Is the Centurian C4 rail obsolete?

[bigrobbierob]

As the title says. Is the C4 rail and other 4 railed forends obsolete now with the proliferation of "slick" forends such as offerings from BCM, MI etc.?

Or is it a natural progression to lighter/faster systems?

ETA:
Yeah I spelled Centurion wrong. Sorry.

[021411]

I remember when lightweight/slick carbines were starting to get popular. The haters bitched and said people needed to lift weights and get stronger. Then things slowly started to cater towards that crowd. Rail accessories started to downsize as well. Everyone began running T1's and only needed very little real estate and stopped hanging all kinds of shit on their rifles. People started running more compact lights (X300 and the like) and didn't need all the extra rails. I think 3 gunners gave the slick crowd a boost too. I believe full rails still have their place in life.
Edited to add: With the advent of Keymod and M-Lok people have the best of both worlds.

[pv18463]

Does anyone know if Centurion plans to make a slick keymod/Mlok rail?

[Steve-0-]

As the title says. Is the C4 rail and other 4 railed forends obsolete now with the proliferation of "slick" forends such as offerings from BCM, MI etc.?

Or is it a natural progression to lighter/faster systems?

ETA:
Yeah I spelled Centurion wrong. Sorry.

There still is a large market for Quad Rails and the C4 nails it in terms of weight, sling mounts and strength. We just did over 20 11.5" SBR's for an agency that still wanted Quad Rails to easily mount lights and IR Lasers.

Something to note, a friend of mine who uses a PEQ at work said the keymod rail piece he installed was having lockup issues, even with blue loctite, and his PEQ was losing zero. While this doesnt apply to everyone, its a valid point towards "non slick side" rails.

At the end of the day, a rail needs to do what end user wants it to. it's all personal choice.

Centurion does make a slick rail, its the CMR and its solid. Its not Keymod or Mlok though.

[Kain]

While I hate to be that guy, but, this topic has been beat to death as of late.

In short, no, they aren't obsolete, just as, much to the annoyance of the glock fan boys, the 1911 is not obsolete or disappearing. As has already been alluded to, mission drives the gear and personal opinion and choice falls into a number of things as well.

Pick the x that fits you needs/wants the best and rock on. Learn the pros and cons and make your own decision and buy the gear that fills the roll that you want.

[E_Johnson]

The centurion might be dated, but it isn't obsolete. It has a very specific appeal for being a free floated two piece rail that fits a usgi barrel nut. I bought one specifically for that reason as it allowed me to install it on an fsb upper with minimal modification.

[scooter22]

I did read on weaponevolution that Centurion is planning an MLOK.

[R0CKETMAN]

I've got their fsb cut out rail on a Colt which I really dig. I recall they were hard to find these days and thought they may have been discontinued.

[titsonritz]

I wish they had not discontinued their extended FSP carbine rail.

[VIP3R 237]

I still really like the C4 hand guard. It's pretty solid and IMO second only to the RIS II.

[MegademiC]

I don't see rails going anywhere, they are not as popular simply because there are more options. Even if the military changes to mlok or keymod, you still have the "rail" on top for optics so some accessories will always use it. There are probably millions and millions of guns in existence with rails... so it's not ever going to be obsolete for multiple generations.

[pstk5088]

I wish they had not discontinued their extended FSP carbine rail.

I second that, been looking for quite a while for one, with no luck.

[SkiDevil]

I've got their fsb cut out rail on a Colt which I really dig. I recall they were hard to find these days and thought they may have been discontinued.

I e-mailed them last month and received the following response from Corrie at Centurion Arms.

"Thank you so much for your interest. The C4 12.0 FSB Rail or*"C4 FSP Cutout", has been shelved for now. *It was a very slow seller...kind of a niche product. *We've gotten a little bit of interest lately, and have considered putting them back into production, at least a small run of them. But, it may be a while. *I'm sorry I don't have better news for you.

*

Thank you, and I hope that we can serve you in the near future."


Maybe we could try to put together a group buy for a limited run?

*

[cd228]

I e-mailed them last month and received the following response from Corrie at Centurion Arms.

"Thank you so much for your interest. The C4 12.0 FSB Rail or*"C4 FSP Cutout", has been shelved for now. *It was a very slow seller...kind of a niche product. *We've gotten a little bit of interest lately, and have considered putting them back into production, at least a small run of them. But, it may be a while. *I'm sorry I don't have better news for you.

*

Thank you, and I hope that we can serve you in the near future."


Maybe we could try to put together a group buy for a limited run?

*

I am sorry to hear that. I've got an e-mail flag on the centurion FSP cutout rail over at BCM's website. It looks like a great rail if you have an 14.5" with FSB and pinned muzzle device.

Back to the OP, different tools for different requiremnts. I wouldn't call the C4 obsolete just yet.

[USMC_Anglico]

Another one looking for a Centurion FSB cutout rail......

and no, quad rails are not obsolete, at least where I work there are several hundred thousand in circulation and going to be that way for some time.......

[6933]

Have a C4 FSP still brand new in the tube. It will be several months before I decide to keep or not due to multiple AR's changes in the works.

Keep me in mind and I may put one on EE in several months.

[Quiet-Matt]

35866

OB-SO-LETE
/ˌäbsəˈlēt/

adjective: obsolete
1. no longer produced or used; out of date.

verb: obsolete; 3rd person present: obsoletes; past tense: obsoleted; past participle: obsoleted; gerund or present participle: obsoleting
1.cause (a product or idea) to be or become obsolete by replacing it with something new.

By this definition, yes... and no. I love the rail, and have no reason or desire to replace it. It is a rock solid rail that fulfills its intended role quite well. I built the weapon that wears this rail to be a no nonsense knock around tool. That is the reason that I went with the FSP version. I wanted as few screws and pieces as possible, thus resulting in less chance that something could come loose.

I like the new slick rails, and I like this rail. It's nice to have a variety of options to choose from when assembling a weapon for a specific role.

So, for me, this rail is definitely NOT obsolete.

[titsonritz]

Another one looking for a Centurion FSB cutout rail......

and no, quad rails are not obsolete, at least where I work there are several hundred thousand in circulation and going to be that way for some time.......

Quad rails (https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?175314-Quad-rails)

[akm4guy]

I got another BCM upper coming with said rail on it, so shorter answer, no.

[wesr228]

I got one of the new KMR A's, and it's nice. Will be looking into mlok for another rifle soon. One thing I don't like about the new systems is the lack of interchangeability. I know both parties have a lot of money tied up in their own methods, but I don't like being locked into either one or the other. Also, the lack of QD is annoying... I know I can add a section of picatinny on; it just seems like that's somewhat defeating the purpose.

[Stickman]

As the title says. Is the C4 rail and other 4 railed forends obsolete now with the proliferation of "slick" forends such as offerings from BCM, MI etc.?

Or is it a natural progression to lighter/faster systems?

ETA:
Yeah I spelled Centurion wrong. Sorry.


Why wouldn't you make the title to ask if railed forends are obsolete, instead of listing just one company?

To answer your question, the military uses the 1913 spec rail, which means it isn't even a little close to obsolete.

[j-ro]

Wait long enough and everything comes back.

[teutonicpolymer]

The better question is whether the CMR is obsolete or not. That rail is heavy, smooth, and has proprietary rail pieces. Plus it is expensive.

I think quad rails will always have a place since virtually everything requires pic rail and smooth handguards are just adding pic rail to add whatever you want.