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Arca rail handguards

garmil

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Feb 20, 2018
518
52
Washington
I see Geissele is making a handguard with a flat bottom and arca rail built in. Any others out there or coming that anyone knows of?
 

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Yeah there are a ton of attachments and add ons available. Curious about the built in type.
 
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I see Geissele is making a handguard with a flat bottom and arca rail built in. Any others out there or coming that anyone knows of?

I didn't know anyone had done this yet and I was wondering if it would happen. I have to get one of these for an upper I'm planning to build, thanks!
 
Not familiar with built in, but Henderson Precision and Area 419 offer high quality arca rails. Seen both and added 419 to a manners T4A recently.
 
Picked up a Geiseele MK18 on Black Friday. Very impressive handguard. Only downside is that the ID is tight. I have a Superlative set screw gas block in mine and it's tight on the top (gas tube area).
 
Picked up a Geiseele MK18 on Black Friday. Very impressive handguard. Only downside is that the ID is tight. I have a Superlative set screw gas block in mine and it's tight on the top (gas tube area).

I wonder if they'll make one for AR10s?
 
I messaged Seekins about doing an Arca integrated SP3R, especially a 17" one and they didn't seem interested. I think that one would be a great fit for it.

I just messaged them to see if they were planning on making an SP3R for DPMS high pattern AR10s...
 
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I called them a couple weeks ago about this and they said you may want pay attention to Shot Show.
Damn, figures I bought an SP3R too early. I messaged them several months ago and they didn't hint at anything coming down the pipe.
 
The problem with all the bolt on rails is that they aren't long enough. We're using 15" forends and the rails are in the 12-14" range. If you shoot off a tripod you want the rifle mounted over it's COG or as close to it as possible. Same with using barricade blocks. If you move the too-short rails back, you lose bipod length. Additionally for a gas gun you need an angled or ramped barricade stop so you're not jamming the curved mag into a barricade. IMO, the best solution out there is the Area 419, but it's still a couple inches too short
Precisely.
I would actually like to see a 17" rail for 15" handguards just to have the flexibility to run the bipod way out there when possible.
 
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@TonyTheTiger the brakes aren't bad. You do get some blast rearward bc of the way the ports are angled back but over all I like em. They're is very little movement on either of the two so I guess they do what they are intended to do. My only other comparison is the surefire procomp and the ultradyne feels alot better.
 
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I've emailed Seekins a couple times about AR10/DMPM handguards, they seem resistant to it, both times I basically got "We only sell fully built 308 rifles" which is really a shame. Same thing as they no longer sell their 308 upper/lowers. etc. Basically the only way you get any of their .308 goodies is buy the whole SP10, can't even get a built upper assembly. It will be interesting to see if seekins does something integral, or if they just offer thier new bolt on rail.

My guess is most companies are going to do non-integral rails, that way they can charge you $200 for the handguard and $150 for the rail plate (the profit margin on arca plate/rails has to be staggering) and I'd imagine the average AR owner is not going to want to be gripping a sharp arca rail so it's only market is guys that want to shoot just bipod/tripod. That said I do think we'll see more, Arca is taking over pretty fast now. Plus companies will love it because they get to sell everyone a whole new set of tripod heads, adapters for bipods, plates, rails, etc. Anytime there's a big standard shift like this in an industry/hobby, it's a huge cash cow.
 
If you find sales and have some patience the 308 17" jp handguard I got for 160 shipped and arca rail for 75 shipped. The rails just shipped bc they were back ordered but I was in no rush so it didn't bother me at all.
 
Picked up a Geiseele MK18 on Black Friday. Very impressive handguard. Only downside is that the ID is tight. I have a Superlative set screw gas block in mine and it's tight on the top (gas tube area).
What upper reciever did you put it on? Im wondering (besides JP) what another rigid upper receiver would be to pair with this rail... Vltor MUR-1s?
 
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Are you saying you think most upper receivers aren't as rigid as JP?

That video is where my question stems from. I'd say seekins and JP aren't the only one building more rigid uppers, just wondering if any other good uppers came to mind to build a "precision" upper on with that rail.
 
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If you find sales and have some patience the 308 17" jp handguard I got for 160 shipped and arca rail for 75 shipped. The rails just shipped bc they were back ordered but I was in no rush so it didn't bother me at all.

Was that direct from JP?
 
Was that direct from JP?
No it was both from brownells. I waited for a $10 off 75 coupon and snagged them then. The wait was about a month bc they order it from jp then send it to you. For comparison reason the left is the 15" XL and right is the 17" XXL length handguards.
 

