Brownells is killin' the game, Wrenchman MLOK free float handguards for $99.99-109.99

[Casual Friday]

From their retro line to the modern rendition of the Colt 4x20 carry handle optic, I'm really digging a lot of what Brownells has been doing lately. They're available in 10.5", 12.625", and 15". I just ordered the 10.5" version, should be here Thursday or Friday. I'm gonna pair it with a blem Aero stripped lower and upper I bought and will report back once it gets here.

https://www.brownells.com/rifle-parts/forend-amp-handguard-parts/handguards-amp-rails/ar-15-brownells-wrenchman-handguards-prod124921.aspx

[awp_101]

They're making it hard for me to stick to my "I've got the builds I want, time to focus on other stuff" plan...

[rob_s]

That’s pretty cool.

I do wish they included integral add sockets at the front and rear. Yes, I realize that might make it cost more, and yes, I realize you can add them to the hand guard, but I can still wish it had them. :p

[Casual Friday]

That’s pretty cool.

I do wish they included integral add sockets at the front and rear. Yes, I realize that might make it cost more, and yes, I realize you can add them to the hand guard, but I can still wish it had them. :p

That, and some sort of anti rotation tab on the handguard, but with the bolts going through the barrel nut that will likely not be a problem like it is on handguards with just pinch bolts.

I have a leftover BCM qd MLOK attachment that came with my MCMR rail that I'm not using but I do prefer integral qd sockets.

The only other rail that is of good quality at that price point of $10 per inch is the Larue LAT, which does come with an integral qd socket at the rear, but less MLOK slots and the top pic rail doesn't bridge the gap over the barrel nut to the receiver, which is mostly aesthetic.

[rob_s]

That, and some sort of anti rotation tab on the handguard, but with the bolts going through the barrel nut that will likely not be a problem like it is on handguards with just pinch bolts.

I have a leftover BCM qd MLOK attachment that came with my MCMR rail that I'm not using but I do prefer integral qd sockets.

The only other rail that is of good quality at that price point of $10 per inch is the Larue LAT, which does come with an integral qd socket at the rear, but less MLOK slots and the top pic rail doesn't bridge the gap over the barrel nut to the receiver, which is mostly aesthetic.

my preference is for QD, rotation limited, sockets as far to the rear as possible, and far to the front as possible, on both sides.

Just 'cause I'm wishy-washy like that. :cool:

ETA:
but for the cost of this thing from Brownells, i can probably be pretty flexible, haha

[kwb377]

Thanks for the heads-up on this thing...I hadn't noticed it on their site.

Had my Brownell's cart loaded yesterday with an M.I. Combat rail for a new upper build and almost submitted the order...now have a Wrenchman headed this way.

Looks like it's made by PWS...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex1zL_0t-YE&list=FLKLumbxYr53VcBRzWPl633w&index=2&t=0s

[Casual Friday]

Thanks for the heads-up on this thing...I hadn't noticed it on their site.

Had my Brownell's cart loaded yesterday with an M.I. Combat rail for a new upper build and almost submitted the order...now have a Wrenchman headed this way.

Looks like it's made by PWS...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex1zL_0t-YE&list=FLKLumbxYr53VcBRzWPl633w&index=2&t=0s

Thanks for pointing that out, I forgot to mention that in my first post.

I don't think you'll be disappointed. Midwest Industries rails leave a lot to be desired and they have a history of being shitty with customers.

[Old Man Winter]

These look interesting and certainly have an attractive price point. There's a few things that make it a no go for me but it's hard to believe you can make this in the USA at that price.

[LockedBreech]

Always nice to have more options.

[Casual Friday]

These look interesting and certainly have an attractive price point. There's a few things that make it a no go for me but it's hard to believe you can make this in the USA at that price.

That's why it's so rad to be living in 2019, we have more and better options than ever before. They are made in the USA.

[Casual Friday]

The handguard arrived yesterday but I didn't get a chance to assemble the upper until late last night.

First impressions are that it is very well made and the machining is beautiful. There are no large Brownells logos, just the Wrenchman logo, patent pending, and the "M" which is a requirement from Magpul in order to manufacture anything MLOK related. There are no T slot markings, which is not important to me but may be to others.

The barrel nut is easy to time, they include a little tool to help but I didn't use it, I just eyeballed it and verified by sliding the handguard over the barrel nut and making sure it aligned perfectly with the upper receiver. Now that it's installed, I gave it the ol' kung fu grip squeeze and there is very little flex to it.

In comparison to the 10" MCMR rail from BCM, the Wrenchman is a little more T H I C C, and is slightly heavier, but not enough to matter. I actually find the additional width to fit my large hands slightly better.

I used to have a plug for getting the MCMR rails for between $130-145, but that source has dried up and they are typically $179.95 most places. It will be another week or two before I'm healed up enough to go put some rounds through it, but if it holds up and I don't experience any shifting of the rail, which I don't think there will be despite not having any anti rotation tabs, this will probably become my go to rail. I certainly won't replace my MCMR with one, but for the price these seem to be a darn good option.
43575

[kwb377]

Mine came in this afternoon...finally upgraded from a quadrail on my venerable 6920.

