This is my first post, and I have a question about the Factory Handguard on the M&P®15-22 SPORT™ M-LOK™ CA COMPLIANT. I apologize for any errors in advance, I'm new and I do not know all the names of gun parts, abbreviations, etc. in the community.
Anyway, on to the question. I was looking into getting the 15-22 as a beginning rifle to train for the AR Platform and came across this site about AR Handguards. They claimed that Free Floating Handguards would provide better accuracy opposed to the standard factory handguard.
"The accuracy of the free floating hanguard comes from the fact that the handguard doesn’t touch the barrel – it is mounted directly to the upper receiver. This allows the barrel to “float” and gives better harmonics, resulting in slightly better accuracy.
The accuracy difference is especially evident when using grips or bipods on the handguard. When you rest a rifle on a bipod that is attached to the barrel (or a drop-in handguard) the bipod will create force that can slightly warp the barrel. This small amount of warping can provide fairly significant accuracy issues down the range. But with a free float handguard, you can put all kinds of force on the hanguard and it won't affect the barrel whatsoever." - From Website
The Factory Handguard on the 15-22 is not a Free Floating Handguard. I know the 15-22 is not an AR but the whole accuracy thing should still apply to both, right? Now I also know all about the conversion kit you can get to swap out the Factory Handguard with a Free Floating Handguard... but I would like to keep the Factory Handguard in place. To be honest, I am a little afraid of trying to preform the switch and messing something up major.
I watched the videos of people taking off the Factory Handguard and swapping it, and It got me wondering about one of their steps. I need to show this picture in order to get across what I am trying to say.
http://smith-wessonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=365880&stc=1&d=1541732068
(Not my picture, found it on google then edited it.)
In this picture, I have highlighted in red the "nose?" that is attached to the front of the Factory Handguard and goes around the barrel. From my knowledge, which isn't much, this is the point where the barrel is attached to the handguard - and also the point where the force from "grips or bipods" would affect the barrel, causing it to slightly warp.
In the video I watched, the "nose?" was taken off before then proceeding to use a PVC Pipe/barrel wrench thing to take off the Factory Hanguard. So finally to my question, sorry it took so long.
If I just take off the "nose?" highlighted in red in my attachment, will the Factory Handguard act like a Free Floating Handguard? It seems like the barrel is no longer touching the Handguard... Or is there more going on by the upper receiver (handguard nuts?) that adds warping to the barrel?
I hope that I explained everything right. Thanks in advance.
Anyway, on to the question. I was looking into getting the 15-22 as a beginning rifle to train for the AR Platform and came across this site about AR Handguards. They claimed that Free Floating Handguards would provide better accuracy opposed to the standard factory handguard.
"The accuracy of the free floating hanguard comes from the fact that the handguard doesn’t touch the barrel – it is mounted directly to the upper receiver. This allows the barrel to “float” and gives better harmonics, resulting in slightly better accuracy.
The accuracy difference is especially evident when using grips or bipods on the handguard. When you rest a rifle on a bipod that is attached to the barrel (or a drop-in handguard) the bipod will create force that can slightly warp the barrel. This small amount of warping can provide fairly significant accuracy issues down the range. But with a free float handguard, you can put all kinds of force on the hanguard and it won't affect the barrel whatsoever." - From Website
The Factory Handguard on the 15-22 is not a Free Floating Handguard. I know the 15-22 is not an AR but the whole accuracy thing should still apply to both, right? Now I also know all about the conversion kit you can get to swap out the Factory Handguard with a Free Floating Handguard... but I would like to keep the Factory Handguard in place. To be honest, I am a little afraid of trying to preform the switch and messing something up major.
I watched the videos of people taking off the Factory Handguard and swapping it, and It got me wondering about one of their steps. I need to show this picture in order to get across what I am trying to say.
http://smith-wessonforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=365880&stc=1&d=1541732068
(Not my picture, found it on google then edited it.)
In this picture, I have highlighted in red the "nose?" that is attached to the front of the Factory Handguard and goes around the barrel. From my knowledge, which isn't much, this is the point where the barrel is attached to the handguard - and also the point where the force from "grips or bipods" would affect the barrel, causing it to slightly warp.
In the video I watched, the "nose?" was taken off before then proceeding to use a PVC Pipe/barrel wrench thing to take off the Factory Hanguard. So finally to my question, sorry it took so long.
If I just take off the "nose?" highlighted in red in my attachment, will the Factory Handguard act like a Free Floating Handguard? It seems like the barrel is no longer touching the Handguard... Or is there more going on by the upper receiver (handguard nuts?) that adds warping to the barrel?
I hope that I explained everything right. Thanks in advance.
