How to Choose an M-LOK® Handguard Rail For Your Lever Gun

This Story was originally published on Ranger Point Store and has been republished here with permission.

For Marlin, Henry, Rossi, or Winchester lever-action owners, their trusted rifle helps them protect and provide for their family whether hunting for food or defending their property. Traditionally, these rifles have come with beautiful walnut stocks; color case hardened, blued, or stainless steel metal; barrel-mounted sights; and a simple sling stud. That all changed a few years ago when Marlin Firearms, Henry Repeating Arms, and Rossi USA, introduced the “Dark”, “X”, and “Triple Black” options: all black rifles with shorter carbine-length barrels that come threaded for a brake or suppressor. Additionally, gunsmiths, Cerakote paint shops, and rifle owners have also enjoyed fully customizing their rifles with paint schemes and aftermarket performance parts/accessories to make them unique, eye-popping, and one-of-a-kind.

One of the newer trends that have come from the AR-15 market is to add more flexible and tactical elements to lever-actions. In particular, a very popular option is to replace the wooden forearm with an aluminum M-LOK Handguard rail along with a myriad of add-on options from lights to bipods, cartridge quivers, and more. Depending on the make of your lever gun, you may have several handguard options to choose from.

Factors To Choose The Best M-LOK Handguard

Determine the Rifle

Not all M-LOK rails are built the same. So there might be compatibility issues if you try to connect the wrong rifle handguard. Instead of brute-forcing the screw holes, it is better to shop for the best M-LOK handguards for the right rifle whether Henry, Marlin, or a Rossi 92 rifle.

Why free-floating matters

There are two different types of M-LOK rail types available on the market for AR-15 rifles for instance - Free-Floating and Drop-In Handguards. For the lever-action rifle, they require a free-floating rail. Free-floating, as the name suggests, is an M-LOK rail that remains free-floating around the barrel. It is attached to the rifle via a receiver-side fitted end cap and a barrel band that clamps over the barrel or a tenon that sits in a dovetail between the barrel and the magazine tube. This setup offers superior stability and accuracy and it keeps your handguard cool with no heat build-up.

Which accessories to mount

There are different accessories such as foregrips, scopes, flashlight, fiber optic sights, magazine quiver available for the lever-action rails that make the rifle usage simpler and more enjoyable. However, each accessory occupies weight and size that may clash with the other accessories depending on the mounting holes. So, make a list of accessories you wish to add and then choose an M-LOK rail that can accommodate all of them.

Natural ergonomics

While this is a subjective category, an M-LOK handguard purpose-built for the size, shape, and balance of a lever-action rifle will deliver the best fit. A flat bottom provides stability when shooting from a rest, a slender width accommodates most hand sizes, and deep finger grooves can offer excellent control for offhand shooting. Radiused, chamfered, and tumbled edges will make the 9.5 inch m lok handguard comfortable on bare hands.

For more information and insight, read the full article of The Ranger Point Precision.

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