So, I bought a Mossberg 500, and decided that I could not just leave the thing alone. I bought it in a configuration that would facilitate me leaving it alone: it had a railed fore-end, a pistol grip with a telescoping stock, an extended magazine, and ghost ring sights. But, being the mall ninja that I am, I had to dress up my little princess. The things that caught my attention were made by ATI: the Talon 5-sided Fore-end and the Halo Heat Shield. So here is my quick evaluation of each; by LaserLyte: the Kryptonite Center-mass green laser sight; and by FAB defense (via the Mako Group): the Instinctive pointing Foregrip and the Grip Position Support/Handstop. I am posting threads for quick evaluations of each.
The Halo Heat Shield.
For starters, heat shields are pretty worthless for dedicated home defense guns. They are going to be shot a few times to pattern them and maybe to keep familiar with them, but they are dedicated to a situation that one hopes will never happen. That being said, if your Mossy is ever going out to the range for a day of fun shooting with friends, the barrel might warm up. And if you have a buddy who is new to guns, or you have fat fingers, the heat shield is just a precaution that could save you a singed fingertip. So, why spend $50 on something that might save you from a tiny bit of pain? Because it looks AWESOME!!! Yes, the Halo Heat Shield gives a more near-future sci-fi look to your gun, if you are into that. Compared to other heat shields, in tends to be pretty stiff, which means that it will be slightly heavier. If heat shields are your thing, you may want to take that into consideration. One of the reasons why it is pretty stiff is that it only “touches” the barrel in two place. I quote “touches,” because the metal of the shield actually rests on a plastic clip on the chamber end of the barrel, and it is held into place by two v blocks and spaced from the top of the barrel by a plastic patch on the muzzle-ward side of the barrel. There are adhesive backed, heat resistant silicon strips that keep the plastic from touching the barrel. As such, the heat shield is almost free floating. It is not truly free floating, as it does attach to the barrel, but ATI bills it as such. Because it touches the barrel only at the extremities of the shield, the shield is required to be stiffer than other shields.
The Halo Heat Shield also sports two 2” rails, one on each side of the barrel. These are perfect for lights or lasers, or any of the other crazy things you can put on rails now-a-days (cup holders? cell phone pocket? rocket launcher?).
Now for caveats:
The ATI website specifically states that the Halo Heat Shield does not fit factory extended tube magazines. Considering that the extended magazine is an excellent thing to have on defense shotguns, I thought that making a product that would not accommodate them was rather careless for ATI. But the money was mine to spend, and so I hazarded the expense to test it out. The reason it doesn't fit the extended barrel is two-fold: First, the v-blocks are designed to fit under the barrel in front of the forward end of the tube. This means that they are slightly too thick to fit between the barrel and the extended magazine, disallowing the barrel to fit parallel to the magazine tube. But that is why man invented the Dremel tool, which is eclipsed only by duct tape and WD40 in the woe-panacea universe. After "customizing" the v-blocks (that is not all I had to "customize," see the Fore-end evaluation), the barrel fit nicely on the receiver. The second reason why the heat shield doesn't “fit” the extended barrel is that the terminal end of the heat shield is designed to be supported by the magazine cap-apparatus that hangs below the barrel. The fact that this apparatus is several inches further away from the shooter on the extended magazine just means that the magazine cap is not embraced by the heat shields far end. The shield still goes on the barrel, and the barrel still goes on the gun. So I didn't pay much attention to this… until I went to the range.
Without the magazine cap supporting the front of the heat shield, it slowly crept forward on every shot. After 5 slugs, the Halo Heat Shield had slid almost two inches down the barrel. The movement down the barrel, and my repeated replacements, was probably what contributed to the quick wearing of the silicon pads that separate the barrel from the plastic pieces of the heat shield set-up. Also, the creep caused the silicon pads to fall off one of the v-blocks and start to come off the barrel clip.
But these are problems from me using the heat shield in a situation for which it was not designed. So, how did it work as a heat shield? Well, when I was reaching towards the muzzle end of the shotgun, I was able to rest the medial portion of my forearm on the heat shield without feeling any searing sensations. Of course, this was after only 25 rounds. More or less, the Halo Heat Shield does its job... just don't use it for an extended tube.
The weight of the heat shield and assembled pieces come in at just over half a pound (8.2 ounces). If you are weight sensitive, adding an extra half pound may not be your thing. But for the stronger guys, or those who aren’t planning on lugging a defense shotgun up ten flights of stairs, or aren’t going to be packing full rigs, then the weight may be an acceptable trade for the cool looks or protection from discomfort in a fingertip.
As hinted at before, the looks are pretty incredible. But looks are about all you get out of this. Anything that you are going to shoot enough, and then manipulate, is probably going to be something you will be humping around. In that case, you are going to want as light a package as you can get, and will probably be wearing protective gear. Thus, the added money and half-pound would likely be better added to thicker sleeves on your shirt or a nice pair of gloves.
I was personally very disappointed after the range trip. Not that ATI did anything wrong, but I found myself wanting to buy a whole new shotgun, or at least a new barrel/magazine assembly, just so I could use this heat shield, because it really is that awesome looking. But my better judgment prevailed, and I just went home and took the thing off. RIP, Halo Heat Shield.
