should I get a free float tube?
why or why not?
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Member
should I get a free float tube?
why or why not?
Member
Your answer depends on what your doing with your AR... You gotta fill in some more blanks for anyone to give you a better answer.
I'm not a tgt shooter and I don't use an AR for Highpower and I don't bench-rest. All my rifles are down and dirty carbines that shoot minute of man out to 300 and I have ran either straight handguards or the KAC RAS.
I like shooting my guns more then I like working on them. If your looking to get a good free float to shoot off a bench on paper and then runs a $60 Leapers chinese scope and Wolf ammo, you just waisted you money on the free float.
Most shooters I know would gain little if any additional accuracy using a freefloat.
Ask your self the hard question. Do I shoot well enough to gain any edge with one? Are you gonna use high quality ammo? Just some thoughts.
Member
Harv thanks for the info.
It pretty much tells me that I do not need a free float.
Banned
Maybe on a Varmint/Target rifle
UNLESS
If you are going to buy a SUREFIRE Light then maybe A DD Float/rail would be nice!
I try to KISSS at all times
The only add ons on my AR15 M4`s are a Eotech 551 and a Aimpoint 551
And thats because my eyes are getting old
I would save up for AMMO
Spare Parts Kits is nice also
Member
Float rails are lighter, cheaper, simpler, more durable, dissipate heat better and work better with sights mounted on them.
No brainer.
Member
From SethB
I would be interested to know how a free float tube is Simpler since it requires removing the FH and FSB and in some case the Barrel Nut and Delta Ring and requires the use of special tools.Float rails are lighter, cheaper, simpler, more durable, dissipate heat better and work better with sights mounted on them.
No brainer.
And how they Dissipate heat better???
Member
They are not a backward compatible system, and most don't require special tools. They have fewer total parts, and I think they are stronger. They also have fewer fitment issues. A URX, Larue or DD will fit on a crap gun, an RAS may not do so. I had that problem once.
As for the heat issue, fire three mags through an M4 with a DD rail and the same number of rounds through a clone with RAS. One will be too hot to touch. The other will give you third degree burns and rail pattern scarring. I'd rather draw the heat off. This is why I have a vert grip and no panels.
As for removing the FH and FSB. That isn't a big deal for a shop that is equipped to handle ARs, and you can buy them with the rail very easily as well.
Dealer
I am a FF fan on any weapon simply for the reason that it keeps pressure off the barrel and helps the barrel cool down faster. I do not think free floating a chrome lined barrel helps all that much with accuracy.
C4
Member
From SethB
Your response still did not answer my question. if you need to take off the FH and the FSB and the barrel nut, then you do need special tools or a gunsmith.They are not a backward compatible system, and most don't require special tools. They have fewer total parts, and I think they are stronger. They also have fewer fitment issues. A URX, Larue or DD will fit on a crap gun, an RAS may not do so. I had that problem once.
As for the heat issue, fire three mags through an M4 with a DD rail and the same number of rounds through a clone with RAS. One will be too hot to touch. The other will give you third degree burns and rail pattern scarring. I'd rather draw the heat off. This is why I have a vert grip and no panels.
As for removing the FH and FSB. That isn't a big deal for a shop that is equipped to handle ARs, and you can buy them with the rail very easily as well.
As to the heat, You did not explain at all why one is better then the other, you made a comparison based on your experience dumping 3 mags thru.
As to Strength you give nothing tangible other then "You think"there stronger"
Did I miss anything??
The original Poster asked if he would benefit from a free float, in that context and based on what he is doing, he would not.
Putting a free float tube on a carbine that inherently shoots 4MOA or less on a 200 meter or less gun shooting MilSpec or less ammo is not something that anyone NEEDS and I don't believe it is a "No Brainer" based on what your saying.
Senior Member
My first free float upper was installed in '99 to turn an A2 into a DCM rifle. The idea was to relieve stress/torque on the barrrel from the sling. Added 1/4 minute NM sights, changable aperture and a skinny front sight post. Works great, I just lbroke my "yellow glasses".
Fast forward to 2003 and my first RAS. Great idea! Sell the M500's and spend beau coup bucks on Surefire lights and KAC VFG and panels. Problem: RAS's are in short supply. My crack dealer. oops, vendor, MSTN, suggests I try a Free Float RAS for the same price. He would even install the first two I bought for free. Free float barrels were, he said, where things were headed (and this was pre-LaRue).
I sent him 16" Colt LW barrels because my Colt M4 barrels had (and still have} permanently pinned Vortexes which would have cost money to install. (I'm cheap, like Harv.) Wes suggested flat tops, too, since I had Elcans (sort of a proto-recon rifle, now with ACOG's). For the same price as a RAS, it works great for mounting a VFG and light. There were few, if any, quality alternatives then.
In both cases, even with standard Colt barrels (not the Lilja, Noeveske, Pac-Nor barrels of today), they shot better than I ever could. For me, it was a money issue. At no difference in cost, given my "mission requirements", a free-floated barrel was/is great. So is RAS. The SF M73 is probably just as good at a much lower price. Put the difference saved into good training.
Aside: At our first class with Pat Rogers that summer ('03), he pointed at the FF RAS on my son's carbine and asked, "What's that?" Now look where we are!
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