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Thread: BLK-LBL bipod handguard initial review

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
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    BLK-LBL bipod handguard initial review










    I recently bought this after watching a couple of videos from inrangeTV. It seemed to be just what I was looking for for this rifle. Although expensive, I am extremely happy with it already.
    Some points of interest:

    -Easily and intuitively deployable bipod legs

    -Bipod lengths are of the perfect height for shooting on a flat surface with a 30 round magazine, and they adjust just as simply as they deploy.

    -Self locking at any length, though they must be retracted in order to fold away.

    -Rubberized and textured feet

    -Durable Cerakote finish (extra charge, I asked for green to match the rifle, and then I hit it with some spray paint)

    -Proprietary barrel nut that uses standard barrel nut wrench

    -Although the bipod can be tension tightened down to resist movement, I've found that even on the loosest setting, there is enough resistance to make the bipod very usable, and not "floppy". Bipod seems to allow for just the right amount of pan and cant.

    -Barrel is pretty exposed while the legs are deployed, but this allows for cooling via air circulation.

    -Several available lengths and platforms. Mine is 14".

    -Built in rear QD sockets are rotation limited.

    -Inner diameter seems large enough for suppressor usage inside of the rail, although only the front 1-2" would be usable.


    Potential areas of improvement:

    -Side MLok slots at the front of the rifle are too long and not to spec.

    -Angled front slots aren't MLok, when they easily could be. The same goes for the angled slots along the side of the rail, although changing those to MLok might add weight.

    -Bottom of the rail should have more MLok slots. There are only 4, and they don't go very far forward.

    -Built in QD sockets up front would be nice

    -Clamping force for barrel nut is just a single screw, and it really only holds the rail in place with friction. While this bolt physically prevents the rail from sliding all the way off, only friction holds the rail all the way back. Some sort of wedge or thinner groove for the screw would be ideal.

    -Bipod legs are held in place with small magnets. These magnets have not failed on me at all, however I have concerns that an impact could deploy them. Stronger or larger magnets would be good.

    -Outer diameter is somewhat large, as necessitated by the front bipod ball joint. Magpul MLok rail covers barely fit because of this outer diameter, others may have issues.

    -Somewhat heavy. This is to be expected due to the design, but I feel that some weight could be saved by careful placement of MLok and possibly reducing the number of separate parts held together with screws. With that said, this rail is far lighter than my old DDM4 15" rail with Harris bipod. It feels very close to the weight of that rail setup without the bipod at all.

    -The bipod legs are locked in the deployed position with a notch that is released with buttons on the side. I have not done extreme durability testing on this, however I can see some concern that a hard strike to the deployed legs could sheer off the locking lug. I would like to see a larger surface area and a stronger lock.

    Final note: my iron sights were properly zeroed with my previous rail, and were close to mechanical zero. With this rail installed, I had to adjust my iron sights windage quite far to the left (rounds were striking off paper to the right) in order to zero. ACOG did not have this issue, and was only 2 clicks away from previous zero. I'm not sure if my rail has some sort of flaw, but installation was performed by a professional and verified twice. The sights are zeroed now, but the rear sight is more to the left than I wanted.

    Let me know if you guys have any questions or want to know more.
    Last edited by masakari; 04-03-20 at 14:51.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
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    Love the use of dead space to integrate the bipod. Will be interested to hear if you continue to like it as it gets more use.
    Open the pig!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    NC
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    Long term performance of the bipod/handguard? Brownells just sent out an alert that they are selling these.

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