handguards?

[sureshot]

i have been looking into changing my handguard
but with so many choices i dont know which one

i have an a2 style with the detachable handle

it has the standard style pinned post front sight

im thinking abt scoping it later on so i may go with some sort of gasblock and either a flip up front mounted on the block or the guard if i go with a railed guard

ok so anyways heres my questions

is there really any advantage of a freefloat guard compared to a two piece non freefloat?

does it really increase accuracy that much?

does a non fluted freefloat tube really cause the gun to heat up that much more than a one with the holes in it?

last but not least considering the combination of quality and price
what are the better handguards out there both freefloat and non?

thanks once again
sureshot

[redduck21502]

I understand from reading other posts that better accuracy is not noticed by most shooters, unless you are are a competetive shooter.

If you go railed for a scope later on, I would put on a low profile gas block and get a full length rail or longer (13.5"). It looks cool that way.

The FF rail may work better if you add a verticle fore grip. A two piece non FF handguard can become loose if you use the VFG a lot.

I don't think heat is a problem unless you are firing a lot of shots in a row. Depending on the barrel profile, you may not notice a shift in point of impact. A lightweight barrel will probably shift due to heat. You can get a FF tube that has slots in it for heat removal.

There are many quality manufacturers of handguards. Larue and Daniel Defense make some of the best railed FF handguards. I use a Troy FF handguard and it really nice. Samson makes a similar handguard for a little more. MI makes a decent low price handguard. There are some very inexpensive tube style FF handguards out there too.
I'm not sure on the non FF handguards, but I believe KAC makes some, but price is high. MI makes some also.

[MrMurphy]

Primary reason for a FF handguard is either a high-accuracy rifle for matches, etc or if you plan on mounting optics further forward (on the rail, not on the receiver rail) to increase your field of view. Some people do this with dot scopes. If it's not FF the scope will not hold zero when it's removed/reattached.