carbon fiber handguard

wysongdog

wysongdog

Member
Has anyone used any of these carbon fiber handguards? Pro's cons? Which ones are better? I know they are fairly expensive. I was looking at the christenson arms one in the kings camo.
thanks Bryan
 
I had one on my Armalite upper... Really liked it in the Winter as it didn't seem as cold through my lightweight gloves...Mine had a small four sided rail right at the front where I attached a small SureFire light..It also had a quick mount sling stud that allowed me to attach my bipod, if needed..

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Heres the one I use, probably the least expensive in the industry and i think one of the best looking plus its super light weight.

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Look up Clark Customs, DPMS carbon fiber, Carbon Arms (spendy), PRI (very spendy), Lancer systems (spendy), and Loki Vented hand guards. Some are cheap, but the barrel nut sucks to put on and get off, and the spendy ones might be more then you want to spend. I went with JP modular which gets very cold in the winter compared to the carbon fiber, but the feel and strength of them are awesome.
 
I had a DPMS and now I'm getting an upper with the Clark Customs. Also look at Hiperform, you can use their own wrench on the barrel nut.
 
take a look at Armalite as well, might not be the lightest but it is a light composite and also has a true barrel nut it looks like. Plus its middle of the road price for a handguard and has slots for accessories.
 
Picked up the JP for being able to mount a bipod on it, for grip if wanted, close range sites at 45, it's a very modular tube to use. I eventually wan to compete in 3gun comps so that was another reason. It might get colder in the winter, but the ergonomics of it are awesome. Thanksgiving should be warm, but things are starting to frost over, and the snow will stay for good once a heavy dusting comes through.
 
Looks like a DPMS hand guard. They run $80, if I were you I'd go with the Hiperform. They are $100 and you can buy a barrel nut wrench for $10 and they are a lot easier to remove then the DPMS. I've heard many say that once they are put on they almost never come off without having to cut off the tube. Not speaking from experience, but that's what turned me off from those.
 
I just ordered an AP Customs tube from Midway today. It looks pretty sweet. I talked to Aaron, the owner of AP Customs and he seems to be a great guy - very informative.

This tube is not epoxied to the barrel nut. He uses a custom mount that I can not remember the term for. Basically this piece mates to a mil-spec barrel nut and then the tube is screwed to the mount. It is vented in 3 locations around the tube. You can also add rails to it for accessories.

I will do a quick review and take a few pictures of the mounting process when I install it.

Might be a couple weeks, I just sent my upper off to DTech for a big old diet...
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I finally got this project completed. WOW what a difference!

My rifle was 11lbs6oz when I started and it is now 9lbs5oz.

To reduce weight I added the JP Customs carbon fiber rifle length tube, an Ace Skeleton Stock(ARFX), and sent my upper to Mike Milli at Dedicated Technologies for fluting and re-profiling of the barrel. It is now .950 under the handguard and the original .920 after the gas block. It is sweet!

That being said I added a few things that added weight.
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My new scope is 4.5oz heavier, a Magpul MSA - MOE Sling Attachment at 3.2oz, a Badger Tac Latch 1oz heavier. All together new added weight is 8.7oz more.

If I had not added the new stuff, I would have been around 8lbs 6 oz. For a 20" RRA Varmint. That would have been pretty light. As it sits now, the gun feels so much better. It swings well and is perfectly balanced. Here are a few pics.

Tombo

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Looks good. I am working on a build right now and will be using an AP Customs handguard as well. Aaron is making a custom one for me - I am hoping to have it completed within the next couple weeks.
 
Do yourself a favor if you have a carbonfiber forearm.Put a nut and lockwasher on the slingstud.Was carring my ar10 yesterday and the sling threads pulled out of the handguard.Ar barrel full of mud.One mad coyote hunter.(Note to self keep gun cleaning kit in truck.)
 


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