When choosing a firearm, my first question is always “What am I going to do with it?” Sometimes it’s just a plinker while other times I’m buying or building a gun for a very specific purpose. Most of the time, I can’t leave anything alone on a new rifle and the first thing I’m looking to swap is the forearm. Almost every rifle can benefit from it but in today’s world full of multi-colored, low grade keymod and gadgets galore to attach, one must use discretion and do a little research when getting ready to make this jump. All that glitters isn’t gold.
Why Change?
OEM handguards are designed to do several things like protecting the shooter’s hands from hot gas tubes, moving pistons, and steamy barrels. They also can provide a platform to mount traditional accessories such as bipods and slings as well as more modern additions like barricade supports, handstops, and flashlights. Folks can also change up their forearms is to provide a free-floating barrel for increased accuracy and better cooling. By holding the barrel at the receiver and not multiple points along the length of the barrel, you are allowing the barrel to not only breathe better, but also to a clear path for barrel whip and harmonics to do their thing. It’s an easy way to increase the performance of your gun and open a ton of options for mounting your tactical goodies.
What Should I Be Looking For?
The simple answer is the best quality you can possibly find that won’t break your bank. Rifles like the AR15 and AK47 have so many options available now, you can get them at your local discount department store for peanuts. Others require a Gunbroker search and a low APR loan. Here is where your purpose for changing the handguard comes in. Most people are looking for a great price while maintaining good quality but aren’t using these rifles every day to defend their freedom. For them, the options are endless. If you are just building a safe queen to take pictures of and post on the Gram, quality isn’t the deciding factor. However, if you are protecting the peace daily as a police officer or soldier, you may want to be a little more choosey and get the one that will hold up to the most daily abuse.
What’s the difference in MLOK, Keymod, and 1913 picatinny rails?
While doing customer service at a rifle company, I have heard “picatinny” pronounced in many hilarious ways. One guy asked for “picante rails” and I offered him a deal that came with tortilla chips. I’ve also heard “Picanniny, penny, and multiple other mispronunciations. To clarify, a 1913 “pic-a-tinny” rail is a specific size for the mounting rails you see on most modern firearms. It is universal and has become the accepted rail style for mounting on many firearms. The 4 rail “cheese grater” handguards were all the rage in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Knight’s Armament had the market locked down and there wasn’t much competition. A KAC RAS 4 rail handguard was about $300 and the guns weren’t much more at that point. Did the handguards work? Absolutely! Were there any other options? NOPE! The 4 railed handguards absolutely allowed for mounting of everything you need, but civilian shooters wanted the same mounting capability but in a lower profile package that didn’t tear skin off your hand while shooting.
Enter the next generation of handguards. With things like Keymod and MLOK, the shooter no longer had a bunch of extra rails that were unused. Keymod and MLOK allow you to mount rail sections in the places you need them, keeping the profile low like a normal handguard but adding that versatility. If you need two inches of rail, it’s available. If you need the full length of rail, you can do that too.
When you think of Keymod, think of the shelves that you buy at your local hardware store for the garage. It was a good idea in theory, but after heavy use, operators were seeing their rail pieces coming loose and ultimately having issues with their lights or grips falling off. It is a way to mount rails and accessories, but in my humble opinion (also tested by Crane), MLOK is far superior.
In 2014, MLOK was introduced as an open-source file by Magpul as an upgrade to their MOE product line. It uses elongated slots and “T” shaped nuts for securing the rails or accessories to the handguard, making it the easy choice over what was available. The coolest (and smartest) thing Magpul did in this process was making MLOK an open-source file, creating a standard in manufacturing that is still followed today.
These handguards are not the end of the line. There are tons of options out there for your builds including carbon-fiber handguards, aluminum free-floating handguards, and even wooden MLOK! Just remember what your purpose is when looking to switch. It will guide you down the right path.
-Nick
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