Fits neither pioneer nor century ak - FAB Defense AK-47 Vanguard M-LOK Handguard System

This FAB defense handguard-set would fit neither my Century C39 nor my Pioneer Arm's Sporter. Sadly, there was zero way to make the lower handguard fit, even with hours of "fitting" and research on the problem.

The lower guard, like most aftermarket polymer AK lower-guards, has a curved recess/slot in the plastic meant to encompass/fit the lips of the lower handguard cap (on wooden and OEM plastic lower guards, the cap simply goes around the guard, but on aftermarket polymer ones, they usually try to fit the cap into a slot encompassing the cap's lips).

However, even without boring the slot wider, a hammer enabled me to get the cap into/onto the guard completely - but even seated fully, the cap was not back far enough to reach the barrel-cut that the cap locks into place on. So even the flats and slot need to be moved back aput a half centered to allow the lower-guard's cap to lock into place. So, insane amount of "fitting", with harsh to fit d tools would be the only fix.

Unfortunately, the recess (and the flat surfaces the extends beyond the slot) is both too narrow and too shallow for the rifles lower cap to seat back far enough on FAB defense's lower-guard. The slot's shallowness (even when bored out with a filing tool so it clfit the into the slot at all) prevents the handguard cap from reaching the barrel-cut where the cap must lock into place on.

Being curved makes altering ("fitting") the recess very difficult - with the shallowness of the recess being its ultimate unfixable flaw. I spent many hours "fitting" it and researching other's fixes for the guard - but nothing attempted would make it function. I even tried filing down the entire front of the guard - but obviously, in hindsight, that does nothing make the recess and deeper.

The Magpul handguards, that I was trying to replace, installed with minimal to no fitting, and on either firearm (I am replacing the Magpul guards because I need an upper guard that provides a way to install items at the 12 o'clock position, something the Magpul's sadly lacks).

Also problematic is, the upper-handguards' incompatibility with other brands lower guards. The fact that the upper guard will not fit with lower guard's of other brands, without alteration, is an issue in my opinion. The upper guard has protrusions on its ventral-side where they locks into the lower guard - and the the FAB upper recesse on the lower guardd extends ij its entirety, so that if prevents a standard handguard from fitting. actually these lugs prevent the upper guard from seating when you have a different brand's lower guard installed... these could be filed off though, but I'll just get a matching set, since I need lower mounting options as well).

However, with the brute force of a hammer, I was able to seat cap fully on the lower guard without boring the slot wider, the uammer got the guard completely into the slot and around the other parts of the guard - but, even seated fully 100%, the cap was not back far enough on the barrel to reach the barrel-cut that it locks into place on. So you would have the deepen the slot, AND the flats that extend beyond the slot, for this guard to be usable. Practically an impossible task.

The problem in fixing this that the faulty recess/slot sharply curved; no tool can really get into there to make it deeper, possily if had a wire-saw that fit into it, you could use the wire the cut the slot deeper.

The only way I made the slot wider was to install the smallest cylindrical file I had on a drill, and it opened up. But it did so too much, as it allowed some play kn the guard... had I installed the guard successfully.

This my second failure a FAB defense AK/AKM product. The first being their 10rd 7.62x39mm magazine; it simply would not feed.