Can you put a rifle length hand guard on a carbine style AR 16"

Dooran

Dooran

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I just bought an SW M&P 15 sport 16" and I'm looking at making some modifications to it, changing the pistol grip, stock, removing the front sight post and adding a flip up and adding a compensator. I've also found a free float hand guard from DPMS that I really like the looks of and am wondering if it's possible to remove my carbine length one and add the rifle length one without having to modify or replace the barrel? I've seen a build with a magpul one where they used a low profile gas block that the hand guard fit over and installed a new regular gas block at the end of the hand guard to connect the front sight post to. I don't want to keep the post I'd like to add a magpul gen 2 front flip up sight to match the rear one that comes with it.

Gun: http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product4_750001_750051_786006_-1_757785_757784_757784_ProductDisplayErrorView_Y

DPMS replacement: http://www.dpmsinc.com/223-M111-Standard-Handguard-Stripped_p_2518.html

Thanks for any help!
 
I doubt it. Have an unfinished C7 hand guard(worked in the factory that made 'em briefly). I'll measure it, but I think it's too long.
 
Yes you can - you will have to remove the whole barrel assembly as it looks like the DPMS M111 uses it's own proprietary barrel nut.

You will have to replace the Front Sight Gas Block with a low profile gas block, and as long as there is enough internal clearance in the DPMS M111 Handguard, you should be fine.
 
ctcs said:
Yes you can - you will have to remove the whole barrel assembly as it looks like the DPMS M111 uses it's own proprietary barrel nut.

You will have to replace the Front Sight Gas Block with a low profile gas block, and as long as there is enough internal clearance in the DPMS M111 Handguard, you should be fine.
Click to expand...

And you get this end-result :cool:

QDK1Dxc.jpg
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You can also look for a hand guard/rail that utilizes the factory barrel nut. NEA and Troy are a couple that come to mind. But there are many more. That way you don't have to mess with removing the stock barrel nut and reinstalling a new one. Which can be difficult and requires special tools.

For the sight you can just cut the A2 sight off of the factory gas block and use the lower gas block portion on its own. Or buy a low pro gas block. Either way, they aren't overly hard to remove and install.
 
Sweet! Thanks that's awesome!


ctcs said:
Yes you can - you will have to remove the whole barrel assembly as it looks like the DPMS M111 uses it's own proprietary barrel nut.

You will have to replace the Front Sight Gas Block with a low profile gas block, and as long as there is enough internal clearance in the DPMS M111 Handguard, you should be fine.
Click to expand...
 
I gotta ask .....

If you don't like the carbine configuration with the A2 front sight and shorty handguard, why did you buy the S&W 'Sport' model and not one with the options you are now going to spend additional money on? You coulda had it all in a factory package, including the FA.

I'll be buying a S&W 'Sport' model as the more I handle my wife's, the more I appreciate it's handiness. The factory sights co-witness just fine through her red dot sight, giving the best of both worlds as needed. If I wanted a "target" AR 15, I'd be buying one.

I'll add a MagPul grip on mine and a non-slip butt pad. End of story. The K.I.S.S. principle works for me.
 
If you don't feel like messing with a new gas block, bust out a grinder or dremel and cut the sight off. Works well and you'll be done in 5 minutes.
 
Sharps '63 said:
I gotta ask .....

If you don't like the carbine configuration with the A2 front sight and shorty handguard, why did you buy the S&W 'Sport' model and not one with the options you are now going to spend additional money on? You coulda had it all in a factory package, including the FA.

I'll be buying a S&W 'Sport' model as the more I handle my wife's, the more I appreciate it's handiness. The factory sights co-witness just fine through her red dot sight, giving the best of both worlds as needed. If I wanted a "target" AR 15, I'd be buying one.

I'll add a MagPul grip on mine and a non-slip butt pad. End of story. The K.I.S.S. principle works for me.
Click to expand...

Cause thats not always how it goes down. Sometimes a person buys whats in their immediate budget, whats available or what they THINK they want only to find out they wanted something different. Or, maybe he didnt like the look of the S&W rail and would have installed his own at some point anyway. And thats the beauty of the AR... even if you bought the wrong one, you can always make it right.
 
Sharps '63 said:
I gotta ask .....

If you don't like the carbine configuration with the A2 front sight and shorty handguard, why did you buy the S&W 'Sport' model and not one with the options you are now going to spend additional money on? You coulda had it all in a factory package, including the FA.

I'll be buying a S&W 'Sport' model as the more I handle my wife's, the more I appreciate it's handiness. The factory sights co-witness just fine through her red dot sight, giving the best of both worlds as needed. If I wanted a "target" AR 15, I'd be buying one.

I'll add a MagPul grip on mine and a non-slip butt pad. End of story. The K.I.S.S. principle works for me.
Click to expand...

A. the few they make in 16" with a rifle length hand guard are 2-3 times more expensive and B. I don't like the look of the 2 they have.

I can buy the hand guard for less than $150, I'm trading my front post sight to a gunsmith for a free gas block and labour and replacement for a build he wants to do. I'm spending way less and it was the only model the local business I'm support had for me to buy. And as one o the other posters mentioned when I bought the gun I intended on adding a carbine length one but that changed when I was researching them.

No brainer really.
 
This!
Except I don't think there's such a thing as a wrong AR. They're ALL right! :p

pavmentsurfer said:
Cause thats not always how it goes down. Sometimes a person buys whats in their immediate budget, whats available or what they THINK they want only to find out they wanted something different. Or, maybe he didnt like the look of the S&W rail and would have installed his own at some point anyway. And thats the beauty of the AR... even if you bought the wrong one, you can always make it right.
Click to expand...
 
This is what I did with my Stag 16. The tube is a 15 inch Samson. I used a low profile gas block in lieu of the stock unit and added a Stag 3G compensator.

 
I bought a Troy handguard and I'm not sure that I like the way that it mounts to the stock barrel nut. I think in future I would buy a handguard that mounts solidly to a proprietary nut instead.

And I'm a complete newb to this - I beat the front sight post off my carbine, lightly lapped and installed the low pro replacement after replacing the proprietary existing barrel nut with a mil spec one, and got it all together. Not a big deal (although I've not fired it yet to make sure that it works LOL ).

You just need the upper and lower vice blocks and the armourers wrench and a few cheap punches from Princess Auto. I bought nail setting punches with a cupped tip for starting the taper pins out of the A2 sight block.

And I gave the whole thing a dose of KROIL days before working on it since I had heard what a royal ##### it is to remove the front sight on a Norc. Mine was downright anticlimactic in comparison to those horror stories of 4 pound hammers and manning-up...
 
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