Okay . . . I’ve been experimenting with a vertical foregrip and I’ve decided that I like it and that it’s worth adding to my gun permanently. I’ve also verified what I already knew that attaching it via a piece of rail attached to the standard handguard is a less then adequate solution for the long term. It was good for when I didn’t need a railed foreend , and I was just experimenting, but now I am past that stage.
So . . . I’m looking primarily at the Midwest Industries 2-piece free float forearm:
My primary criteria for selection (in no particular order) are:
[ul]
[li]Price and total cost of installation
[/li][li]freefloat
[/li][li]ease of installation (prefer not to remove the front sight base, etc.)
[/li][li]durability
[/li][/ul]
Am I going in the right direction to meet my needs? Should I consider others?
I looked at some 2-piece non-freefloat forearms that install just like the standard plastic handguards. Do they connect together to prevent the lower part from being pulled off of the rifle when using a foregrip, or are they just as likely to just pull away from the gun?
Hi Rino, I have the two piece Mctar-17 from Mid west Ind. non free float on my RRA carbine length rifle and it is great. It drops in just like your standard hand guards and locks up tight, no movement! And the lower half of the rail stays put with my Tango down battle grip attached. Concidering the price( around a 130 bucks on Bravo Co’s web site) its a good deal. I never tried their free float model on any of my rifles but concidering the quality of the one I have You wont go wrong either way.
I don’t have one yet, but one of my shooting buddies ordered an Omega recently. I like the look of it from pictures for sure. I plan on ordering one for one or two of my ARs as well so within the next month or so I should have hands-on with it.
Having nothing to go on at this time other than company reputation and pictures on the internet, the Omega gets my vote over the MI for sure.
Thanks for the feedback guys … I’ll take a gander that the Daniel Defense part, but I suspect the price will lure me back to the slightly less attractive MI.
I’ve been looking at the same thing recently. I had almost the exact same requirements as the original poster listed. I ordered a Daniel Defense Omega 7.0 rail system today after doing quite a bit of research. It was either that or the Knights Armament Company unit. Unfortunately the latter is more expensive and harder to find. The Daniel Defense units seem to be popular so I think I’ve made a good choice. Another nice thing about the Daniel Defense Omega rail is that the top rail is level with the flat top of the receiver and goes across and over the D-ring uninterupted.
I know it’s not popular to post concerns about cost here, but after looking at the two, I can’t justify the additional $75 ($240 for the DD Omega vs. $165 for the MI #20) to myself for the DD Omega (although it does seem to be a really good piece of gear). If it were going to affect reliability or some other critical element one way or another, $75 wouldn’t be a big deal. But in this case, it is to me.
The MI rail is heavy. Every ounce counts if you have to hold a hallway for a 1/2 hour, or hold someone at gunpoint for a long time. If you don’t envision that as being witihin the realm of possibility for your use of a rifle, then go with the MI and be happy. For me, I would gladly pay the $75 to shave a few ounces buecause I have had to hold someone at gunpoint for 45 minutes; it sucks.
Apparently the Daniel Defense rail is pretty light. Yet another reason why I went with that. I don’t point my gun at people for a living, but I planned this to be a weapon I could potentially use for any situation that might come up. Including home defense.
As it stands my Bushmaster has a very heavy configuration. I’m trying to make my Colt that I’ll be getting this week hopefully a much lighter, all business carbine with little in the way of fluff. I’m probably just going to add my optics, vertical forgrip, and a light and call it a day. My Bushmaster on the other hand has all kinds of crap on it and is very front heavy.
Looks like a three ounce difference from the respective manufacturer’s specs. The MI #20 is 11 oz. and the DD Omega is 8 oz. Losing the delta ring with the MI will probably save an ounce or two.
I just realized that the DD Omega comes with ladders to protect the rails and a sling mount built into it. That makes difference too … so the apparent price difference narrows.
I think the DD reputation is worth the extra cash. It might delay your purchase to save the extra $70, but I have found that it is worth it for quality stuff.
I can’t refute anything you said. You’re 100% right.
I’ll feel better about this when I am stroking my new Omega railed forearm, easily installed on my house gun. Then I won’t feel so good when the credit card bill arrives.
