AR15 Rail

[Guest Crud]

What are your opinions on good rails for a 20" AR15? I am looking at a UTG 2 piece, any thoughts on this? I hear they are heavier. Is this not a good thing??

I am looking just to replace my old plastic foregrip. I hate plastic and it feels good, but I just worry about it busting open on a camping trip. Also I wouldn't mind putting a foregrip on there.

Are things like flashlights and lasers effective or are they mainly for tacti'cool' value? When I was a kid I remember my father duck taping a flashlight to a shotgun and shooting coyotes around the house with it. That seemed effective enough.

Do you recomend any particular rail covers? I would imagine the rail wouldn't feel very comfortable in your hand.

[jcj]

If you're going to be hiking around with your rifle, more weight is usually not desirable. Really personal preference as far as that goes.

I've been looking at the MagPul MOE handguard. Yes, they're polymer but they have sections to mount rail segments. That way you still have something besides rail to hold, but still have options to mount accessories.

That said, the UTG rail will certainly work if the weight isn't a factor for you. Doesnt it also comes with rail covers for rails that are not in use?

[Guest tenn]

UTG is Chinese garbage and is inexpensive for a reason. Avoid it. If you want to go cheap but still good, Yankee Hill Manufacturing has good drop in picatinny railed hand guards for AR's. The Magpul MOE hand guards are good to go as well. They are polymer and have slots for adding flash light or vertical grips.

As far as what to put on railed hand guards, I would only put stuff on that you need. Every Tom Dick and Harry doesn't have to have an M4 with all the bells and whistles that a Marine uses. For home defense, I'd say get a flash light. Lasers are the gimmick du jour , but not really necessary unless you are running night vision with an infrared laser. Vertical fore grips are optional, but I've noticed that they are a hindrance towards good marksmanship for untrained shooters. Most people just get them because they look cool and no real operator would be caught dead without a vertical grip on his AR .

[Dolomite_supafly]

@ten: Have you actually owned the UTG rails?

I'll offer a different opinion on the UTG rails. I put a set on my wife's 9mm AR because they were cheap. It is by far the most used and abused gun we own. By abused I mean well over 7,000 rounds over the course of a few years. It has been dropped and thrown dozens of times. The rails install easily, are tight, durable and work very well considering the cost. I have had zero issues with mine and have recommended them to a few friends and none of those have had issues with theirs either.

I have even seen a higher end maker making a set of rails that are identical to the UTG's except the name and about twice the cost. Anyone would be hard pressed to tell the difference if there were no names on them.

I say for the $50 they cost give them a try, you will be surprized. Not all things Chinese are junk, optics yes but not everything they make is junk.

My wife's AR runs a red laser and it has helped her on more than a few occassions when she was unable to get a decent sight picture at night. She was shooting nuisance animals on the run and it made hits a lot easier on her. After seeing how easy it was for her to track and hit the animal form what I would consider a low ready position I knew the laser was going to stay. I will say this red lasers are useless during the day but green lasers are useable during the day and can be easily seen out to 50 yards. Lights are a good thing to have as well, get a $35 Surefire G2 and a $20 mount and call it good. As far as vertical grips go I will say this, it makes it easier to maintain control of your weapon. That is if someone tries to grab it the vertical grip is another "handle" to either push or pull on to maintain control of your gun or to strike someone with the muzzle. I find it gives me a better hadn position when firing from the standing or kneeling position. Firing from the bench can be bothersome but not as much as a 30 rounder hanging out of the bottom.

AR's are the greatest rifle for the individual. The reason is you can add what you want to make it yours. I would recommend finding a few buddies who have AR's and try out their equipment before you go spend a ton of money on stuff you may not like. Everyone is different and so is how they set their rifles up. And as anyone who owns one will tell you they are all set up to individual tastes. Don't worry about what anyone else says or thinks as long as the gun is reliable it doesn't matter what hangs off of it. I was always skeptical of the uber unobtanium made parts. I have always believed that if the part holds up to what you are going to use it for then it is good enough, whether it be the occassional range trip or hardcore use. There are a lot of people who spend thousands on their rifle then feel guilty about shooting it and leave it in the safe other than the occassional picture to post. I am the opposite, all my guns are tools and getting used regularly.

I am far from the AR expert but I have used them for both work and pleasure for decades now. I have used them to protect myself and others. I have built a lot of them as well.

Dolomite

[R1100R]

To my surprise the UTG Carbine rails are made in the US:

Manufacturer: Leapers UTG MTU-001

Item: ARR-238

Made in the US. Four-sided, mil-spec picatinny railed handguard allows for a huge array of accessories and is precision machined for maximum strength.

Two piece design replaces your original plastic handguards and locks in place for a secure fit. Installs easily without gunsmithing or modification to the barrel.

Includes black rubber rail guards for comfort and protection.

Hard anodized aluminum construction for superior wear resistance. Four rails with 14 slots per rail.

Fits carbine length M4 and AR-15 style rifles. BLACK.

[DRM]

Thanks for this thread - when I looked at front railed handguards for my 20" AR, There wss no way I was going to pay for a hand guard that costs 1/3 as much as my entire gun did in the first place. I might just pick up a UTG handguard, especially at the $70 price point I saw.

[Kegger]

UTG is fine, as long as you are a 200 round a year shooter. If you're anything like me and you actually shoot the piss out of your guns, buy once, cry once is something to remember.

Yes, it is expensive. But its worth the investment. Would you put a POS bolt and barrel in there from some unknown manufacturer? Nope. So why go cheap on a significant load bearing piece of kit?

[Kickstart]

A bit pricey but you can't go wrong with LaRue.

LaRue Tactical Home Page

[DRM]

UTG is fine, as long as you are a 200 round a year shooter. If you're anything like me and you actually shoot the piss out of your guns, buy once, cry once is something to remember.

