I hit the range with a buddy this afternoon to do some highly unscientific tests with the NEA railed M4 stock adaptor. The rifle was set up as seen in the pic below (top rifle). Installed were: NEA stock adaptor, NEA Gen 3 upper handguard, NEA new style lower handguard, and hybrid muzzle device. Also Yankee Hill Machine AR BUIS and a home-mangled FAB pistol grip.
Straight line stocks inline with the bore are supposed to reduce muzzle climb. My buddy and I took turns shooting and observing the result. It was quite apparent that the NEA set-up had no discernible muzzle climb as compared to the other rifle with the factory fixed stock. The factory stock gun had about 2" of muzzle rise.
I'm a fan of peep sights so the AR BUIS are a nice addition to the VZ. I did have to crank my rear sight windage over a long way and the front sight down even farther to get it zeroed. It looks like my front BUIS is off center but I couldn't tell for certain if it's a defect in the BUIS or the if the gas block is canted a bit. I'll have to take a closer look at it. The front barrel clamp would be nice to have on this rifle to free up the handguard for optics.
In that configuration the rifle is very nice to shoot, though I do find I have to increase the length of pull to longer than what I normally use, in order to get my eye far enough away from the rear BUIS.
The next thing I tried out was the new NEA barrel clamp rail. As mentioned it can be used for the front BUIS in the M4-type set-up and also as a stand-alone optic mount. I find this option appealing as there's no need to remove the optic for cleaning.
This rifle has the NEA Gen 4 upper/lower handguards, NEA barrel clamp rail, Neit Arms tabbed/LH charging handle bolt carrier, and an old John Marshall muzzle brake. Optic is a Bushnell TRS-25, previously mounted on the upper handguard (as seen in top pic).
Detail view of barrel clamp:
I installed the rail and home and moved the optic to it at the range. After installing the optic I test fired and noticed it was stringing the rounds vertically. Make sure you have the rail clamp tightened down properly and Loc-tited or this may happen to you, too. Once installed properly the POI did not waver.
I did not have the time to fire more than about 50 rounds through the rifle with the optic on the rail, so it didn't get very hot. The clamp was no hotter than the handguard so I don't anticipate any heat-related issues with the optic. Time will tell.
I think the options available to Canadian VZ shooters are really quite amazing. It's not hard to create the perfect rifle for you.

Straight line stocks inline with the bore are supposed to reduce muzzle climb. My buddy and I took turns shooting and observing the result. It was quite apparent that the NEA set-up had no discernible muzzle climb as compared to the other rifle with the factory fixed stock. The factory stock gun had about 2" of muzzle rise.
I'm a fan of peep sights so the AR BUIS are a nice addition to the VZ. I did have to crank my rear sight windage over a long way and the front sight down even farther to get it zeroed. It looks like my front BUIS is off center but I couldn't tell for certain if it's a defect in the BUIS or the if the gas block is canted a bit. I'll have to take a closer look at it. The front barrel clamp would be nice to have on this rifle to free up the handguard for optics.
In that configuration the rifle is very nice to shoot, though I do find I have to increase the length of pull to longer than what I normally use, in order to get my eye far enough away from the rear BUIS.
The next thing I tried out was the new NEA barrel clamp rail. As mentioned it can be used for the front BUIS in the M4-type set-up and also as a stand-alone optic mount. I find this option appealing as there's no need to remove the optic for cleaning.
This rifle has the NEA Gen 4 upper/lower handguards, NEA barrel clamp rail, Neit Arms tabbed/LH charging handle bolt carrier, and an old John Marshall muzzle brake. Optic is a Bushnell TRS-25, previously mounted on the upper handguard (as seen in top pic).

Detail view of barrel clamp:

I installed the rail and home and moved the optic to it at the range. After installing the optic I test fired and noticed it was stringing the rounds vertically. Make sure you have the rail clamp tightened down properly and Loc-tited or this may happen to you, too. Once installed properly the POI did not waver.
I did not have the time to fire more than about 50 rounds through the rifle with the optic on the rail, so it didn't get very hot. The clamp was no hotter than the handguard so I don't anticipate any heat-related issues with the optic. Time will tell.
I think the options available to Canadian VZ shooters are really quite amazing. It's not hard to create the perfect rifle for you.