Brigand Arms Blows Up Their Carbon Fiber Handguard

1. I like the look of it, would make it easy to access adjustable gas blocks also. Am wondering how rigid it is, and of course the price…….. In theory carbon fibre could/should be cheaper than more traditional milled & anodized aluminum.

   • $230-$340. Top end being the 15″ model.

     WAY out of my comfortable price range for the weight saved. I’ll stick with my ALG handguards when they go on sale through primaryarms. I like a lightweight handguard but LOVE a heavy wallet.

     • In the end I went for a Midwest Industries M-Lok 9″ handguard for my planned 300BLK SBR build (10.5″ barrel). Haven’t tried to fit it yet but the quality looks great, it’s light and not mega cheap at $150 but I think is good value.

       https://www.midwestindustriesinc.com/product-p/mi-g3m9-blk.htm

       By the way, I’m in no way affiliated to Midwest Industries!

       The CF handguard in the article looks great but until I’m old and infirm, the few ounces of saved weight aren’t too important!!!!

       • really save some weight and skip the handguard and just wear a glove.

       • Sounds like we’re working on very similar projects. Building a 10.5″ 300 SBR myself. Put a 9.5″ mlok Odin Works 02 Lite forend on mine. Seems great apart from the two piece barrel nut I’m not completely sold on.

         Pricier than I wanted, I think I spent about $150 on sale, but the look worked for the general theme of the build as I plan on painting it a distressed white, stormtrooper-esque lol. Between the multiple tax stamps for the SBR and silencerco Omega it’s the first gun I’ve let myself splurge on.

   • I’ve handled them in person, and assisted in an AR build that incorporates one. I can tell you from personal experience, these things are deceptively rigid. It would take a LOT to mangle one. Trying to time these things so that your sights line up properly is a MASSIVE pain in the ass.

     They are eye-catching though. Anyone who’s familiar with them will instantly recognize them, and anyone who’s never seen one will immediately ask you about the specs.

     • I was wondering that exact thing about mounting a front sight. I see the four rails. It would have been nice if they clipped on after the Handguard was installed. Then you would just have to align the rail not the whole Handguard or barrel nut. It looks worse than BAR barrel nuts with only four gas tube slots. Just a slight angle will screw up your front sight.

       • The way it’s built, you can’t just clip that front part on and off. I don’t know how to explain it. There needs to be some kind of long “reverse rail” that you can attach to the receiver rail and to the front accessories rail at the same time, then tighten down the friction nut that holds it in place on the barrel nut. It’d make installing the handguard go a lot quicker.

       • I just went to their web sight and see what you’re saying with the jam nut and front rail alignment. If you don’t intend to use a front sight and have $280 for their 9″ EDGE rail it would be sweet! There are a lot of options around $200 that only weigh a couple to a few ounces more with Keymod or MLok all over. This is definitely more of a specific use Handguard.

   • “In theory carbon fibre could/should be cheaper than more traditional milled & anodized aluminum.”

     The hand lay-up on the carbon kills any savings, and I kinda doubt the carbon is cheaper in raw material costs.

     Pre-preg carbon has very specific storage requirements (refrigerated) and a rather limited ‘shelf life’. It isn’t the kind of stuff you buy and then stick on a shelf for a few years until you need it…

2. ‘…they still look fragile…’

   Actually they look like they should be encased in concrete.

   • *snort*
     Okay, so I’m not the only one who saw it and thought “rebar?”. 😉

     • Rebar cage even.

3. I’m wondering how comfortable it is on the hand. There is also no attachment points for accessories, except for that little bit on the end.

   • It was surprisingly comfortable to hold, actually. Better than a quad rail, even. You really start to feel the heat coming off the barrel in a hurry though, especially after two or three mag dumps in a row.

     As to not having a lot of room for accessories, well… my buddy building it was going for an ultralight AR. Attaching accessories to the rail kind of nullifies the whole point of this particular handguard.

