A few questions for you SL-8 experts
Which H&K handguard is pictured in Hera-Arms's website for their BCK Gen 2.
G36K handguard
ht tp://www.hera-arms.com/#!bck/c1nni
I know it's not the short G36c. Essentially whichever one has 4 vent holes (Vs 6 for the stock one).
As for the price for one (?), in comparison to the B&T rails?
HK G36K new $140 B&T $375 (tax, sipping included)
Availability?
Both are available.
Weight? Are the HK pieces lighter than the B&T rails (of the same / comparable length)?
HK is slightly lighter, but B&T is aluminum and has more rail space.
Which barrel would that be (pictured)? If I understood the different lengths offered, all of the H&K shorter barrel are all under 18.5", thus all restricted. If so, have any of you had their SL8 barreled machined down to 18.5" as per our NR barrel lenght designation? Or simply have had a complete new barrel made by a gunsmith?
The HERA one looks like it was an SL8 that was cut down and threaded. I have Had my SL8 barrel cut to 18.5 and the barrel re-profiled to save weight. You could have a new one made from scratch, but that would cost $500+/-. Herron Arms might be able to help with that.
I can only assume that with:
a) shorter and lighter barrel
b) shorter and lighter handguard and
c) off with the long top rail top rails (that I always found..well...not that great looking) and use the Hera top rail kit
-> one would end up with a platform that would eliminate a good portion of the "it's darn heavy" critic of SL8s?
Yes. I did a, b and c and find it much better balanced.
See pics: http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?270868-The-SL8-Mods-Info-and-FAQ-Thread&p=7317447&viewfull=1#post7317447
Or am I completely out to lunch on this chain of thought?