I am upgrading to a new upper in the near future (doesn’t matter what brand). I am wanting to get a rail system that is 12 inches or longer. My question is: Do they make the rifle more…cumbersome or unwieldy? I don’t mind the extra weight at all, since I am planning on using a light-weight bbl (16 inch). My problem is, I just haven’t had a lot of contact/handling time with long-railed carbines, so I don’t know how they feel.
Also, I have been looking at the 13.8 inch Troy rails. Is that just too much? The 15 inchers seem ridiculous…but the Troy is really only an inch shorter.
Not necessarily more cumbersome, just the fact that there will be so much unused rail space for most shooters. The extra rail adds some weight, but not that much weight.
I see quite a bit of people recently drifting away from all rail, and moving towards less rail space.
Yeah, I wouldn’t mind the “tube” forend with rails towards the front. That’s what I have been leaning towards, actually. But it seems like a pain if you ever need to move those pieces of rail around. Maybe not.
A 12" rail is not too much no matter what. Assuming the barrel is appropriate for that size rail which would be 14.5" or longer.
Keep in mind it will give you all the room you need to mount your forward grip out as much as you need, light further out which minimizes shadow of the barrel, longer site radius, and more room to prop the gun up on a barricade on the rail instead of the barrel. Propping a barrel up on a barricade can cause shift issues since the pressure the gun and shooter is causing the barrel to flex up.
AL is really light as a metal, and depending on the model/length you can have a lighter gun with a longer rail than a gun with a shorter rail but with a traditional FSB.
I switched from having carbine length plastic handguards on my two previous ARs to the Troy 13.8 on my BCM middy build. I have a BFH gov profile barrel, and it weighs about 10 lbs with a loaded mag and an Aimpoint ML3 in a LaRue cantilever mount (not pictured). It isn’t overly heavy. The longer rail allows me to run my support hand closer to the muzzle, maximizing control. It also gives me a longer sight radius and it gets my flashlight closer to the end of the barrel, minimizing shadow. I am to the point now that when I pick up another rifle I feel cramped not being able to extend my support side arm, and I am a very average sized shooter. I don’t see how these 6 foot+ tall guys can run a midlength with a FSB. Only downside is that the balance of the rifle shifts towards the front, but if its that big of a problem the shooter should probably hit the weights anyways.
In my opinion, yes. If you look at guys that actually train for and do CQB, most of them that I’ve interacted with prefer a shorty upper, usually 10" bbl with about a 9" rail system. While that’s not necessary for normal civilian shooting, I do prefer my personal ARs to be light and handy. I have found a 9" rail to be perfect for me. Plenty of rail space, most of which I don’t even use, and a handy balanced carbine.
Thank you, gents. You mentioned tall shooters feeling cramped. That’s me. I am at about 6 foot 3. I have been running carbine length forends for a while now…I’ve had enough. I love shooting dad’s A2, because I can grab way up by the FSB…much more comfortable and controlling.
BTW that BCM is exactly what I had in mind…thanks for posting the pic.
Longer rail, longer sight radius. To me there is no point in having a barrel sticking out 4 to 6 inches past the end of the forearm assembly. That is wasted space for a longer sight radius. But to each their own.
A mid-length gas system with a FSB has about the same sight radius as a 12" rail with a folding front sight FYI. The sight radius might be an inch longer, but I doubt it.
A fixed FSB is a different issue. It goes where it goes based on length of gas system. But if we are talking all rail and low profile gasblock, then I see no point to 6 inches of barrel and a 6 in rail assembly. Seems like a waste. But to each their own.
While the extra weight out front does effect the center of mass (and therefore balance), I wouldn’t describe it as cumbersome at all.
Being able to run my support hand farther out offsets any of the minor disadvantage of the slight weight increase. My grip naturally falls right behind my DD fixed sight.
Yeah. I’m 6’4", and I run a “Rifle Length” hand-guard on my carbine length gun (low profile gas block) so that I can reach out and control the muzzle much better. This is on my 3-Gun Carbine, so it’s not a SHTF gun. There’s no irons on it. Optic only.
I know adding weight to compensate for weight is kinda frowned upon, but for the x amount that another inch or two of rail adds wouldn’t it be easily counterbalanced by an equally small amount of weight added aft?
Like a battery sized slug of lead in a stock’s battery compartment or a small piece to fit in the very rear of a standard stock’s cleaning kit pocket. Not one of those big fill the whole cavity things, just a small amount molded in a foil die for a tailored fit.
If balanced properly it would ‘feel’ light due to that balance, or at least shouldn’t be as hard to sweep as an old muzzle loader with all its weight way out there —>
If that in turn allows for a better grip and/or longer sight radius, then perhaps it might be worth it?
'Course if that was really a bad plan, and the weight out at the nose was bothersome enough, I suppose one could always resort to that old tried and true method: extra holes.
The 15" TRX Extreme may be a good choice for you. Or the Midwest industries SS15". Allows you to get a longer sight radius and grip further out the rail. Do you have long arms? If so you will love the SS15". I’ve used it and I did.
The Troy TRX Extreme is not heavy at all. It is significantly less in the 13" variety than other 12" quad rail systems including DD. DD also has a nice looking similar type of system but I have not used one or weighed one yet.
Light is better in my opinion for a carbine but a long but light system like the TRX Extreme and similar systems don’t add more weight than shorter systems of other types.
I prefer to run a light forward of the front sight at 12 or 9 o’clock so on a carbine length with a fixed FSB I like a notched FSP cutout type of rail. Without a fixed FSB I actually like about 13" of rail to push my hand slightly further out while keeping a 12 o’clock light position. For my style / arm length on a carbine I really don’t need a rail beyond 13" in length.
On my SBR I like a 9" rail cutout for the FSP to keep a bit more extension on the carbine length set up. But on this set up, I adjust the overall length of pull via the stock position.
I don’t think rails - or quality rails rather - really add that much more weight. It’s usually a matter of a couple ounces between a 9" and 12-15" rail.
If you really wanted to shave a decent amount of weight - go with a lightweight barrel. Or have your barrel dimpled. There’s a lot of advantages to a longer rail. I’ll always try and have as much barrel covered as possible - and we can’t own SBRs here in MI.
Most people I hear complain about long rails being front heavy generally have 9 million XTM panels hung on their rail. With a nice rail - It’s really not needed since the corners are well rounded.
I think the Troy TRX is considered such a ligthweight rig over something like a DD quad rail is because the Troy will NOT allow users to hang rail covers.
But you can always add a heavier stock - I.E. EMOD or UBR or SOPMOD.
