13 or 15" handguard on 18" barrel

[funkymonkey1111]

folks,

i'm looking at these bravo company 18" uppers--they offer them in 13 or 15" handguards/rails. all i've ever had experience with is a 16" barrel with a 7" handguard.

for those with longer barrels--is there any advantage from one to the other? the rifle would likely just have a scope on it and I don't know if i need all that rail out there anyway.

thanks in advance.

http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/BCM-SS410-18-SPR-KMR-KEYMOD-p/bcm-urg-18-ss410-kmr13.htm

[davsel]

My .02
The longer the better.
Shooting the Pueblo Tactical Rifle match with a 7" handguard over a 16" barrel, and I kept wanting to rest the barrel on the barricades/tree limbs/obstacles - terrible idea for accuracy.
Being able to rest the handguard on an obstacle for stability without hurting accuracy is a huge plus.

[BuffCyclist]

If it helps you decide, here is one of my rifles.

18" Blackhole Weaponry Barrel, Rifle Length Gas
15" Troy Alpha Rail
No brake in this pic

I honestly love this length combo. My other AR is a 16" carbine with 10" FF rail, always felt a little short to me.

48279

[funkymonkey1111]

thanks--i should say what i really want is the 15", but it's never in stock. sounds like 15" is probably the way to go

[BuffCyclist]

The 15" was released for sale just a couple of weeks ago, and everyone wanted it. Don't be surprised that its not in stock, just keep checking back often and don't hesitate to buy it when it comes back in stock [LOL]. I don't remember if BCM allows you to store a CC on file, but if they do, you might be able to add it to your account now so checkout takes a matter of less than a minute when its back in stock.

[mtnrider]

I'm planning a similar build and was wonder which to go with as well (13" or 15"). I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the 13" myself. My arms aren't long enough to comfortably reach out to the end of a 15" rail so it's just wasted space and extra weight.

[funkymonkey1111]

The 13" has been back in stock twice over the past 10 days but the 15" hasn't. I'm getting itchy because BCM is including their bolt carrier groups for free for a "limited time."

[BuffCyclist]

Have you tried calling them to ask? Perhaps if you call, they'll let you backorder it now?

[funkymonkey1111]

I actually sent them an email asking how long the BCG promotion would last or if it was the new norm for them. They said it was for a limited time and that they did not accept backorders.

[XC700116]

One nice thing about a 15" (I have 15" HG's on 2 of my uppers with 18" barrels) is that if you want to do any precision work with them, getting a bipod out farther helps in stability. I really like them. The only drawback I've found is trying to mount a magneatospeed chronoraph on them is kinda a PITA, but I've been able to work around it.

[Robb]

6.8. 18" barrel 13" rail. Initially I wanted a 15" but I like the way it ended up.

[ray1970]

I had a 15" handguard on a 16" barrel for a little while. I kind of liked the way it looked. I also figured there wasn't any really good reason for having any of the barrel exposed anyways. This setup let me reach out and grab it wherever I wanted without worrying about grabbing something hot. Supporting the front end against something for support was also pretty easy and trouble free. And since I was running iron sights having them as far apart as possibly really helped with accuracy.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m98/rjs1970/Mobile%20Uploads/photo2_zpse36be88a.jpg

[ChunkyMonkey]

15" KMR or 15" Strike Industries Keymod are Extremely light.

[brutal]

FWIW, I have a 15" Alpha rail on a BCM BFH 16" upper with glass on it and agree that getting the bipod out farther helps. I do like that all the barrel is covered on that setup. I wish they had released the KMR rails a little sooner, I could have saved myself a few bucks on a package deal.

[HoneyBadger]

I just bought a 16" BCM upper with a 13" KMR. If the 15" KMR was available at the time, I would have jumped on it. Longer is better for sight radius and stability, as mentioned previously, and I really love the look of a long HG.