Thursday, January 05, 2012

My Rifle MK2 - Dissipator Conversion

There has been a modification to My Rifle.



For a bit of cash, I had the good folks at RifleGear (right down the street!) do this dissipator conversion.



I wanted to do this to make the rifle more comfortable, more sling-able, and more unique/awesome. I had a few options for accomplishing this. Free floated rail farm aluminum handguards were too damn heavy, and would require a low rail-mounted front sight (I like the classic A2 front sight appearance). Carbon fiber free floated handguards were nice and light and looked great, but cost more to buy than the whole job I wound up going with. They put on a low profile gas block at the original carbine length sight position, and because the front of the M4 profile barrel wasn't wide enough, they had to use a clamp-on front sight instead of just drilling new taper pin holes on a fresh A2 sight. If I had more cash to spend, I would have gotten a barrel without the M4 profile, but it'll have to do for now.

I was surprised that I could definitely feel the difference in balance. It was noticeable, but not enough to be a distraction. I wonder how much it will affect the recoil.

You might notice the rear sight is different. I took a hacksaw and file to the original removable carry handle rear sight, and touched it up with the rattle can. This was because the large screw heads on the right side (it's a lefty) got caught on my clothing, and on the left side, the forward screw head interfered with upward flipping ejection port cover. Chopping it meant I could use it without it getting caught on my clothes or interfering with ejection, while looking sweet. I really like what it does to the profile of the rifle. Eventually there will be a TRS-25 cowitnessing on the newly exposed flattop. The ACOG is nearby, set for rail mount.

Because this modification was not high priority, and I'm a function over form guy, I've done this as inexpensively as possible. I'll post range results when I have them.

5 comments:

Gudis said...

Looks good, I love dissipator style rifles.

pdb said...

Sweet zombie Jesus that thing is super sexy. I'm more than a little sad I missed out on the $500 Spike's Dissipator uppers AIM was selling a couple months back.

What's your plans for a sling? White light?

Fletch said...

Probably just a basic web sling for now. The under-mounted sling mount is missing from the bottom of the front sight, I'll have to fix that first.

The light is already on. I have a LumaForce Tac5 (set for crazy bright strobe mode) mounted all the way in the front on the right hand side. With my support hand forward, I can use my thumb to momentary on when I need to. With the magpul handguards, I have plenty of grip even without my thumb wrapped around it.

The LumaForce was an impressive find at the local fun show. I was very, VERY impressed for what I got for the price. I HIGHLY recommend them. I'm considering selling my Surefire E2L and buying 3 or 4 of these...

http://www.lumaforce.com/tac5.html

Davidwhitewolf said...

Love the "I Voted" sticker!

...other side needs a "From my Rooftop" sticker, of course. ;p

TG said...

Looks awesome! Honestly never would have occurred to me to remove the carrying handle. Sweet piece of machinery!