That's what I needed, thanks, Warp!
I guess I am feeling a little silly for not realizing that the front sight post would be too tall to fit the tube over... Doh!:banghead:
A good dose of humility is good for the soul sometimes.
I always have been a "learn by doing" kinda guy anyway...I would have figured out... probably...
Okay, so now I guess I will need tools no matter what I try to change the hand-guard to... or find a guy who will do it for me.
That leads me to the next question:
Lets say I get these tools to take off the front sight. Would that mean that i would need to re-adjust something to get the upper to work properly again after I put it back on?
cfullgraf: Just saw your post. Very helpful, thank you. Will take a look at the Midwest Alpha guards but am trying to do this on low budget... (more money for ammo?)
You don't need many tools no matter what. As I've mentioned, there are rails that you can install on the stock barrel nut without removal of the FSB or the muzzle device. Even with those, though, you will want a roll punch to drive out taper pins on the bottom of the FSB, and a dremel would be nice. (I dont know if the DPMS you linked uses the stock barrel nut). You can probably get a very inexpensive nail driver from a hardware/big box store to drive the pins out. (like, for a few bucks)
The ones that don't require actual FSB removal, or muzzle device removal, are two-piece. Top and bottom halves that bolt together over the barrel. Very nifty.
The Centurion C4 I linked is one example that works like that.
But removing the FSB/barrel nut/muzzle device isn't difficult for somebody with the tools, especially if they've done it before.
No you wouldn't have to adjust anything, really. It's fairly straightforward. The AR rifles are pretty easy to work on.
