View Full Version : Daniel Defense Lite Rail Question
I bought this 12" DD Lite Rail to put over a gas block on a carbine length 14.5" M4 barrel. I outlined what I needed it to do to the seller and he assured me that it would fit, but the hole in the receiver end is way too small to allow the gas block to pass through. Any ideas? I have seen reference to "early" rails that had a smaller opening.
http://oi40.tinypic.com/6plzm8.jpg
Here's a pic I found that looks like the hole is considerably larger on this DD lite rail, which looks like a later version.
http://www.tactical-life.com/online/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/rails.gif
(Pic of the RIS II replaced with above, which look more like Lite Rails. Still looking for a confirmed pic.)
Am I missing something here?
If I recall correctly, you are going to have to remove the gas block first and then install the rail. Then reinstall the GB.
IG is correct as always. Even a low pro has to come off to install.
IG is correct as always. Even a low pro has to come off to install.
The gas tube will obviously have to come off as he'll have to replace the barrel nut and get the collar behind it, but I just took a 14.0 Lite rail off my gun. I un-bolted the rail and it slid right over my low-pro gas block. Think about it. With a long rail like that, how else could you re-set the gas block/tube after you had the rail on? With tweezers through the holes?
OP, you just need a lower profile gas block. (Mine is the factory DD low profile.
ETA: the pic the OP shows from weaponevolution is a RISII rail not a Lite rail, so the opening comparison doesn't work.
The rail in the pic has a hole at the rear just slightly larger than the barrel dia. at the chamber. I don't know of any gas block that's going through there.
Anyone have a pic of a (known) recent DD Lite Rail at the receiver end? As I posted before, saw a post that references early rails that had a smaller opening.
What complicates this build is that the barrel is a 14.5" with a permanent flash hider, so it has to have the gas block, gas tube and flash hider installed and then the rail. That's why I explicitly asked the seller if it would go over a gas block.
I bought this 12" DD Lite Rail to put over a gas block on a carbine length 14.5" M4 barrel. I outlined what I needed it to do to the seller and he assured me that it would fit, but the hole in the receiver end is way too small to allow the gas block to pass through.
Am I missing something here?
1. Remove gas block.
2. Remove original barrel nut.
3. Install DD RIS/Lite barrel nut.
4. Install DD RIS/Lite rail.
5. Re-install gas block.
1. Remove gas block.
2. Remove original barrel nut.
3. Install DD RIS/Lite barrel nut.
4. Install DD RIS/Lite rail.
5. Re-install gas block.
What complicates this build is that the barrel is a 14.5" with a permanent flash hider, so it has to have the gas block, gas tube and flash hider installed and then the rail.
It's kind of hard to put a pinned-on carbine gas block on with a 12" rail installed.
Almost all ff rails use proprietary barrel nuts. You will have to have the flash hider unpinned and removed and then the gasblock removed so that the barrel nuts can be swapped. Then you put the gas block back on and have the flash hider repinned. Sounds like a trip to a gunsmith so that it all stays legal. Most rails then will slide over the gas block once the barrel is reattached to the upper. If that rail will not slide over the gas block then you either need a new gas block or a different style rail. But no matter what you do the flash hider and gas block have to come off to put the barrel nut on.
Also i think the part you are trying to slide over is captured by the barrel nut and the the rail mounts to it with allen bolts. That is how it worked on my sbr at least.
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Yes, the DD Lite has it's own barrel nut that will have to go on first.
The gas tube will obviously have to come off as he'll have to replace the barrel nut and get the collar behind it, but I just took a 14.0 Lite rail off my gun. I un-bolted the rail and it slid right over my low-pro gas block. Think about it. With a long rail like that, how else could you re-set the gas block/tube after you had the rail on? With tweezers through the holes?
OP, you just need a lower profile gas block. (Mine is the factory DD low profile.
ETA: the pic the OP shows from weaponevolution is a RISII rail not a Lite rail, so the opening comparison doesn't work.
It's been a few months, might be thinking of something else, but IIRC,I left gas tube on, slid in after barrel nut and rail was on. This was a 10" lite.
you're ****ed, bigger opening or not.
One more reason NOT to go with the 1.45" pinned. Especially when you don't know what you don't know.
What barrel nut is on your upper/barrel now? Can you post a picture of what you have no on the barrel/upper/gun?
If you're lucky you have a standard barrel nut and you can use a Centurion handguard that clamps on to the standard barrel nut.
It's been a few months, might be thinking of something else, but IIRC,I left gas tube on, slid in after barrel nut and rail was on. This was a 10" lite.