So, the ATI Halo Heat Shield gets two thumbs up in coolness factor. If I could give two big toes up (as bonus thumbs), I would do that, too, because it is an awesome looking piece of hardware. But I am only giving it one thumb up in functionality. However, the functionality rating would apply to any heat shield, not just this one. I think that this heat shield is just as functional and useful as any heat shield, and the added rails (as useful as the shield itself) are an interesting added bonus.
The Halo Heat Shield.
For starters, heat shields are pretty worthless for dedicated home defense guns. They are going to be shot a few times to pattern them and maybe to keep familiar with them, but they are dedicated to a situation that one hopes will never happen. That being said, if your Mossy is ever going out to the range for a day of fun shooting with friends, the barrel might warm up. And if you have a buddy who is new to guns, or you have fat fingers, the heat shield is just a precaution that could save you a singed fingertip. So, why spend $50 on something that might save you from a tiny bit of pain? Because it looks AWESOME!!! Yes, the Halo Heat Shield gives a more near-future sci-fi look to your gun, if you are into that. Compared to other heat shields, in tends to be pretty stiff, which means that it will be slightly heavier. If heat shields are your thing, you may want to take that into consideration. One of the reasons why it is pretty stiff is that it only “touches” the barrel in two place. I quote “touches,” because the metal of the shield actually rests on a plastic clip on the chamber end of the barrel, and it is held into place by two v blocks and spaced from the top of the barrel by a plastic patch on the muzzle-ward side of the barrel. There are adhesive backed, heat resistant silicon strips that keep the plastic from touching the barrel. As such, the heat shield is almost free floating. It is not truly free floating, as it does attach to the barrel, but ATI bills it as such. Because it touches the barrel only at the extremities of the shield, the shield is required to be stiffer than other shields.
The Halo Heat Shield also sports two 2” rails, one on each side of the barrel. These are perfect for lights or lasers, or any of the other crazy things you can put on rails now-a-days (cup holders? cell phone pocket? rocket launcher?).
Now for caveats:
The ATI website specifically states that the Halo Heat Shield does not fit factory extended tube magazines. Considering that the extended magazine is an excellent thing to have on defense shotguns, I thought that making a product that would not accommodate them was rather careless for ATI. But the money was mine to spend, and so I hazarded the expense to test it out. The reason it doesn't fit the extended barrel is two-fold: First, the v-blocks are designed to fit under the barrel in front of the forward end of the tube. This means that they are slightly too thick to fit between the barrel and the extended magazine, disallowing the barrel to fit parallel to the magazine tube. But that is why man invented the Dremel tool, which is eclipsed only by duct tape and WD40 in the woe-panacea universe. After "customizing" the v-blocks (that is not all I had to "customize," see the Fore-end evaluation), the barrel fit nicely on the receiver. The second reason why the heat shield doesn't “fit” the extended barrel is that the terminal end of the heat shield is designed to be supported by the magazine cap-apparatus that hangs below the barrel. The fact that this apparatus is several inches further away from the shooter on the extended magazine just means that the magazine cap is not embraced by the heat shields far end. The shield still goes on the barrel, and the barrel still goes on the gun. So I didn't pay much attention to this… until I went to the range.
Without the magazine cap supporting the front of the heat shield, it slowly crept forward on every shot. After 5 slugs, the Halo Heat Shield had slid almost two inches down the barrel. The movement down the barrel, and my repeated replacements, was probably what contributed to the quick wearing of the silicon pads that separate the barrel from the plastic pieces of the heat shield set-up. Also, the creep caused the silicon pads to fall off one of the v-blocks and start to come off the barrel clip.
But these are problems from me using the heat shield in a situation for which it was not designed. So, how did it work as a heat shield? Well, when I was reaching towards the muzzle end of the shotgun, I was able to rest the medial portion of my forearm on the heat shield without feeling any searing sensations. Of course, this was after only 25 rounds. More or less, the Halo Heat Shield does its job... just don't use it for an extended tube.
The weight of the heat shield and assembled pieces come in at just over half a pound (8.2 ounces). If you are weight sensitive, adding an extra half pound may not be your thing. But for the stronger guys, or those who aren’t planning on lugging a defense shotgun up ten flights of stairs, or aren’t going to be packing full rigs, then the weight may be an acceptable trade for the cool looks or protection from discomfort in a fingertip.
As hinted at before, the looks are pretty incredible. But looks are about all you get out of this. Anything that you are going to shoot enough, and then manipulate, is probably going to be something you will be humping around. In that case, you are going to want as light a package as you can get, and will probably be wearing protective gear. Thus, the added money and half-pound would likely be better added to thicker sleeves on your shirt or a nice pair of gloves.
I was personally very disappointed after the range trip. Not that ATI did anything wrong, but I found myself wanting to buy a whole new shotgun, or at least a new barrel/magazine assembly, just so I could use this heat shield, because it really is that awesome looking. But my better judgment prevailed, and I just went home and took the thing off. RIP, Halo Heat Shield.
So, the ATI Halo Heat Shield gets two thumbs up in coolness factor. If I could give two big toes up (as bonus thumbs), I would do that, too, because it is an awesome looking piece of hardware. But I am only giving it one thumb up in functionality. However, the functionality rating would apply to any heat shield, not just this one. I think that this heat shield is just as functional and useful as any heat shield, and the added rails (as useful as the shield itself) are an interesting added bonus.
