Paragon Gunsmiths from United States, CA Public Profile

The question has come up, "Will KeyMod replace Picatinny?" In my opinion, NO!, but here is a solution featuring both.

If you like the more traditional skeletonized type free floating handguard the TROY INDUSTRIES, INC. – AR-15/M16 SDMR RAILS in BLACK has a fixed twelve o’clock Picatinny rail as well as fixed rail segments at the front three, six and nine o’clock positions. It’s also equipped with KeyMod positions for adding additional rails and accessories behind the fixed rail segments. It is machined from hardened aircraft aluminum with stainless steel components and finished in MIL-SPEC hard-coat anodizing. It uses your existing traditional barrel nut so you can enjoy all the positive effects of a free floated barrel for accuracy.

This particular free float handguard offers excellent flexibility but it gets pricey, but as the saying goes, you get what you pay for and this is top notch.

The SDMR Bravo KeyMod Handguards comes in 11” 13” and 15” lengths, are T marked for easy replacement of optics and range from $266 to $289, so if you love a great kit and don’t mind spending the money to get it, this is where you start.

There is one caviet to this review, the hand guards come with Allen screws and an Allen wrench. I have purchased three different Troy products over the past two weeks and each on came with an Allen wrench that was too small for the supplied screws. Be aware of their quality control issue but it does not affect the quality of this handguard.

Paragon Gu

I saw the Mission First Tactical Minimalist stock the first time on MFT’s Facebook page months ago. I don’t know how long it’s been in development, or how long they have been teasing the general public with pictures of it, but ive been waiting to get my mitts on one since then. Well, the UPS fairy finally delivered and I tore into the package like Christmas morning.

See, I’m a gear (censored by Optics Planet). I didn’t want to get my hands on the Minimalist because I wanted a new stock; I wanted to get my hands on it to break it. I've tested Mission First Tactical stocks in the past, they sent me their Battlelink Utility Stock last year and even after running it over with 5000 pounds of American V8 twice, I could not break it. Short of setting it on fire or using a sawz-all, I was at the limit of realistic tests for durability and have to submit to the fact that it was a well-built stock. Admittedly, running it over with my truck was outside of the “normal wear and tear” envelope even for the speediest of high speed BAMFs. I had to acquiesce to this truth and keep in mind when testing the Minimalist.

First test for any stock is the fit. I removed my current stock and slid on the Minimalist MILSPEC model to a Vltor MILSPEC tube. No play, no rattle, nothing to complain about. I expected that, so I immediately set to working on consistent cheek weld. The Minimalist is called the Minimalist for a reason; it’s minimal. (Grunts: minimal) So minimal that what you are get

I purchased this item for a customer who wanted it. I installed it but found that the installation can be a bit tricky. These hand-guards are made for a mil-spec barrel nut. If the nut is out of spec, as my customer's was, it can be a bit tricky to get it to fit. I had to change his barrel nut out for a "genuine Colt" barrel nut before it would fit properly. Be aware of this before you buy and you will be OK. The product is well built and one of the best hand-guards I have seen.