Firefield carbon fiber handguard, anyone used it?

[phishfood]

Found this while browsing around at Cheaper than Dirt.

Anyone used it, or know anything more about it?

https://www.cheaperthandirt.com/firefiel...25631.html

[phishfood]

I am about to order one, I will let the Horde know my thoughts.

[Kswhitetails]

Good on you. Go for it, report back.

[phishfood]

Just got done installing it.

It seems that this is more of a plastic handguard that has some carbon fiber maybe thrown in it, rather than a true carbon fiber with resin filler material.

For the 10" that I got, weight on a cheap postal scale seems to be around 6 1/2 ounces, with the included aluminum barrel nut.

The barrel nut does not need to be timed for either the gas tube or the handguard.

There are MLock slots on the sides and the bottom, as well as a full length Picatinny rail on the top. I haven't yet tried mounting anything to the rail or the MLock slots.

Mounted, there is a good deal of clearance around the .750 low profile gas block, both above and to the sides. However, it doesn't take a lot of effort to force the handguard into contact with the gas block, as the handguard has a lot of flex to it. I don't foresee this being a problem from a rest, as there is ample clearance underneath the gas block.

Takeaway right now is this. I am concerned that once things get hot, the large percentage of plastic in the handguard is going to cause unacceptable amounts of movement. Even cold (~75 degrees), there is too much flex to mount any type of sights. Lights would probably be OK.

This handguard is currently on a 5.56 rifle that has just been rebarreled. Going to take it out tomorrow and run it hard, then see if the guard turns into a noodle. News at 11. AM, that is.

[phishfood]

I was pleasantly surprised by how well the handguard handled the heat. It didn't seem to flex and give a lot more hot than it did cold. I could push it and make contact with the bottom of the gas block, but I had to try.

It did absorb heat pretty quickly, a few times I had trouble holding onto it with bare hands during long strings of fire.

[Lastrites]

Thanks for taking one in the wallet, the rail sure didn't look like any cf rail I've ever seen that was in the raw. My next rail is likely going to be the $130 cf one from Tac-Star made by Lyman, something about it is calling me.

[phishfood]

Update on this handguard.

It has a quick disconnect point for a sling swivel on each side of the handguard just ahead of the barrel nut. I put a sling on the rifle this last weekend, and ran into an issue with the disconnect point. The quick disconnect would not lock into place. After looking at it for awhile, I realized that the cut out in the connection point was cut much to far down from the outer edge. I started out with a file, cutting the surface down. After about 1/2 an hour with the file, I realized that I would have a few more gray hairs before I got enough material removed to make it work. I ended up going after it (carefully) with a handgrinder. It now locks in place firmly.