Broke my M5 RAS. Any way to fix this?

[Eurodriver]

I have an RAS M5 from Dec 2005. It’s on my OIF clone rifle and it’s somewhat sentimental.

It bounced out of the back of a side by side coming back from slaying pigs this morning. After I got back to the house I decided to shoot it since it’s been a long time since I just fooled around with it and realized I was 2 feet off POA. I’d never lost zero with an ACOG bouncing into grass from 5~ ft high before so I didn’t know what was up. Then I noticed my top rail didn’t align with my FSP.

Gotta admit - I’ve seen M16A4s literally slung across rooms and I’ve never seen a rail brake. Absolutely blew my mind.

https://i.ibb.co/zbGDgBV/4-CD42-F53-0-E8-C-4447-9956-B6270121-AB14.jpg

[OutofBatt3ry]

Looks like the upper lug broke. Remove and reinstall and see how well it seats with the lug missing. Anything can be rewelded, and cold blued, just have see if the cost is worth it.

A new one runs about $300 from my 30 seconds of searching...

https://charliescustomclones.com/knights-armament-kac-m5-rifle-ras-5-56-w-3-rail-panels-nos/

[Johnny Rico]

You, as an accountant, broke a rail that is built to be pretty much bomb-proof for grunts?

I'm impressed.

[Eurodriver]

Looks like the upper lug broke. Remove and reinstall and see how well it seats with the lug missing. Anything can be rewelded, and cold blued, just have see if the cost is worth it.

A new one runs about $300 from my 30 seconds of searching...

https://charliescustomclones.com/knights-armament-kac-m5-rifle-ras-5-56-w-3-rail-panels-nos/

$300 is ridiculous. I got this, uh, as a gift from a buddy.

I took your advice and reinstalled. Seems to be fine. There’s a small almost imperceptible bit of play if you really wrench on it - not sure if it was like that before the break or not though. I put about 50 rounds through it and rezeroed (back to the original zero - the rail must have been putting pressure on the barrel) with no issues.

I think it’s fine for now. Not like I grab this for bumps in the night. Just surprised I broke this thing with such a simple drop into grass. On the other hand it is 17 years old.

[C-grunt]

I bet it's been broken for a while and something just leveraged against it just right to knock it loose.

I once somehow broke an ACOG sitting in the back seat of my car in a case on a drive across country. Nothing but smooth highway roads. Got to my destination and it was fogged up and lost zero.

Sometimes even the strongest stuff breaks. Especially if it's older and gets used a lot.

[C-grunt]

I bet it's been broken for a while and something just leveraged against it just right to knock it loose.

I once somehow broke an ACOG sitting in the back seat of my car in a case on a drive across country. Nothing but smooth highway roads. Got to my destination and it was fogged up and lost zero.

Sometimes even the strongest stuff breaks. Especially if it's older and gets used a lot.

[markm]

I can't understand why the POI is 2 feet off. The FSB isn't rail mounted.

[Eurodriver]

I can't understand why the POI is 2 feet off. The FSB isn't rail mounted.

The ACOG doesn’t use the FSB.

[markm]

Gotcha. I miss read the post. That's a hell of a whack to knock a COG out of zero.

[Eurodriver]

Gotcha. I miss read the post. That's a hell of a whack to knock a COG out of zero.

I don't think the ACOG lost zero. No way to know for sure, but I think the pressure of the rail being outside of the handguard end cap pushed on the barrel which caused the POI shift. I was shooting several feet right after the drop, rezeroed (before I realized the handguard was broken) and then when I fixed the handguard I was shooting several feet left. I think the ACOG was fine the whole time it was just the barrel pressure.

[rpoL98]

looks like the RAS spring clip for the gas tube is missing?

https://i.imgur.com/ja5qB5j.jpg

[Coal Dragger]

You, as an accountant, broke a rail that is built to be pretty much bomb-proof for grunts?

I'm impressed.

Never underestimate the ability of a US Marine to break gear even decades after they got their DD214.