- Location
- Vernon, BC
Hello all!
I thought I would offer my thoughts and perspective on the product that NEA and as time allows Neit Arms has brought to market. The first of which are the NEA hand guards
Those of you that know me, know that I am a die-hard-AR guy. I really like this platform as:
Now, I do not like to hang all kinds of kit over my AR, but I do believe a combative style carbine should be augmented with optics, a backup sighting system, and a flash light for low light engagment.
As of late however I have been doing a lot of research on the Vz-58 carbine and its none-restricted relative the CZ-858. This Weapons sytem has a lot of things going for it.
Not that long ago Charles Martel and I were discussing the merits of said carbine from a defensive/combative shooting point of view, and I was lamenting the deficits of the VZ/CZ carbine when compared to the AR, namely that it was really difficult to mount optics and it was not particularly modular.
Charles told me he had a solution for those issues and sent me off a set of his latest hand-guards. Not that long after that conversation, I received a set of the NEA Gen 4, rev 1 hand-guards. I carefully inspected them, and then mounted them on my “used but new to me” CZ-858 carbine, and they look like this:
My initial impressions were that there were very well made Billet hand-guards (meaning they were machined from a solid block of material). I did a “scratch test” on the inside of the hand-guards, which while not scientific, showed results of even coating (if not somewhat lighter in pigment),and similar results to other mil-spec uppers AR receivers I had tested. The following compares the fit and finish of the installed hand-guards to a RRA (top) and a Stag (bottom) upper recievers;
When installing the Hand-guards, the upper and lower were a very tight fit to the carbine. Both parts required a block &/or punch and hammer to be tapped into place. The lower hand-guard role pin was ½" to long and needed to be ground to size. That being said, once attached, these hand guards gave a very solid overall feel to the carbine. Further, there is a set-screw in the front of the top hand-guard, than when a consistent amount of torque is applied, ensures that the HG’s return to the same position every time, and therefor capable of holding zero after removal and reinstallation.
One does however need to be careful when removing the HG’s, as the ball detent that holds the cross pin in place is not captured, and if the pin is totally removed, you stand a good chance of losing the ball detent and spring that holds the pin in place.
Over all I am very pleased with the results. While the optic in the photo look like they are mounted very high, it actually only uses the standard QRP mount with the spacer provided and gives the most fantastic heads up sight picture. I am very please with the balance and ergonomics of this set up, and look forward to giving it a good work out at the range.
On that note, range report to follow as time allows.
regards and all the best
AbH
I thought I would offer my thoughts and perspective on the product that NEA and as time allows Neit Arms has brought to market. The first of which are the NEA hand guards
Those of you that know me, know that I am a die-hard-AR guy. I really like this platform as:
- I know how it works
- I know what to do to keep it reliable
- its easy to mount optics
- its modular and easily adaptable fo the task at hand.
Now, I do not like to hang all kinds of kit over my AR, but I do believe a combative style carbine should be augmented with optics, a backup sighting system, and a flash light for low light engagment.
As of late however I have been doing a lot of research on the Vz-58 carbine and its none-restricted relative the CZ-858. This Weapons sytem has a lot of things going for it.
- Its relatively inexpensive to acquire (when compare to the AR)
- At this point ammo is of good quality, inexpensive, and relatively easy to acquire (i.e. after a couple of phone calls, and with in the span of 3 day I was able to acquire 4,480 rounds for less than $800 of the Czech. M43 ball)
- For a left handed shooter the ergonomics are quite good
Not that long ago Charles Martel and I were discussing the merits of said carbine from a defensive/combative shooting point of view, and I was lamenting the deficits of the VZ/CZ carbine when compared to the AR, namely that it was really difficult to mount optics and it was not particularly modular.
Charles told me he had a solution for those issues and sent me off a set of his latest hand-guards. Not that long after that conversation, I received a set of the NEA Gen 4, rev 1 hand-guards. I carefully inspected them, and then mounted them on my “used but new to me” CZ-858 carbine, and they look like this:
My initial impressions were that there were very well made Billet hand-guards (meaning they were machined from a solid block of material). I did a “scratch test” on the inside of the hand-guards, which while not scientific, showed results of even coating (if not somewhat lighter in pigment),and similar results to other mil-spec uppers AR receivers I had tested. The following compares the fit and finish of the installed hand-guards to a RRA (top) and a Stag (bottom) upper recievers;
When installing the Hand-guards, the upper and lower were a very tight fit to the carbine. Both parts required a block &/or punch and hammer to be tapped into place. The lower hand-guard role pin was ½" to long and needed to be ground to size. That being said, once attached, these hand guards gave a very solid overall feel to the carbine. Further, there is a set-screw in the front of the top hand-guard, than when a consistent amount of torque is applied, ensures that the HG’s return to the same position every time, and therefor capable of holding zero after removal and reinstallation.
One does however need to be careful when removing the HG’s, as the ball detent that holds the cross pin in place is not captured, and if the pin is totally removed, you stand a good chance of losing the ball detent and spring that holds the pin in place.
Note: When discussing this with Charels, he has assured me that Gen 4, rev 2, the cross pin would be on to two thousands of an inch small for easier installation/removal, the ball detent would be captured, and the pine would be the correct length.
The lines of these guards give a “lower profile and sleek” impression, and there was just enough rail to mount an my favorite optic and flash light (an Comp M4 and a Surefire X300 with lock out switch) and yielded the following results:
Over all I am very pleased with the results. While the optic in the photo look like they are mounted very high, it actually only uses the standard QRP mount with the spacer provided and gives the most fantastic heads up sight picture. I am very please with the balance and ergonomics of this set up, and look forward to giving it a good work out at the range.
On that note, range report to follow as time allows.
regards and all the best
AbH
