I recently purchased an MRFS-DI Samson Mfg. rail system from Dave's Surplus(New Westminster, B.C), for my spare carbine length AR15.
Cost - $300. Which was more than from Arms East ($245), but I like supporting local business if the price is not too much more.
Here is a short review with a couple pictures
I will be contrasting most of its features to the Knight's Armament M4 RAS
The MRFS-DI (Drop-in) is a straight drop in railed replacement for the stock plastic carbine length hand guards. It does NOT free float the barrel.
The bottom is removable to allow mounting of an M203 of similar device.
It is constructed of anodized aluminum (maybe 6061-T6?)
Overall build impression is excellent. Machining is clean, anodizing is thick, and lettering is sharp and clear. Fit was excellent, but with some slight movement due to mounting/support system.
I recommend this rail system for average users that want to mount a few accessories, don't want to spend too much, and don't want to have to modify their carbine.
The top rail portion has a slot to fit the barrel nut, and has stainless pins to index to it as well, to prevent rotation.
You can also see the elongated vent holes, 1/4-20NC threaded holes for accessory mounting, lightning slots with engraving, and ridges running the length on the inside (from the extrusion process?) maybe for extra surface area?
You will notice at the front that there is not a barrel rest like on the Knight's Armament M4 RAS to prevent tilting of the handguard when under high load.
There is also no rear clamp like the Knight's RAS.
The bottom removable rail portion has the same slot to fit the barrel nut, elongated vent holes, NO heat sheild, lightining slots with engraving, 1/4-20NC threaded holes, and ridges running the length. The slots seen on the top of either side are to clear the screw holes when mated to the upper portion.
Here is a shot of the front of the rail when mounted to an Armalite barrel with round handguard cap.
Here you can see how the two halves slide together, which is a very nice, slight interference fit. You can also see the notches to clear the 1/4-20 screws
The two halves slid apart. You can also see closely the ridges running the entire length of the handguard. Also visible is the slot in the rail to allow for the locking tab in the Knight's Armament rail cover (and similar others) to lock into.
There are some downsides to this rail: It relys heavily on the front handguard cap to prevent movement at the front of the rail. This becomes worse with the bottom rail removed. There is also no clamp in the rear, such as in the Knigh's Armament M4 RAS, which makes it less rigid (for a non-free floating rail system). A curious anomaly is that you cannot mount an accessory that straddles both the upper reciever rail and the handguard rail. The slots do NOT line up with standard accessory spacing (like ACOG scope, etc.), whereas the Knight's RAS DOES.
This might not be a concern, especially since this is NOT a free floating system.
Summary: This is an excellent rail system for an average user who needs to mount a light, vertical grip, etc, doesn't want to modify their carbine, doesn't want to spend/find a Knight's or other high end rail, and has no need to free float the barrel.
Recommended!
Ahab.
Cost - $300. Which was more than from Arms East ($245), but I like supporting local business if the price is not too much more.
Here is a short review with a couple pictures
I will be contrasting most of its features to the Knight's Armament M4 RAS
The MRFS-DI (Drop-in) is a straight drop in railed replacement for the stock plastic carbine length hand guards. It does NOT free float the barrel.
The bottom is removable to allow mounting of an M203 of similar device.
It is constructed of anodized aluminum (maybe 6061-T6?)
Overall build impression is excellent. Machining is clean, anodizing is thick, and lettering is sharp and clear. Fit was excellent, but with some slight movement due to mounting/support system.
I recommend this rail system for average users that want to mount a few accessories, don't want to spend too much, and don't want to have to modify their carbine.
The top rail portion has a slot to fit the barrel nut, and has stainless pins to index to it as well, to prevent rotation.
You can also see the elongated vent holes, 1/4-20NC threaded holes for accessory mounting, lightning slots with engraving, and ridges running the length on the inside (from the extrusion process?) maybe for extra surface area?
You will notice at the front that there is not a barrel rest like on the Knight's Armament M4 RAS to prevent tilting of the handguard when under high load.
There is also no rear clamp like the Knight's RAS.
The bottom removable rail portion has the same slot to fit the barrel nut, elongated vent holes, NO heat sheild, lightining slots with engraving, 1/4-20NC threaded holes, and ridges running the length. The slots seen on the top of either side are to clear the screw holes when mated to the upper portion.
Here is a shot of the front of the rail when mounted to an Armalite barrel with round handguard cap.
Here you can see how the two halves slide together, which is a very nice, slight interference fit. You can also see the notches to clear the 1/4-20 screws
The two halves slid apart. You can also see closely the ridges running the entire length of the handguard. Also visible is the slot in the rail to allow for the locking tab in the Knight's Armament rail cover (and similar others) to lock into.
There are some downsides to this rail: It relys heavily on the front handguard cap to prevent movement at the front of the rail. This becomes worse with the bottom rail removed. There is also no clamp in the rear, such as in the Knigh's Armament M4 RAS, which makes it less rigid (for a non-free floating rail system). A curious anomaly is that you cannot mount an accessory that straddles both the upper reciever rail and the handguard rail. The slots do NOT line up with standard accessory spacing (like ACOG scope, etc.), whereas the Knight's RAS DOES.
This might not be a concern, especially since this is NOT a free floating system.
Summary: This is an excellent rail system for an average user who needs to mount a light, vertical grip, etc, doesn't want to modify their carbine, doesn't want to spend/find a Knight's or other high end rail, and has no need to free float the barrel.
Recommended!
Ahab.
