I’ve generally been happy with the MOE handguard on my carbine, but I’m tempted to try a drop-in quadrail to make it easier to mount a light, VFG and sling point. I do not want a FF rail on this one; if I did, I’d go with an Omega and be done with it.
I’d like to find one that’s slimmer than it is tall. Suggestions on what ones to consider? It’s hard to tell the cross-section of most rails from the photos I can find. Most of the compilation threads I’ve found have been for freefloats.
The only one I’ve found so far that definitely is narrow is the Ergo Z Rail drop-in. There have to be others, right?
Any particular reason you don’t want a free float? Because the Omega is a drop in and it fits all your other criteria perfectly. It’s also one of the lightest available, which is a huge plus.
If you don’t want an Omega, why not just get the new MOE 4 piece light mounting kit and the new MVG foregrip designed for the MOE HG’s? Add a Daniel Defense QD sling point and you’re set for a lot less $$$ than a new rail!
Omega is a little pricey for me right now but I might still end up with one.
That’s basically what I’m doing with the MOE (with an HK hook loop instead of a QD and a custom stubby VFG used as a handstop instead of a MVG), I just want to consider alternatives.
I like the MOE, but I keep coming back to the feel of my A2 corncobs - so I wonder if I should try a rail.
The Troy DI is a little narrower that it is tall. Sucker locks up tight as well. I went with it over the KAC because the Troy has swivel sockets front and rear on both sides.
The DD EZ was one of the first ones I considered, but I’ve heard from a few places that they’re not oval or are just barely. Does anyone here have one that can comment?
QD sockets are not a selling point for me - I use HK and MASH hooks.
How pronounced of an oval shape are you looking for? Drop in rail widths are pretty limited I believe, compared to FF rails.
The height of any rail will be locked in at the height of the upper receiver. This only leaves room for variations in the width of the side rails and lower rail. With drop-in rails, width wise, you really cant get any thinner than the diameter of the D-ring. There’s a little working room there for variation.
This leaves the lower rail and how far it can hang down.
The KAC RAS I have measures 2.29” high, rail outer surface to outer surface. Width comes in at 2.18”, rail outer surface to outer surface.
For quality verses price, I think these RAS Seconds are a hard deal to beat, and they would be my recommendation. I’m glad I was alerted to them when I was shopping for a new, better quality rail system.
I think your best bet is going to be the Ergo Z Rail. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the dimensions for it, but if you look at this thread over at Weapon Evolution, you can see it has a very, very oval profile, much more so than any of the other systems (except for the DD Omega, which I still think you should strongly consider). According to this thread, the Ergo rail has the same dimensions as the Omega.
Here’s some info I gathered on the net about the widths of other rails to help you decide:
