Brigand Arms Carbon Fiber Handguard

At this year’s 2016 SHOT one of the holey cow wow factor AR15 accessories was the Brigand Arms Carbon Fiber Handguard. The Brigand Carbon Fiber handguard optically looks like it is fragile, however the company put those doubts to bed with a display that had 100-lbs hanging from the end from one of their handguards. Brigand Arms actually makes three different models including the EDGE, BLADE, ATLAS. The impressive clean EDGE handguard deserved a special build to show off this incredible handguard.

The build started with the proprietary patented woven handguard is made from 3/16-inch carbon fiber rods. Capped at both ends with billet aluminum and mounted with an aluminum barrel nut. My one complaint on the Brigand handguard is that the far too substantial and heavy of a design considering the amazing light weight of the handguard - the decision was an AR15 pistol build.

The Brigand Arms carbon fiber handguard is extremely well made and installs just as any handguard would. Tighten the supplied barrel nut down on the barrel and index it properly for the gas tube pass through. Drop a little LockTite on the external threading of the barrel nut and thread on the brigand handguard and then tighten the locking ring.

In this case, the Brigand handguard was attached to a Phase 5 Tactical billet Upper Receiver loaded with a Phase 5 billet charging handle, Sharps Reliabolt, and Phase 5 Carrier. A special handguard requires a special barrel and I reached for a top and Ballistic Advantage Hansen profile .233 Wylde barrel tipped with a Kineti-Tech Brake. The optic used was the new Hi-Lux Leatherwood MM-2 Red Dot which has proved to be exceptional.

The lower was a custom Faxon/Houlding Precision billet lower with Phase 5 Tactical Hex buffer tube complete with a newly introduced Timney Targa Flat Trigger, and a host of components from V Seven. V Seven manufacturers a variety of titanium parts including their selector, pivot pins, magazine release, magazine release button, egg-plate, buffer detent, and dual castle nuts used in this build. Of course there was a significant amount of customization on this build. All the titanium V Seven parts were hand mirror polished along with the stainless steel KNS model JJ anti-pivot pins and the Timney trigger. I know the Brigand Arms carbon fiber handguard deserved a special build, but hand polishing titanium is no small task.

The final custom touches were adding in some HexMags customized with Hex Grips and chopping down a completely perfect Mission First Tactical 15-Degree Engage grip to fit in with the more compact look and feel of this AR15 pistol build. The look I must say is pretty special.

FEEL, FEATURES, FUNCTIONS, & FINAL THOUGHTS

On the range the Brigand Arms Carbon Fiber Handguard is an insanely light and open design which delivers full and unrestricted cooling ventilation of the barrel during spirited shooting. Despite the unusual design the handguard is comfortable to hold and grasp while being unbelievably cool looking.

Brigand has brought to market one of the coolest (literally) handguard designs on the market. It is something truly unique and different from anything else which applaud their ingenuity.

SPECS

3.6-5.00 ounces depending on handguard length

Large gauge design provides ample room for suppressors

$260-$399 MSRP depending on model and length

9” Version Featured - $279

SOURCES

Brigand Arms - http://brigandarms.com

Also Featured

Mission First Tactical - http://www.missionfirsttactical.com

Hex Mag - https://hexmag.com

Timney Triggers - http://www.timneytriggers.com

Ballistic Advantage - http://ballisticadvantage.com