Tag: handguards

As many who read my blog know, I like Spike's Tactical. Granted, they've given me a lot of stuff - but it's all looked at with a critical eye, and I don't often find things to complain about. With the SAR rails, however, I did. Spike's sent me two SAR rails, a 12" and a 9". They're very light - the 9" weighs under 10 ounces - and I like the titanium barrel nut that makes installation very easy. They have 4 QD sockets for sling swivels, and the width… Read More

Standard disclaimer: I'm not a scientist and this was not a scientific test. Any conjecture on my part is purely an uneducated guess. As I've written before, POF-USA provided me with two of their upper receivers - one is of their standard P-415 design and the other is actually operated via a standard gas tube. It's called the RDIK. This gave me the opportunity to compare how each handled heat. That is, just how effective are all the design changes POF has made to the AR receiver, barrel nut, and… Read More

Heat is discussed fairly often on various internet forums, especially when two subjects come up: barrel profile and method of operation. We often see comments about how light barrels heat up too quickly. This is partially true - a lighter barrel will generally heat up faster than a heavy barrel. The "too" part is where the problem lies. Too fast for a machine gun barrel? Most likely. When you're putting out a sustained rate of fire that can reach several hundred rounds per minute, a light barrel is definitely unsatisfactory.… Read More

I've updated my earlier heat dissipation graphs with the KAC M4 RAS. This is the railed handguard used by the US military on Colt M4 carbines and similar weapons. I did not have rail covers on the handguard during this test, because I was also comparing it to some other railed handguards. Here are the handguard temps: And the barrel/gas block temps: Not only did the M4 RAS transmit less heat to the shooter's non-firing hand, it also allowed the barrel to cool faster than the plastic handguards. This is… Read More

This is an update to the earlier heat dissipation comparison between the single and double heat shield handguards. Today, I tested the Magpul MOE handguards using the same protocol: 28 rounds fired in a rapid manner, with temperature measurements at specific locations and time intervals. The MOE handguards have a single heat shield. By that, I mean a single heat shield. The "single heat shield" handguards have one heat shield in each of two handguard halves, and the double heat shield handguards have two heat shields in each of two… Read More

Heat shields. This is one of the items on "the chart" that a lot of people gloss over - especially if they want to replace the standard handguards with some sort of railed handguard. So, I don't expect this article to get a whole lot of attention. Also, please note that I am not a scientist and this is not meant to be a scientific test. However, I was frustrated with the progress of another project while at the range, and decided that a few mag dumps would raise my… Read More