     • “You really start to feel the heat coming off the barrel in a hurry though, especially after two or three mag dumps in a row.”

       Where’s the guy who I was discussing this handguard with last year, who kept insisting that allowing barrel cooling and protecting your hand from barrel heat were the same thing? I tried to make this point about heat radiating from the barrel affecting the shooter’s hand over and over again, and he just couldn’t (or wouldn’t) get it.

       He needs to hear it from someone like you who has experienced it.

       • That heat has to go somewhere…

   • You can add rails.

     • Yeah, I have a bolt-on rail section that I’ll be using on mine for a bipod.

   • And can it survive the heat if a can was under it?

     • Absolutely it could.

       • Now the real question – could your hand survive with the hot can one inch under it? 🙂

         Edit – I could see that used in wagers. “I bet I could handle 60 rounds without letting go…” or, “First one to let go buys the beer…”

       • There’s no way you’d have an inch clearance. Try quarter inch or less. Either way, that’s a wager I’ll be perfectly happy just watching go down from the sidelines.

4. Does it come in a barbed version? I need something to restrain my cattle.

   • Okay, I’ll admit it, I laughed. Loudly.

     Thanks for the chuckles, Ralph.

5. They look cool and I’d expect them to stand up to use/abuse as advertised. I like the engineering that’s gone into them, too. I don’t participate in competitions, nor do I lug a rifle around all day, though. So the modest weight reduction isn’t something I would notice, let alone place a premium on.

6. I was wondering about copper jacketed bullets traveling down the barrel fast in one direction making a micro-electromagnetic pulse, that translates to a capacitor like release of any induced voltages from the handguard into your electronic optics.

   Might cure the over/under-age of an EOTech?

   /sarc

   • You’re not *too* far off on that idea.

     I suppose the induced voltage could charge a supercapacitor used to power the red dot.

     Frequent re-charging would be necessary. A nice excuse to go to the range… 🙂

     • I was more hoping for follow up shots from the plasma rifle backup.

7. I’m not really looking for the attention I would get from the AR Fanboys sporting this hand guard.

8. The demonstration was great … except for the fact that the demonstrator was only standing about 50 yards away with no blast shield in front of him.

   I noticed that he placed the hand guard on the back edge of the tannerite so that the blast force would tend to blow it away from him. That still does nothing to stop the tannerite from blasting other debris toward him, like rocks.

   • “The demonstration was great … except for the fact that the demonstrator was only standing about 50 yards away with no blast shield in front of him.”

     That’s sort of a fair criticism, except the only thing there with any appreciable mass was the handguard itself, and it’s built kinda like a whiffle-ball, with a *lot* of built-in aerodynamic drag.

     If it were like those morons who video themselves blowing up washing machines, cars, trucks or riding mowers, they shouldn’t be surprised if a chunk of metal performs an unscheduled surgical procedure on them.

     Like Kyle, AKA ‘FPS Russia’. The look on his face was *priceless*:

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7ixVmBxYJU

     • Kyle was quite literally about 18 inches away from dying that day. Had that truck door hit him, he would have died within minutes if not seconds.

       • His cameraman as well.

9. 630 lbs of tensile strength… once. After that one break or fracture, the product is not reliable, there is no fixing it. You’re better off with a more resilient material.

10. So it’s a year later tomorrow, where is that review?

11. The forearm comes with a barrel nut but it is not a common barrel nut by any means. Be prepared to fork out another $40.00 to $50.00 with shipping for a Yankee Hill barrel nut tool. No where are you told this in the advertising. Forget directions which might mention the barrel nut tool. There are no directions. Do not waste time looking online as there are none. They do have what they call a spec sheet which is useless. So after you receive the forearm surprise you will be delayed another week waiting for barrel nut tools to complete your build. Do not try contacting Brigand they do not have a phone number and do not answer emails! Good Luck!!

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