Steel ARCA rails

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Bear9350

Sergeant of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
Oct 12, 2019
134
72
#1
I'm on the process of adding some weight to the match rifle and also planning on getting an ARCA rail.
I was thinking I might be able to kill 2 birds with 1 stone here. Does anybody make a steel rail. Everything I've found is Al.
Any potential issues with going steel on the rail? I could likely get one milled myself fairly easily.
 
#3
pyplynr said:
Area 419 has one with brass weights in it.
Click to expand...

Ive seen this and various other weight adding options from other manufacturers. But why pay extra for a lighter aluminum rail and then add additional weight to it if you could just use a heavier denser material and not mill most of the material out to lighten it up from the beginning.
 
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#7
You could change to an enclosed forend so it's longer then I have I run a steel ingenuity gunworks rail inside an aluminum arca rail. It's a bit heavier than arca rail and far more user friendly than arca. But it's an expensive set up
 
#8
Let's try this again.

I know there a multiple ways I can purchase an aluminum rail and then purchase additional weight. I'm asking if anybody has tried a steel rail or if there is a reason people aren't making them from steel.

I've got several sets of butt spacers at the local shop I use getting laser cut now to add some weight to the rear. I am also considering adding a couple 1" wide pieces of steel between forend and extending it out a few inches essentially creating a spigot mount. This should get me close to the weight I am targeting but think I might need a bit more.

I could easily get a 45 degree chamfer milled on each side of a 1.5" wide by .25" thick piece of 1018 steel bar stock to do this. The price of steel won't set me back more then $10 and then it's just a bit of time on the mill. I'm wondering if anybody has tried it or knows someone who has.
 
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#9
pyplynr said:
Area 419 has one with brass weights in it.
Click to expand...

Bear9350 said:
Ive seen this and various other weight adding options from other manufacturers. But why pay extra for a lighter aluminum rail and then add additional weight to it if you could just use a heavier denser material and not mill most of the material out to lighten it up from the beginning.
Click to expand...

pyplynr hit the nail on the head. If you've seen this as you said, you would know he's referring to the one made of steel which has brass weights that are heavier than the equivalent steel. I have one that came with my Manners TCS.
 
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#10
jsimonh said:
pyplynr hit the nail on the head. If you've seen this as you said, you would know he's referring to the one made of steel which has brass weights that are heavier than the equivalent steel. I have one that came with my Manners TCS.
Click to expand...
I believe you are referencing this?

www.area419.com

Universal Weight-Tunable ARCALOCK Rail

ARCALOCK has been a huge success since its release in July of 2018. As the rails have become more popular, we have also seen the rise in popularity of rifle weight kits. With the introduction of the Manners TCS stock in late 2019, we designed and built an ARCALOCK weight system, and are ready to...
www.area419.com www.area419.com

This is still an aluminum rail with a bunch of operations done to it and then hard anodized. Then weights are added to it. End max weight is listed at 23.6 oz.

A similarly sized and milled piece of steel of comparable length without any additional operations to lighten it will weigh 21.75 oz.

Now I understand that the steel option isn't tunable. But if you just want to add ass much weight as possible you are paying for a lot of extra time and materials to end up with something that could be done much simpler with nearly the same weight gains.
 
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#11
That's it. I'll back up a bit and say that I assumed since either steel or aluminum is available on the TCS that area419 would be offering this the same way. That's to be seen at this point. The steel version with the brass weights would be a heavy bugger and be close to what you are wanting.
 
#12
Try contacting Nelson Precision to see if they would do a run of their ARCA rails in steel for you or a group buy.

That would be your best bet to contact a smaller machine shop who can do small jobs.

Firearms | Nelson Precision Manufacturing, LLC. | United States

Nelson Precision Manufacturing strives to manufacture high quality Firearm accessories. We specialize in G44 parts including replacement Billet G44 Slides . Located in Tucson, AZ. Nelson Precision MFG has been in business for 17 years.
www.nelsonprecisionmfg.com www.nelsonprecisionmfg.com
 
#13
Bear9350 said:
I'm on the process of adding some weight to the match rifle and also planning on getting an ARCA rail.
I was thinking I might be able to kill 2 birds with 1 stone here. Does anybody make a steel rail. Everything I've found is Al.
Any potential issues with going steel on the rail? I could likely get one milled myself fairly easily.
Click to expand...

