Barrel Shroud Question

[Rmuller612]

Morning all,

I am new to the M&P 15 sport community, in fact I am new to the AR community and have a probably newb question.

I was looking at adding a barrel shroud to add to my new sport and was wondering if anyone could give me some insight on how easy or complex this is.

Is it as simple as removing the stock muzzle brake and adding the shroud, or do I need to order an extension, what is the desired length for the shroud? I know my way around handguns, and shotguns pretty well....but want to verify when it comes to an AR.

Thoughts, opinions, and help are very much welcome.

 

[ken158]

Sounds like you are talking about the handguard. More complicated than you describe and suggest you check out some of the youtube videos from Brownells and other places. Special tools are required if you are wanting a floating handguard and they are not cheap. Now, you can go with the snap on Magpul which seem to have a favorable following and will look nice but will do nothing for accuracy like a floating handguard.

 

[Rmuller612]

I replaced the hand guard with a magpul, I am looking more specifically at this AR - 15 - Barrel Shrouds - Kineti-Tech

 

[cyphertext]

I'm sorry, but I have to ask.... why?

 

[Rmuller612]

To personalize it, literally no other reason than to add some flair to it.

 

[ibewbull]

To personalize it, literally no other reason than to add some flair to it.

This is fine but save the old parts to restore it. Also save the box and all the manuals. It will hold or increase future value.
Get magazines if you find a deal before some moap in DC bans them.
Have fun and aim like you have 1 round left. Some day it could make a difference.

 

[cyphertext]

To personalize it, literally no other reason than to add some flair to it.

Ok, fair enough. I would recommend that you contact the manufacturer for advice. Since a barrel shroud basically does nothing but add weight to the AR, they aren't very popular in the AR world. Very popular in the tacticool .22lr world, but many folks try to add weight to those rifles.

And please don't be offended... My son and I both have tacticool .22 rifles... but no barrel shrouds.

 

[cyphertext]

Get magazines if you find a deal before some moap in DC bans them.

Agree... Magazines, ammo, optic... good ways to spend AR money.

 

[Rmuller612]

I take offense to nothing, I was browsing around and saw them. They looked pretty slick, so thought I would ask. Agree it adds nothing but weight, thanks for the response.

 

[cyphertext]

Maybe somebody will chime in.... I just don't recall seeing any of our regular, active posters having a barrel shroud.

Ask about a trigger, handguard, sights, stock, optic, rail, etc., and someone more than likely has tried it out though.

And Welcome to the forum!

 

[gunny4053]

Rmuller612, First off, Welcome to the forum.

Although I haven't used the Kineti-Tech shrouds, I entertained the thought a couple times. Length is determined by the front sight/gas block setup you have. Measure from the front of the front sight to the back of the flash suppressor if you have a standard carbine setup. The front of the shroud is simply a disk that threads on the end of the barrel, whereas the shroud threads onto that and extends back to just in front of the front sight. If you're running a free float rig, you can get one a little longer, but you'll have to measure the gas block to determine inside clearance as well as the inside diameter of your hand guard. This is so you can have proper clearance for the shroud to slip inside the hand guard. Their "design your own shroud" feature allows you to pick the end cap and shroud style you want, and cost about the same as the pre-made models.

Hope this helps. Good Luck and good shooting.