske 14.5 and a vltor low profile gas block?
I’m in the same boat as you. But realized that i’m going with a 10".
I just saw my buddies 14.5" AR with the VLTOR gas block and 10" DD M4 Rail. You see maybe a 1/4" of the gas block. He said that he had put a 9" on there and it stopped before the gas block.
a 9 will cover or at least mostly cover, a 10 will completely cover. carbine gas systems are 7"… the gas port is 7.5" from the receiver face and low-pro blocks are about 1" long.
Are low profile gas blocks different lengths? And what is the difference with the clamp and set screw gas blocks? Just personal preference?
they’re basically all the same size- an FSB block is naturally longer than the vltor/noveske types, and there’s some other brands that fluctuate a bit.
set screwed block is less likely to rotate than clamp… it could be argued two-screw clamp types are less likely to go out from losing a screw. if you use loctite and it’s completely covered, you’re probably not gonna have any problems with either. pinned is always best, though.
Gotcha. Thats what I figured w/ the set screw/clamp gas block, but wanted to make sure I was thinking right.
Does the barrel have to have the “dimples” in order for the set screws to work?
No, you could use cup tip set screws. But dimples work better in conjunction with cup tips or blunt set screws. A pin and a set screw is even more secure.
OP,
I knew I saw some pics of a 10" rail and Afghan barrel somewhere. They aren’t DD rails, but they give you an idea of how it will look.
http://m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=7077
check out post #22
The 9" will come up just behind the gas block. The 10" will cover most of the gas block.
Here’s a closeup of a 10 DD Lite rail on a carbine length gas system, If you look closely enough you can barely see the gas block tucked up in there.
What is the difference in distance between the carbine and midlength gas ports?
the noveske 14.5 has a mid length gas block
KAC and i think a couple others have their own odd mid-length, otherwise 2"… most middys are 9" with a gas port at 9.5"- i cant speak for noveske, i havent used their middy, but i imagine its the same.
is the OP’s noveske a barrel or a complete upper? only their stainless N4’s are midlength… the N4Ls are carbine.
First we need to know which barrel he has. If it’s a carbine length both the 9 and the 10 will completely cover the block. If it’s a middy the 9 will come up to the gas block with a 10 you will cover most of the block, if not all of it.
it is the 14.5 afghan with the bead blasted finish with the mid length gas system
gotcha- then you’re gonna want a 10" or 11" rail. a 10 will probably cover almost all of the gas block, an 11" definately will. larue is the only 11" rail that i’m aware of, i own one, i love it. would look fuckin great on that barrel, too.
im actually impartial to part of the gas block stick out i think it would look better… my only debate is that if i choose to get a piston system later on, i would either need to take a hacksaw to the first inch of the 10 or get a 9…
i’ve never used piston, so i’m useless there. are there no piston systems that fit entirely under handguards?
i do know that some rails leave more room than others, and probably some pistons are more compact that others. do some research on that specifically, if you havent already.
i’m personally not all that big on retrofits… screwing/unscrewing, banging pins in and out, etc., does extra wear on the parts messed with… if i had any intentions on building a piston i’d do it right at the start, or just build an entire seperate piston gun later. thats just my opinion, though. some guys “tinker” and take their guns apart and change shit and so forth all the time.
What is everyone’s preference? The Omega rail or DD Lite? Why?