Mounted the Wrenchman to a new BCM receiver and my 11.5" BFH barrel. There's a noticable weight reduction compared to the DD 10.0 Lite rail it replaced.

Reinstalled the original Colt barrel (trimmed to 14.5") along with the DD rail back onto my Colt upper. Now to buy folding BUIS and a LVPO for this one.


Before and after...https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191015/bd8e811960c4c33c74460e610f70a744.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191015/298a13eacba89a9ae618c817a86a0562.jpg

[Casual Friday]

Mine came in this afternoon...finally upgraded from a quadrail on my venerable 6920.

Mounted the Wrenchman to a new BCM receiver and my 11.5" BFH barrel. There's a noticable weight reduction compared to the DD 10.0 Lite rail it replaced.

Reinstalled the original Colt barrel (trimmed to 14.5") along with the DD rail back onto my Colt upper. Now to buy folding BUIS and a LVPO for this one.


Before and after...https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191015/bd8e811960c4c33c74460e610f70a744.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191015/298a13eacba89a9ae618c817a86a0562.jpg

Looks good. 11.5" uppers are the cat's pajamas.

[kwb377]

Decided to go ahead and get the 12.5" Precision version earlier this week for the 14.5" upper.

They must have realized they priced them too low initially...price had gone up since I ordered the first one last week, and just noticed it went up another $20 or so since I ordered this one on Wednesday.

I've only put @200 rounds through the short one, but so far it's rock solid. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191020/bed3ffca7961810af90c71fc1853e9f8.jpg

[FPS]

Just ordered a 15” precision model of these, currently $30 off at Brownells ($129). Replacing a 9 inch carbon fiber which I loathe on my 16 inch Alexander Arms 6.5 grendel. Price is quite a bit under comparable 15 inch rails in the market.

https://www.brownells.com/rifle-parts/forend-amp-handguard-parts/handguards-amp-rails/ar-15-brownells-wrenchman-precision-handguards-m-lok-prod124922.aspx

[TCinVA]

Well, I didn't need to see that...

...or the sale on Faxon barrels.

[Poconnor]

Obviously this stimulus money is not going too far

[TCinVA]

Well, that 6920 upper receiver won't be sitting idle anymore. Lightweight carbine upper here I come.

[TCinVA]

I used an unfired 6920 upper I had sitting around as the basis of the ultralight build. For reasons I don't fully grasp, the people at Colt put Rocsett on the barrel nut. That made disassembling the 6920 upper a bitch on stilts.

After soaking the barrel for 7 hours we managed to use a custom-made barrel wrench that some very smart people carefully manufactured to get the 6920's barrel nut off and proceeded with the build.

The Faxon pencil barrel and gas block installed with no problems.

The Wrenchman was...interesting. The barrel nut the Wrenchman uses could stand to be made from a better quality steel. As it is, it's fairly soft which means the corners a wrench is supposed to bite on round over easily. The finish strips right off with even relatively moderate contact, too. You are going to want to hit it with some cold blue once you get it on there. Their polymer alignment guide isn't quite as precise as I'd like. After getting it happy it was apparent to the naked eye that the barrel nut needed to be moved further to get the gas tube centered up in one of the relief holes for it.

Then once we put the rail on it was clear that it needed yet more of a turn because the rail was misaligned with the upper.

Given that I only paid $100 for it and that it is going to be used on a general purpose teaching/beater carbine, I'm not terribly worried about it. It should be just fine. Still, if you're looking to build something for more demanding purposes you probably want to look at one of the more expensive rail options.

[Caballoflaco]

TCinVA

Have you used any of the ALG rails, and could you compare the two? Those always looked like a decent lower priced rail to me.

[TCinVA]

@TCinVA (https://pistol-forum.com/member.php?u=4)

Have you used any of the ALG rails, and could you compare the two? Those always looked like a decent lower priced rail to me.

I have not. At the moment I only have the Wrenchman and rails from Centurion, Giessele, and Daniel Defense.

[JM Campbell]

TCinVA

Have you used any of the ALG rails, and could you compare the two? Those always looked like a decent lower priced rail to me.

Obliviously I’m not TC but I have a few ALG rails and they have held up pretty well. I’ve installed A few other manufacturers rails for friends and I still go back to ALG on most of my personal uppers. If they made one for DPMS 308 patterns I’d install one ASAP. I do really like the Centurion rails and currently have a fsb rail on my 6920.


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[Caballoflaco]

Obliviously I’m not TC but I have a few ALG rails and they have held up pretty well. I’ve installed A few other manufacturers rails for friends and I still go back to ALG on most of my personal uppers. If they made one for DPMS 308 patterns I’d install one ASAP. I do really like the Centurion rails and currently have a fsb rail on my 6920.


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Thanks