This came in the mail today, a lightly used Troy M14 Battlerail. It didn't come with instructions so I had to wing it. The Troy website has instructions for installing the M14 chassis and the upper part of it is similar enough to the Battlerail that it helped out quite a bit. Some of the pics aren't so good as the shop lighting is crap and it was a different camera than I usually use.
Here's where I started. Rifle was field stripped and rear sight removed. Not pictured are the Loc-tite, flat-head screwdriver, or 3/4" wrench I needed to remove the flash suppressor. The oval-ish parts to the right of the rail are the pieces that anchor the front of the rail.
I was a bit surprised that I had to remove the front stock ferrule. To do that the gas system needs to come off the rifle. This pic shows the Vortex, the gas plug and the piston (not shown) removed. Also shows the gas lock front sight (GLFS) partially spun off. The rubber mallet got it moving.
Once the front sight was off, the gas block was tapped forward with the mallet. It moved quite easily.
All the front end parts removed. Caution: if the gas system is shimmed, take care not to lose the shim(s) when disassembling. Mine had one shim and I almost lost it.
Place the rail on top of the rifle and line up the holes in the rear sight ears and the side mount hole and loosely install those bolts. Install the front mount pieces. These are what replaces the stock ferrule. It's shown partially screwed in. Tighten the front two screws up tight and reinstall the gas system.
Gas system reinstalled. Note that the GLFS is not lined up. The rubber mallet took care of that. One thing to note when reinstalling the gas system: I initially put the shim back in but that did not allow the GLFS to thread on far enough. I removed the shim and it came up in the position shown in the pic. The Troy front end pieces are different thickness than the Chinese stock ferrule.
After the front end was tightened up I did the same to the sight ear and side mount bolts.
Voila! Installing the bolt and op rod is not significantly harder with the rail on.
In the stock:
Gratuitous gun #### with Falcon Menace 1.5x5-30 installed:
All in all it was pretty easy to do, even without the OEM instructions. The rear sight was a bit frustrating as it didn't come apart exactly the same way as the ones in the instructions I Googled. Removing the gas system was intimidating, but a piece of cake when I actually got to it. If you have a GLFS you may have issues indexing it properly, but nothing that can't be fixed by adding or removing shims. Now, if the weather would just warm up I could get out and shoot it!
Here's where I started. Rifle was field stripped and rear sight removed. Not pictured are the Loc-tite, flat-head screwdriver, or 3/4" wrench I needed to remove the flash suppressor. The oval-ish parts to the right of the rail are the pieces that anchor the front of the rail.

I was a bit surprised that I had to remove the front stock ferrule. To do that the gas system needs to come off the rifle. This pic shows the Vortex, the gas plug and the piston (not shown) removed. Also shows the gas lock front sight (GLFS) partially spun off. The rubber mallet got it moving.

Once the front sight was off, the gas block was tapped forward with the mallet. It moved quite easily.

All the front end parts removed. Caution: if the gas system is shimmed, take care not to lose the shim(s) when disassembling. Mine had one shim and I almost lost it.

Place the rail on top of the rifle and line up the holes in the rear sight ears and the side mount hole and loosely install those bolts. Install the front mount pieces. These are what replaces the stock ferrule. It's shown partially screwed in. Tighten the front two screws up tight and reinstall the gas system.

Gas system reinstalled. Note that the GLFS is not lined up. The rubber mallet took care of that. One thing to note when reinstalling the gas system: I initially put the shim back in but that did not allow the GLFS to thread on far enough. I removed the shim and it came up in the position shown in the pic. The Troy front end pieces are different thickness than the Chinese stock ferrule.

After the front end was tightened up I did the same to the sight ear and side mount bolts.

Voila! Installing the bolt and op rod is not significantly harder with the rail on.

In the stock:



Gratuitous gun #### with Falcon Menace 1.5x5-30 installed:




All in all it was pretty easy to do, even without the OEM instructions. The rear sight was a bit frustrating as it didn't come apart exactly the same way as the ones in the instructions I Googled. Removing the gas system was intimidating, but a piece of cake when I actually got to it. If you have a GLFS you may have issues indexing it properly, but nothing that can't be fixed by adding or removing shims. Now, if the weather would just warm up I could get out and shoot it!