hi,i’m Mike, somewhat AR ignorant so…I have a Delton Sport m4 carbine and have a question about sights. I am shooting iron sights on my rifle,the factory a2 sight and a fixed UTG rear sight. This isn’t a bench rest rifle,i mostly shoot it offhand and do not want to use or rely on an optic but would like to improve sight system by extending sight radius. I did so in the past with my Model 94 Winchester…going from the barrel mounted rear iron sights to a Lyman tang sight(extending sight radius) made a marked improvement in accuracy with that rig. So i’m thinking the best way to do the same with the AR is to change the front sight/gas block to a low profile and change handguards to a long one with a rail mounted front sight out at the far end. Looks like i have room for a 12" handguard. So first is this another of my crazy ideas and if not can somebody recommend a Middle of the road handguard to buy and install for this purpose…Mike
Here you go:
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?172494-Midwest-Industries-New-Generation-Three-Handguard-Line
Can’t go wrong with MI, Seekins, Samson, Odin works for a high quality rail at a reasonable price. If you’re Military, MI offers a nice discount and you can order direct from their site. They offer a true FF drop-in rail so you wouldn’t have to replace your factory Barrel Nut.
https://www.midwestindustriesinc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_ID=422
You could shave your FSB and use one of these https://troyind.com/products/m-lok-556-aluminum-13-blk
If you want to support a company who hires women and children killers…then yes, buy Troy products.
If that is how you feel perhaps you should boycott this site, Troy is, after all, a supporting vender/manufacturer.
I’ll take their money, but I’m not giving them mine. 
Maybe you should boycott BCM for selling their products and re labeling Troy sights. How about Colt? They sell thousands of weapons to the agency that ordered the killing of women and children. I get tired of the bashing.
thanks for the responses. I learned some things. I bought my rifle new off the rack(not a build) so don’t have a reciever block or barrel nut wrench so looks like i would be better off using a handguard set up to use with existing barrel nut and they are out there, i’ll need to remove muzzle brake and either shave existing A2 gas block sight or change/ install to low profile gas block. Dumb question #1 if i chose to shave existing gas block would that be done with it installed to barrel or will i need to remove it? If I need to remove it should i just go ahead and replace w low profile one? If i replace it how difficult is it to make sure i have the gas ports properly indexed?BTW when you get tired of my questions just tell me to beat it, don’t want to be a PITA…Mike
It’s not hard to do. You will need a vice, vice block for upper, barrel nut wrench (which should include FH wrench) and a set of punches to remove pins on FSB. I also went ahead and put on a new crush washer when reinstalling the flash hider.
I marked the center of barrel and center on low profile gas block with pencil and lined up. It was pretty simple if you have some mechanical skills and can pay attention to detail. YMMV
If your going the MI route, test fire before putting the supplied “goop” on the handguard. It’ll be easier to remove if you need to make adjustments.
I’ve read that it’s better to have a pinned gas block though. If I were to shave one, I would remove it first (you’re going to have to anyway to get the new barrel nut on) and put it in a vice and grind it down with a dremmel.
One thing to watch out for, the pins in the FSB only go in and out one way. IIRC
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Zoner,
You can shave your FSP down without removing it from the barrel. If you plan on using your existing barrel nut for the appropriate hand guard that will work with it, then all you will need for the job is a Dremel set, a decent AR armorers tool, and maybe a set of pliers. You will have to Dremel the delta ring, weld spring, and the hand guard cap away. You will also trim the bayonet lug and sling swivel ears away (after you remove the swivel itself). It is a good idea to have the AR black touch up pen (Birchwood Casey).
It isn’t a hard job at all if you have any skill at all with tools and you have the right ones. There are multiple Youtube videos you can refer to for visuals. I say get some tools and do it. The right tools are going to come in handy when you start building your own AR’s…and you probably will someday. :o
Also…you aren’t confined to a 12" hand guard. You can go all the way out to a 15" hand guard if you so desired (assuming your Del Ton has a 16" barrel)…for optimal sight radius.
thanks again for the help. I’m not a newbie with tools,just retired from 38.5yrs of doing carpentry and related repairs for some of the most destructive folks that exist(public school teachers,administrators,students,parents,etc)…nuff said. Upon inspection it LOOKS like i could do the shave job with unit installed…since i hope to use a handguard that works with existing barrel nut, it would save me from removing and reinstalling the gas block…just thinking out loud. i won’t do anything till i’ve made a handguard choice and got everything i need. Right now i’m considering a MI handguard recommended above,and we have a local forum here(calguns.net) that folks use buying and selling ar parts and accessories that i might be able to find a good deal on…Mike
Bear in mind that most free-float handguards use a proprietary barrel nut that is specific to that handguard. I would suggest to have someone break your barrel down if you are not able to do it yourself. The FH will have to come off as well. Buy the handguard you want, a new low profile gas block, and re-assemble. Take a look at Midwest Industries new Gen3 handguard.
I know you’d rather not have to take it apart but I’d suggest buying the tools, they’re very nice to have around. I agree with others, the new MI looks great. You can fit a 15" handguard on a 16" barrel no problem, although not everyone likes the look. When I replaced carbine length MOE handguard/A2 FSB with MI 12" Gen2SS, lopro gas block, front MBUS, and grip panels I reduced weight significantly. Between that and the longer sight radius you should really enjoy it. You might also try a smaller front sight post, I’ve found that it helps for me.
After sleeping on this i decided i’ll gather up the stuff i need and use my resources…i have a couple friends that built their rifles and I belong to a pretty big shooting club…i think i can get somebody to help me out switching out a barrel nut. Front sight base needs to come off so i will go ahead and shave it down and see how that works out, if it doesn’t i’ll pick up a low profile gas block and use that…thanks for info and ideas…Mike