Mega Arms first announced their upcoming Wedge Lock Hand Guards in January of this year. They are finally ready and we have even more details including the involvement of a collaboration partner, Hodge Defense Systems. Both Mega and Hodge can be considered heavy hitters when it comes to manufacturing, materials, and innovation. This is one of the more interesting rails to come along in a while.
From Mega Arms:
Its finally time to tell you all the good news, Wedge Lock 7075 hand guards, compatible with any Mil Spec upper, have started shipping!
A collaboration with Hodge Defense Systems, the mind set from the start was to create the finest combative modular system that was strong, lightweight, and with a positive tactile feel. We spared no expense in our material selection understanding the rigors this hand guard would potentially be faced with. For example, most manufacturers exploit the use of 6061 aluminum for ease and cost of manufacturing, though 7075 has strength properties that exceed 6000 series aluminums at or near 40%. Our barrel nut is made from Titanium to help with strength/weight, and the thermal properties one would normally see with steel or aluminum during high volume of fire. We chose a little thicker wall thickness for a solid tactile feel, more surface area, added rigidity, as well as a more positive lock-up for modular accessories.
The Wedge Lock / Hodge Defense Hand guard slip fit attachment system utilizes a simple, yet robust method via a unique patented wedge lock system. We designed the front of this hand guard to allow a gloved shooter to access their suppressor attachment point via a small angle, so not to fight for space while gloved. A steel anti rotation pin is incorporated in the 12 o’clock upper section which mates with a predrilled hole as found on Mega Arms billet and forged uppers, as well in many of our competitors uppers. The hand guard can be mounted without the anti rotation pin if your upper does not have this feature.
Please note, that due to the slim design of the The Wedge Lock, sound suppressors will not fit under the hand guard like they do with our MKM and MML uppers.
First to be shipped are the 16″ Mega Extended length version, designed for use with an 18′ or longer barrel. 14″, 12″, 9″ and 7″ version will ship in descending order, so the carbine length will ship last. M-LOK variants are shipping first, Key Mod will follow shortly.
The hand guards will be available in 5 lengths.
- Carbine = 7 inches, weight: TBA, $249 (all prices are MSRP)
- Mid length = 9 inches, 11.12 oz, $272
- Rifle length = 12 inches, 13.05 oz, $295
- Extended Rifle lenght = 14 inches, 14.33 oz, $326
- Mega Extended = 16 inches, 15.58 oz, $357
