I have had a SWS AR-10 Rev-2 Float tube on my AR-10 Carbine for a couple years now and I really love it. Just the same there were a few minor things about the tube that were not perfect so I have decided it was time to take her off....
Here are some photos of my baby getting torn down for a make over.
Note in the photos above I am using an ARMS#23 pistol grip. There are some advantages with the ARMS pistol grip as I can add or remove the grip regardless of the bipod being mounted BUT I also had no choice as other grips would not mount to the shallow space under the rail (IE the tube above was not mil-std-1913 spec).
OK, so now that I got the accessories off I removed the SWS Rev FF Tube and it allowed me to get some side by side comparisons to the newest Railed Float tube that SniperX is selling from SWS...
Weight of the OLD tube (1-pound 9.6 oz
www.quarterbore.com/images/qbi-car-10-013.jpg
Weight of the New Tube (1 pound 1.8 oz)
www.quarterbore.com/images/qbi-car-10-018.jpg
There are several differences between these tubes as you can see in the photos. The most important difference is that the newest revision of the SWS float tubes has correct Mil-Std-1913 rails! This was the only detraction from the old RS-2 tube as I had described in my review of that tube as you can see here:
www.quarterbore.net/forums/showthread.php?t=139
Other significant improvements include the loss of nearly HALF A POUND of weight and dramatically increased ventilation. The float tube comes drilled and tapped for mounting a bipod or sling like all SWS float tubes before it.
Here are the basic components of the New SWS AR-10 Float tube and how it gets mounted:
The photo below shows the assembled float tube with the barrel nut installed using allen head bolts. In front of the float tube is the special wrench that SWS provides with the float tube to install the barrel nut as well as a second barrel nut I have for another project [:P]
The photo below shows the barrel nut being installed. Note there is nothing special about mounting the AR-10 barrel and the Float tube comes with all the tools you need. The tapped holes as in the photo are the holes that the float tube itself gets mounted to when the barrel nut is installed.
Here is a photo of the special barrel nut that SWS uses. This barrel nut allows for a very low-profile which in turn is the secret for the small diameter of this new tube. The wrench as teeth that slide into these notches and tightening the barrel nut was really easy!
Threaded Mode