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I think ARCA rails are the next big thing. I have one on my KAC ACC, and my GAP-10.
My last competition was the AxisWorks Long Range Challenge in Az. Several stages were tri-pod stages. Tri-pod off of rooftops, standing, seated, etc. the ARCA makes it SO EASY. You can leave your bi-pod on, and still attach to your tri-pod. Very fast, and super smooth. I don’t find them particularly uncomfortable to shoot with on my rail. I took a Dual Role Carbine Class with a Jack Leuba from KAC. We shot out to 850 on day one, and day 2 was 3yds to 25yds. I had my ARCA rail attached the entire time, no issues.
I personally use Henderson Precision on my gassers, and Sawtooth on my A.I.
All my bi-pod attachments are RRS (Really Right Stuff). They also work on picatinny rails for my rifles that don’t use ARCA (yet).
 
If you haven't seen it, Catalyst Arms introduced an Arca rail handguard right before SHOT show. It fits AR-15s and the Ruger RPR. It's design allows for the Arca rail to run the full length of the bottom of the handguard. M-LOK on the sides and bottom. The top is smooth for scope clearance, but is drilled and tapped for Pic rail sections that will be available soon. https://www.catalystarms.com/shop/rfv4c18hpob96zo4ngtlquvoh3oyv5
 

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If you haven't seen it, Catalyst Arms introduced an Arca rail handguard right before SHOT show. It fits AR-15s and the Ruger RPR. It's design allows for the Arca rail to run the full length of the bottom of the handguard. M-LOK on the sides and bottom. The top is smooth for scope clearance, but is drilled and tapped for Pic rail sections that will be available soon. https://www.catalystarms.com/shop/rfv4c18hpob96zo4ngtlquvoh3oyv5

Any plans on making one for a DPMS high profile pattern AR-10?
 
Sawtooth rifles has alot of options for keymod and mlok arcade rails.
It's best to reach out to them via Facebook or email/phone not everything is listed on their website
 
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Yes...it's going to be a while longer. We tried making a barrel nut that would work with the existing handguard, but it's not an ideal arrangement and would be too expensive. We're working on one from scratch.
 
I messaged Seekins about doing an Arca integrated SP3R, especially a 17" one and they didn't seem interested. I think that one would be a great fit for it.
Shame they never did that. They have that stupid proprietary stuff now. I hate hanging 10 ounce on a any rifle let alone a 556

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The SP3R with a Sawtooth rail is money. The SP3R in general rides a bag like a game changer incredibly well and you can put an Arca rail on every Mlok forend one way or another, but with the SP3R and the Sawtooth rail the forend fits the profile a lot better with the Sawtooth rail installed and IMO is better when you do have to shoot supported with your hand vs a arca plate mounted on a round forearm and sticking out. The the SP3R it's much more natural. I'd imagine the more flush sides probably do something when nestled down in a bag too, but that's my completely unscientific theory.

I have one of the Geissele rails on order from the black friday sale but who knows when I'll see that.
 
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I have the SPR3 flat bottom fore end and I also have Seekins MRAC/MRAC system. I like it a lot. I have used the flat bottom on rails and just gripped it with their rail and it feels good. I have felt Area 419’s rail and it hurts my hand when I grip it. I’d say if you want flat, then go with Seekins and their “arca” type rail.

Here’s my setup with an Atlas Bipod.

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Hope it's okay to chime in, just thought i'd point out that if you want a handguard with flat sides and bottom that has the arca rail integrared into the bottom, you might want to give our (Catalyst Arms) Fast Track a look. Because the rail is integrated it runs the full length which is nice. The products being referenced above are great stuff as well though. Definitely a buyer's market! (y)


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Hope it's okay to chime in, just thought i'd point out that if you want a handguard with flat sides and bottom that has the arca rail integrared into the bottom, you might want to give our (Catalyst Arms) Fast Track a look. Because the rail is integrated it runs the full length which is nice. The products being referenced above are great stuff as well though. Definitely a buyer's market! (y)


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That replaces the Seekins and dits the integrated triangular Mount?
 
That replaces the Seekins and dits the integrated triangular Mount?
Hi Deersniper, i'm not entirely sure what you mean...the Fast Track is a stand alone handguard with an integrated arca rail so you don't need to add anything to the bottom. The Fast Track comes with it's own barrel nut assembly, which is round. Does that answer your question? Thanks!
 
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