What's the Real Advantage of a FF Rail on a SBR

[No Bananas]

SBRs are for up close...of course. Most shootin' I do with them is 50-100yds. On a very rare occasion 200 yds, for grins and giggles. Yes, I'm sure many of you who practice a ton will have great shots at 500 yds. w/ a 2.5" barrel...not me.

I put a standard non-ff rail on my SBRs and the only thing I don't really care for is that they wiggle a little bit, and I assume a FF rail would be more solid. I slapped on MI non-FF rails (which I'm happy with), and saved the $ to spend on optics and the $200 tax...I'm no rich man. Yes, I know MI and YHM make FF, but if I were to go FF, I probably would have gone all the way and got a DD FF. Anyway, I can't imagine the accuracy being affected to any noticeable degree for 50-100 yds, especially for faster shots? Am I wrong? What other advantages do FF rails offer SBRs?

[LOKNLOD]

Depends on the rail systems compared, but the FF rails are often lighter weight. They may (may) also promote better cooling (i.e., increased air flow with no handguard cap?) and isolate the hand from heat better (no foward contact point for conductive transfer). Also they allow some variation in configuration, with the trend towards lo-pro gas blocks and rail mounted FSBs behind a 12:00 light mount on a longer rail, being a good example of something that's not really workable with drop in rails. And last but not least, FF rails are technically (if not always realistically) "better" and there a lot of people that insist on having the "best" -- some due to high personal standards/job requirements, and some due to CDI factor (and I mean that as no judgement on the latter group, as long as they're honest with themselves and others about it).

If a (quality) drop-in, non-FF rail works in your application, for your needs/wants...then go for it.

[DRich]

It really boils down to your personal needs. I like to keep my support hand as far forward as possible, so I run 10" FF rails over a shaved gas block on my 11.5" SBR. Some say FF rails don't heat up as fast, but I've not found that to be true in my experience.

If, for some reason, I was stuck with a carbine length handguard, I'd just slap a set of MOE handguards or a KAC RAS on it and be happy.

[Mr.Goodtimes]

when i switched from a non FF to a FF rail (troy DI to Larue 7.0) my groups tightened up A LOT at 100 yds. my groups were cut in half from about 4MOA to 2MOA, and thats with an eotech. im sure the rifle is capable of much more with a magnified optic.

[markm]

There some good info in this thread I started a long time ago. Some of the posters who supplied info aren't here too much recently:

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=7766