Picatinny Rail Info:The picatinny rail is typically placed directly on the weapon's
receiver, in the position normally occupied by the rear
sights. Shaped in cross-section roughly like a wide T,
scopes are mounted on the rail either by sliding them on
from one end or the other, or by means of a "rail-grabber"
which is clamped to the rail by means of bolts, thumbscrews
or levers. In order to provide a stable platform, the picatinny rail
should not flex as the barrel heats and cools. For this
reason most Picatinny rails are cut crosswise, to give them
considerable room to expand and contract lengthwise.
Originally used only for scopes, the picatinny rails were typically
found only on larger caliber rifles. With the increased use
of night vision scopes, they started to appear on smaller
assault rifles as well, to the point today where they are
displacing the original "iron sights" of many weapons with
versions that can be mounted on the rails.
Once the picatinny rail became fairly common, they started to be used
for other accessories, such as flashlights. This has led to
many accessories now designed rail-mounted, including
bipods, bayonets and laser sights. In turn, this had led to
the introduction of "small rails" that can be fastened to
guns in various locations, and in some cases, entire grips
with rails built-in on all sides.
Picatinny Rail forearms are extremely popular on AR-15 type rifles. There are two basic types of picatinny rail forearms for AR-15s; Drop-in and Free Floating.
Drop-in picatinny rail forearms simply replace the plastic handguards that come standard on AR-15 rifles. No gunsmithing is required. Just remove the handguards and insert the picatinny rail forearm pieces.
Free Floating Picatinny Rail forearms usually require some gunsmithing in order to install them. Most of them attach to the existing barrel nut, or come with their own, and do not make contact with the barrel which increases the accuracy of your rifle. Free Floating Picatinny Rail systems are extremely stable and rigid making them the best choice if mounting sighting systems.
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