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View Full Version : DD 9.5 & 7.0 LITE Rail (new pics)



Stickman
06-30-06, 21:18
I received my Daniel Defense 7.0 LITE rail today.

Initial observations were that it was packaged different than the other DD rails that I have bought in the past. Instead of the plastic shell, it is now in a white cardboard box, labeled on each end, with a sticker across the top. I like the idea of a box, mainly because I hate paying for uberexpensive packaging that I know I paid extra for as the consumer. Not that DD did expensive packaging before, but a few other companies come to mind.

Upon slicing the seal, and opening the box, I saw the rail was packed in bubble wrap inside. This is a nice idea, mainly because I've ended up with boxes that looked like UPS hired angry drunken monkeys to deliver them. Let face it, this isn't a cheap rail, it needs to be safe from UPS. Inside was the rail, lightly coated with what looked to be oil. There were also rail covers, which is nice to see as well. The rail covers in mine were ladder covers, which is what I'm running on most of my equipment. Under all of that were a nicely printed up set of instructions that I promptly left in the box. I have previously installed the DD RIS II, and found it to be the easiest rail I've ever worked with. I assumed this would be the same basic installation.


Moving along.....

Along with the rail, the barrel nut, bolt plate, and screws were in another bag. These also had a light coating of oil on them. None of the rail, or additional parts had any wear, marring, purple hue, defective areas, or any of the other complaints that are often brought up about rails. In fairness to DD, their standard rails don't seem to get complaints anyway aside from the occasional sobs when a new guy sees the weld marks. To those people, I can say that thankfully the weld marks are still present, which reassures me there won't be any issues down the road. Color me cranky, but I've had too many things fail in real world use, and I swear that Murphy is perched on my shoulder at times.

Next came the installation, which thankfully was as simple as the DD RIS II. Off came the FH and FSB. Off came the old assembly. On went the plate, with the barrel nut over it. The most enjoyable thing of all is NOT HAVING TO ALIGN ANYTHING WITH THE GAS TUBE! The plate rotates until locked into position with the screws. I tightened down the barrel nut, then dropped the rail into position. To me, the easiest way to align the rail to the receiver, and to make it perfect, is to tighten a carry handle on each side covering the receiver and rail. This locks everything up, and makes it easy to tighten the screws. Speaking of screws, 4 go in from the rear, while the other two go in from the front. Tighten them the same way you do lugnuts, and get them snug. Once they were each snug, I continued tightening them opposite each other until they were all nice and tight.


The end result is a rail that continues off the upper, without leaving a gap. I like the idea of a one piece rail (I'm sure the 2 piece rails are plenty strong, but I'm a paranoid type of guy). This rail is within 1/2 ounce of the older DD 7.0, and that includes the new steel barrel nut. It locks up tight, and there is zero play, which is what you woudl expect from any top end rail company.

Lastly, I'll give my thoughts on the cosmetics, as I know it is important to some people. The rail is flawless. The color is nice and deep. The machining is cleaner than my other DD rails (not that I have any complaints on my old ones). The laser engraving looks a little different, which gives the rail a cleaner look to my eyes. Its a smaller gray font, but still easy to read in case you are one of those people that likes to read their rails.



I'll get up some more (and better) pictures, and answer any questions I can.


http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/1411/ddlitepirate5za.jpg


http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/6690/ddlitepirate26on.jpg

-Wes-
06-30-06, 23:18
Lol, "Parley".

Very nice. If you do post up more pictures, could you add one sans EOTech? I'd like to see the receiver to rail transition.

USMC
07-01-06, 00:02
Lol, "Parley".

Very nice. If you do post up more pictures, could you add one sans EOTech? I'd like to see the receiver to rail transition.


I would like to see the transition as well!

M4arc
07-01-06, 07:17
WOW

That looks awesome and I want one!!!

C4IGrant
07-01-06, 07:53
Good review, but the lower is much more interesting to me. As a former Pirate (USN Sailor) I really like it!



C4

Stickman
07-01-06, 08:46
Lol, "Parley".

Very nice. If you do post up more pictures, could you add one sans EOTech? I'd like to see the receiver to rail transition.

Certainly.


http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/1210/ddlitepirate46yy.jpg

Stickman
07-02-06, 16:20
http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/8525/ddlitepirate52ax.jpg

M4arc
07-02-06, 16:35
The more pictures you post the more I want one of those rails!

REDSKY383
07-02-06, 17:14
Maybe Stickman could receive sales percentage for his marketing! :D

RED

Ice Cream Man
07-02-06, 17:34
Well now I know what is going on my next upper.

easy610
07-02-06, 17:34
Whats the weight difference compared to say a the Midwest Industries version of the mono-rail?

Looking for a railed free float fore end that is as light as possible for an uber-lite AR I'm working on.....

Boom
07-02-06, 18:26
Stick Good review. Can you show us how the plates lock to the barrel nut? does it have a star pattern on one of the plates that slip onto the barrel nut? I see that the plates squeeze the barrel nut to form a tight fit. Do the screws go into steel inserts pressed into the aluminum of do they go into the aluminum by themselves?

It looks like a good idea, when will they be in production?

Stickman
07-03-06, 17:00
Stick Good review. Can you show us how the plates lock to the barrel nut? does it have a star pattern on one of the plates that slip onto the barrel nut? I see that the plates squeeze the barrel nut to form a tight fit. Do the screws go into steel inserts pressed into the aluminum of do they go into the aluminum by themselves?

It looks like a good idea, when will they be in production?


They are in production now with the 7.0 & 12.0 being already shipped, and a few others in line. All DD rails currently offered will be made in the Lite rail configuration as well from my understanding.

I'll see if I can get some pictures for you of the barrel nut, and surrounding pieces.

Loner
07-04-06, 04:11
The lite rails looks very nice, you get the continous rail of the troy/samson/mi, the locking feature similar to larue and the lightweight of DD, what more can I ask for! well except for the price its quite expensive! when will the 9.0 come out?

Stickman
07-06-06, 17:31
when will the 9.0 come out?

Another week or two.

Josh-L
07-06-06, 18:51
I called and ordered a 9.0 today. Said I would have it next week! Now if I could just get a Noveske 10.5.....

Stickman
07-23-06, 14:04
Anyone who has seen my pictures knows that the DD 9.5 standard rail is a favorite of mine. After playing around with this new DD 9.5 Lite, and can see that it is money well spent. I'm not sure if this will end up on my duty, or alternate carbine, but as soon as I get a chance, it will be mounted on one of them.

Construction, attention to detail, and overall quality appear even higher than on my DD 9.5, but that could be simply because it is new. For some reason, it just looks slightly different. I thought the same thing with the DD 7.0 Lite, but it could just be me. The DD 7.0 Lite has already seen hard use, and it is holding up quite well.

I'll try to get more picture of the DD 9.5 Lite rail taken a little later on today, and I'll update the DD 7.0 Lite rail review as well if I get the time.


http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/1948/dd95liteonredstickeb0.jpg

M4arc
07-23-06, 15:17
WOOHOO!

I can't wait to see pictures of that mounted up!