Just took my rail off for giggles. No way you could ever get the nut and mount on without removing the gas tube and block. But rail will slide over gas block with room to spare on my sbr.
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Just took my rail off for giggles. No way you could ever get the nut and mount on without removing the gas tube and block. But rail will slide over gas block with room to spare on my sbr.
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Sorry, left gas tube on low pro, took off, slid back in.IIRC. I should have been a little clearer in my post.
ETA: this was also a lesson for me, I used a set screw low pro. A big mistake, it came loose in 3 surefire sixty mags. Oh well, live and learn.
you're ****ed, bigger opening or not.
One more reason NOT to go with the 1.45" pinned. Especially when you don't know what you don't know.
What barrel nut is on your upper/barrel now? Can you post a picture of what you have no on the barrel/upper/gun?
If you're lucky you have a standard barrel nut and you can use a Centurion handguard that clamps on to the standard barrel nut.
Couldn't you have a gunsmith remove the pinned flashhider and then pin a new one on after the new nut and dd retainer was installed.?
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Just took my rail off for giggles. No way you could ever get the nut and mount on without removing the gas tube and block. But rail will slide over gas block with room to spare on my sbr.
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Any chance you can post a pic of the receiver end of your rail?
I think there's some misunderstanding. The barrel wasn't configured yet. Once the DD barrel nut goes on, I needed it to be able to mount the gas block and tube, and then pin and weld the flash hider. The barrel gets re-parked, and then it needs to be able to have the 12" DD Lite Rail slid over everything and installed. I was told this was possible with this rail, but there's no way with the size of the hole in rail.
Any chance you can post a pic of the receiver end of your rail?
I think there's some misunderstanding. The barrel wasn't configured yet. Once the DD barrel nut goes on, I needed it to be able to mount the gas block and tube, and then pin and weld the flash hider. The barrel gets re-parked, and then it needs to be able to have the 12" DD Lite Rail slid over everything and installed. I was told this was possible with this rail, but there's no way with the size of the hole in rail.
The end of my rail looks just like your first pic.
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Any chance you can post a pic of the receiver end of your rail?
I think there's some misunderstanding. The barrel wasn't configured yet. Once the DD barrel nut goes on, I needed it to be able to mount the gas block and tube, and then pin and weld the flash hider. The barrel gets re-parked, and then it needs to be able to have the 12" DD Lite Rail slid over everything and installed. I was told this was possible with this rail, but there's no way with the size of the hole in rail.
Something's missing here. Please post pics of your barrel, gas block, etc.
Something's missing here. Please post pics of your barrel, gas block, etc.
Not sure what you mean by "missing here" since I posted exactly what I needed the rail to do... but here's how I fixed it.
The receiver end of the rail was milled open enough to allow the gas block to pass through. I ended up using the FSB cut down as it was the smallest gas block option I had available.
Here's a (bad cell phone) pic of the milled rail with the gas block sitting inside.
http://oi39.tinypic.com/s0x4za.jpg
Once the rail was milled, I put the DD barrel nut on the barrel, pinned on the gas block, drilled and blind pinned the flash hider and had it welded over. The barrel assembly was blasted and then park'ed. Torgued the barrel in the upper, pinned in the gas tube and slid the (modified) rail over everything and bolted it on.
Not that difficult, but it would have been a lot easier if the rail would have just fit over the gas block like the seller told me it would...
Still trying to determine if this is the way all DD lite rails are or if this is an early one. Maybe he just didn't know what he was talking about, or he just wanted to sell me the rail and told me what I wanted to hear. Either way, he won't return my emails, so we'll see where that goes. This is what it looked like after test firing...
http://oi41.tinypic.com/34glirs.jpg
The rifle looks good. Glad you got it worked out. However, there's still a ton of extra material on that milled FSB that could be removed. I would've done that before I modded the rail, but you're in business now.
FWIW, here's a pic of the DD gas block. Note the slimmer profile on the bottom and top. This is what will pass through the rail:
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqCGpL8I6Z0W6kE2vnEeIjSpJCgt-HES-uYjgfWI_8PEYolIbi
Singlestack Wonder
04-03-12, 16:43
The rifle looks good. Glad you got it worked out. However, there's still a ton of extra material on that milled FSB that could be removed. I would've done that before I modded the rail, but you're in business now.
FWIW, here's a pic of the DD gas block. Note the slimmer profile on the bottom and top. This is what will pass through the rail:
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqCGpL8I6Z0W6kE2vnEeIjSpJCgt-HES-uYjgfWI_8PEYolIbi
Yep. It pays to do a little research before starting a project. ;)
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