I got my hands on the new NEA lower handguard today and ran it through a bit.
Like the upper it`s milled beautifully and you can really see the quality of design and machining that Jeff has at hand. It`s super light and has the same coating as the upper. The coat seems to be a little thin but I`m told that that`s being addressed. Since like everything else I own it was getting painted anyways, no problem here.
Installation was a interesting process as this lower is TIGHT.. I had to tap it in place with a rubber mallet. It came with a roll pin for the receiver, but I`m pretty sure that it`d hold there without it it fits that tight. It feels very solid when mounted, more so than any other lower I`ve seen yet.
It`s hard to explain the ergonomics of the lower. It`s square at the rear yet triangular at the front due to the rail. It rests really well on a bag or shelf and is comfortable off-hand once you get used to it. With the rail not melding into the body but rather tapering off, you get a familiar point to reindex your front grip on when transiting or on mag changes.
I did a ammo dump on this to see how the upper and lower handled the heat and I was surprised how cool it remained. Granted it`s fairly cool outside right now..
The downside for me was the lack of side rails, so I installed a set I had laying around.
Again.. I like it. NEA has another winner. I don`t know if I`m happier that someone is making good quality, available VZ parts.. or that it`s a Canadian company doing it.
Like the upper it`s milled beautifully and you can really see the quality of design and machining that Jeff has at hand. It`s super light and has the same coating as the upper. The coat seems to be a little thin but I`m told that that`s being addressed. Since like everything else I own it was getting painted anyways, no problem here.
Installation was a interesting process as this lower is TIGHT.. I had to tap it in place with a rubber mallet. It came with a roll pin for the receiver, but I`m pretty sure that it`d hold there without it it fits that tight. It feels very solid when mounted, more so than any other lower I`ve seen yet.
It`s hard to explain the ergonomics of the lower. It`s square at the rear yet triangular at the front due to the rail. It rests really well on a bag or shelf and is comfortable off-hand once you get used to it. With the rail not melding into the body but rather tapering off, you get a familiar point to reindex your front grip on when transiting or on mag changes.
I did a ammo dump on this to see how the upper and lower handled the heat and I was surprised how cool it remained. Granted it`s fairly cool outside right now..
The downside for me was the lack of side rails, so I installed a set I had laying around.
Again.. I like it. NEA has another winner. I don`t know if I`m happier that someone is making good quality, available VZ parts.. or that it`s a Canadian company doing it.