Yes, it is expensive. But its worth the investment. Would you put a POS bolt and barrel in there from some unknown manufacturer? Nope. So why go cheap on a significant load bearing piece of kit?

So what makes them so bad? Is there something magical that a handguard does at 1200 rounds per year that it doesn't do at 200 rounds? I'm interested in specifics...

[midtennchip]

I have a UTG on my Bushmaster and ran it through the CIS Carbine course. Absolutely nothing wrong with it, shooting approximately 1100 rounds in a weekend. As others have said, I am not sure what problem could arise with it. I don't see me ever using the rifle in any more of an extreme condition than it was used in the Carbine course and it performed flawlessly.

[Guest 73challenger]

Buy once cry once. I wouldn't buy anything from UTG. I have never heard good things about them. The cheapest I would consider would be Primary Arms. THere Chinese but are held in pretty high regard. Don't mount anything that needs to keep zero on a two piece handguard.

[R1100R]

Yankee Hill Machine, Midwest Industries and others make two piece rails.

[Guest Crud]

As the original poster this thread has left me even more confused. It seems in one camp people own a UTG and praise it, and the other camp does not own it and scorns it.

I think the deciding factor is that UTG is made in America. Even if it somehow falls off at least it will be American.

But in seriousness, what is so 'shoddy' about it exactly? Is there anyone who owns one that doesn't like it? I do not see how a solid chunk of metal could be inferior to another solid chunk of metal.

[mikegideon]

I had a UTG carbine length rail on my rifle for awhile. Can't complain about the fit and finish, and it seemed durable enough. The rail covers are cheesey, and it's heavy compared to the better rails. I replaced it with a Daniel Defense Omega Rail, which is on the other end of the price spectrum. Lighter, free floats the barrel, and is a lot easier to grip. It was also well over 200 bucks.

The UTG product didn't do me wrong, but I've sworn off putting cheap stuff on my rifles.

To answer your question Crud, I personally didn't like the weight or the wide grip of a round rail system. It was like grabbing a pineapple.

Edited February 23, 2011 by mikegideon

[DRM]

To answer your question Crud, I personally didn't like the weight or the wide grip of a round rail system. It was like grabbing a pineapple.

Now that's solid feedback... thanks!

[Guest adamoxtwo]

Anyone know how the Mako gmg 2-piece rails are?

[Kegger]

I don't personally own one. But I have broken two of them on rifles that belong to close friends.

Things like dropping to prone and the rail hits the ground and snaps off the prongs holding it into the D-Ring. Bent or broken rails from a light mount that got knocked against a tree. This and they are f-in heavy, which you may not personally care about, but lots of people do.

They simply do not hold up to hard use. So like I said previously, low volume shooters may never have a problem, nor ever give it a scratch. But high volume or discerning shooters will either break it, or just steer clear.

But hey, it's your money. YMMV

[LA_357SIG]

I really like my JP/VTAC modular handguard. Some people don't like rails all over. You could add rail sections where you need it, including 45 degree positions. As far as drop in, you should consider KAC and Magpul MOE rifle length forends.

[Guest nosnos]

...I have never heard good things about them...

Except from various people who own them, right here in this very thread.

I bought a Yankee Hill, and I like it. I just thought the UTG ones were ugly as sin. But the YHM one is freakin' heavy too. At least I didn't spend $300 on it. Maybe someday in the future, if I ever start dropping to prone a lot. I don't like wasting money on stuff that's out of my league.

--------

[mikegideon]

It really is a 'to each his own" kinda thing. Everybody has different needs, wants, and budgets. Me... I'm a Daniel Defense guy, and damn the expense. It only hurts for a little while. I own a UTG rail, but it's in the parts box. It was a good value, just not what I wanted long term.

If you own AR's, chances are good that you will wind up with a parts box.

[Kegger]

Believe me, it's not wasting money. It's an investment in longevity. Good rails can outlive the rifle they are on, even when horribly abused.

If you want cheapish and durable, look into the KAC RAS, they can be had for around $150 if you look around.

[Dolomite_supafly]

It really is a 'to each his own" kinda thing. Everybody has different needs, wants, and budgets. Me... I'm a Daniel Defense guy, and damn the expense. It only hurts for a little while. I own a UTG rail, but it's in the parts box. It was a good value, just not what I wanted long term.

If you own AR's, chances are good that you will wind up with a parts box.

Or a few extra AR's from the parts. It seems strange that most of us will start a new build in order to keep a small part from sitting around unused.

Dolomite

[DRM]

Things like dropping to prone and the rail hits the ground and snaps off the prongs holding it into the D-Ring. Bent or broken rails from a light mount that got knocked against a tree.

FYI - I've never dropped to prone with any of my AR's, nor do I intend to any time soon. And since my gets used for killing more animals than paper targets, I prefer not to attach too many accessories to it then beat it against a tree

That said - the "heavy" comment is appreciated... very good to know.

I'll be honest - I really just want a handguard that has one rail on top and one on bottom. I'm not really a fan of grabbing a handful of rail all the way around, even with covers in place.

[Guest Crud]

I have seen nothing but positive reviews from people that own them online. I don't see how a rail like UTG would become bent and a quality rail made of the same alluminum could not, especially if the UTG is thicker.

[mikegideon]

I have seen nothing but positive reviews from people that own them online. I don't see how a rail like UTG would become bent and a quality rail made of the same alluminum could not, especially if the UTG is thicker.

It's not elemental aluminum. It's an alloy of some sort. All aluminum isn't created equal. There are varying grades. A couple of my buddies have those rails as well. I wouldn't be that concrned about it breaking unless you're gonna beat the crap out of your rifle. It's more about living with the weight and the feel. If you get something you like for 50 bucks, you done good.