I recently tried a new handguard that I really like it so I thought I’d pass along the word.
The first time I picked up my 15-22, I hated the way the handguard felt so I started looking for something to replace it with. In one of the handguard threads, a member was offering to sell his Diamondhead handguard. I went to the Diamondhead webpage to take a look at what he was selling and saw this free float one under it and it caught my eye:
V-RS Drop-In & Free-Floating Rail Systems . The shape really intrigued me so I called Diamondhead USA and spoke to Dave. He is a really nice guy and was very helpful. After talking to Dave, I made my purchase. As soon as I hung up with him I called Jody at Tacticool to get the adapter parts coming.
When all the parts came and I unwrapped everything, the first thought I had was that it’s a shame that barrel nut is going to be hidden. The machining is seriously that slick looking. The handguard itself is very light, yet very solid feeling, and has a really nice texture to it.
Installation was easy. Here is a little tip to make it even faster. I’ve read that a lot of people have used a pocket knife to take the coating off the adapter so that the threads will fit easier. However, what I did was put a light wire brush on my bench grinder and it only took about 10-15 seconds to get all of the coating off which left the adapter slick and able to tighten all the way.
Everything is very tight and precise, there are no gaps, and the rail seats perfectly. The two hex head screws run through the handguard and fit into two grooves on the barrel nut helping lock it down. The round triangular shape is perfect as far as I’m concerned. It’s very light and sits in your hand just right. It doesn’t come with any rails, but it is pre drilled. They sell different length rails and bumpers so it can be configured anyway you want. I think it’s sleek the way it is, so I only bought one rail for the bottom. For you guys that like all the bells and whistles I would think being able to put different length rails and bumpers together in any configuration would be a major advantage.
After using it I can say this is by far the best handguard I’ve ever used. Ventilation was well thought out too. I ran it hard and heat was not a problem. I’m pretty hard on my gear so time will tell how it holds up, but I can’t see anything happening that would make me not like it. I even think it looks really good which is pretty rare for me.
On a side note, anyone who is into iron sights should check out the ones on the Diamondhead page, they are very interesting .