The holiday season is here and that means that a lot of people out there are probably getting either their first or another one of many AR-15-style rifles as gifts from other people, or for themselves. A lot of the “budget” AR-15 rifles out there that a lot of people pick up around this time of year aren’t really all that bad, they’re just lacking a lot of the things that make a rifle truly useful and adaptable over time. Let’s take for example a plain jane PSA 16” M4 Carbine. Right now one of those rifles is about $500 which makes for a pretty compelling purchase except for the fact that it has boring, and quite honestly useless furniture.
Specifically looking at the handguard, a standard plastic M4 style handguard offers the user no way to mount any type of foregrip, sling attachment, or even a way to mount aftermarket lights or laser aiming devices. In addition to the lack of accessorizing options that a standard budget M4 offers, the M4 style handguard is also fairly large which could prevent smaller users or even experienced ones with smaller hands from using a full c-clamp grip on the rifle. Aftermarket handguards are the perfect way to turn your AR-15 rifle from boring to interesting without compromising the core of the rifle’s inner workings. A great aftermarket option for these types of rifles would undoubtedly be something from Magpul as they are one of the few manufacturers out there that have a handguard for the M4 platform that accommodates the front sight gas block, but still adds a lot of functionality via M-LOK attachment slots at the 3, 6 and 9 o’clock positions opening up the rifle to more customization options.
If you’ve managed to land yourself a more modern AR-15 offering on a budget, you’ve most likely got a pretty nice M-LOK handguard with Picatinny rail on the top. While these standard offerings from a lot of manufacturers offer you more flexibility with attachment options, they’re still lacking that flair that will get eyes on your rifle at the range. Tyrant Designs has recently released a whole new suite of aftermarket AR-15 parts in their “NexGen” series that I personally think not only have a very aesthetically pleasing look to them but also incorporate advanced materials and design choices that make them just as functional as they are beautiful.
I’m of course specifically talking about the new NexGen Handguard from Tyrant CNC. This unique offering on the AR-15 aftermarket handguard offering is made from 6000 series aluminum and includes a full-length rubber over-molded like grip texture for not only the rail itself but also the M-LOK slots via included rubber M-LOK slot covers. In addition, the new handguard includes 6 M-LOK slots on the left and right-hand side of the handguard in addition to two integrated QD sling mount points, and an additional 5 M-LOK slots on the top of the rail that allows for a better grip on the firearm when combined with the rubber covered underside.
If you’re still wanting to attach things like an angled or vertical foregrip to the handguard, you can do that as well by simply removing the rail covers. So if you’ve been the recipient of a “boring” AR-15 as a Christmas gift this year, don’t fret, there are tons of aftermarket options out there ranging from the purely functional (in the case of Magpul’s offerings) to the bleeding edge of form and function with the new Tyrant CNC NexGen Handguard.