I made this stuff over the winter for 2 of my Bravo's.

Your on the right track with some 1018 bar stock and a 45* dovetail mill.

I've got a lazy winter day in the garage making this stuff.
 

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#14
kevinsachs said:
Try contacting Nelson Precision to see if they would do a run of their ARCA rails in steel for you or a group buy.

That would be your best bet to contact a smaller machine shop who can do small jobs.

Firearms | Nelson Precision Manufacturing, LLC. | United States

Nelson Precision Manufacturing strives to manufacture high quality Firearm accessories. We specialize in G44 parts including replacement Billet G44 Slides . Located in Tucson, AZ. Nelson Precision MFG has been in business for 17 years.
www.nelsonprecisionmfg.com www.nelsonprecisionmfg.com
Click to expand...

Thanks for the recommendation. I've got a couple of local shops that I work with that could easily handle it also. I sent a print over to one yesterday and they told me they could do one for $75 each or a run of 10 for $15 each.
 
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#26
My plan was to start long and cut it down until it felt right. Got an ACC now this is waiting to be built into another rifle. I’ll cut it down then.

Tunnuh said:
That's a nice rail, but I was going to ask about flex. Seems like 2" beyond the fore end would be about the max?
Otherwise I really like what you did.
Click to expand...
 
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#27
Originally I was thinking pretty simple. Basically just the flat stock with the corners taken off at a 45 to match the arca spec. I was planning on a 12" length. It could easily be cut down and holes drilled for mounting. Maybe I would have them mill a recessed area down the center.
Rail.png
 
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#29
I think 1018 is good, if we wanted to look good we all would have bought a manners and area 419 or something to fit in with everyone else :) haha but for real, let us know as soon as you come to an agreement with your machinist. Sounds like you got enough to make it happen.
 
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#30
I put the order into the shop today to make some of these up.

They will be 12" long and with no holes drilled for mounting. 12" length should weigh in around 19 oz. I could cut it to length for you and drill some holes for mounting if you don't have the capability to do it.

Send me a message if you are interested in one. $25 to cover the cost of the rail and shipping.
 
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#34
I can get some made that are 40-42oz and 14.8” long black nitride and prepped for whatever bolt pattern you need. Price competitive with the 419 adjustable rail but am working on getting a price on material. Will be RRS spec dovetail. Who would be interested?
 
#39
Bear9350 said:
Ive seen this and various other weight adding options from other manufacturers. But why pay extra for a lighter aluminum rail and then add additional weight to it if you could just use a heavier denser material and not mill most of the material out to lighten it up from the beginning.
Click to expand...
Pay extra? Pay extra than what?
 
Last edited:
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#44
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#47
Bear9350 said:
Let's try this again.

I know there a multiple ways I can purchase an aluminum rail and then purchase additional weight. I'm asking if anybody has tried a steel rail or if there is a reason people aren't making them from steel.

I've got several sets of butt spacers at the local shop I use getting laser cut now to add some weight to the rear. I am also considering adding a couple 1" wide pieces of steel between forend and extending it out a few inches essentially creating a spigot mount. This should get me close to the weight I am targeting but think I might need a bit more.

I could easily get a 45 degree chamfer milled on each side of a 1.5" wide by .25" thick piece of 1018 steel bar stock to do this. The price of steel won't set me back more then $10 and then it's just a bit of time on the mill. I'm wondering if anybody has tried it or knows someone who has.
Click to expand...
I'm thinking the one thing of stopping steel arc rails is likely something related to the ease/accuracy of milling aluminum vs steel and that most if not all arca clamps are aluminum. Aluminum clamping/sliding on steel would not wear well................... now that is just me thinking out loud. I bet if you contacted somebody like Area 419 or KRG, directly those guys would give you a solid answer. my personal experience is they are willing to answer questions.
 
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#48
C.R. Adams said:
Aluminum clamping/sliding on steel would not wear well...................
Click to expand...
One thing to note is that for some reason, aluminum and steel have some serious holding friction when clamped together. I’m no engineer, but it seems like that combo has way more friction “lock” than aluminum on aluminum. Not sure about steel on steel…sorta doubt it.
 
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#49
carbonbased said:
One thing to note is that for some reason, aluminum and steel have some serious holding friction when clamped together. I’m no engineer, but it seems like that combo has way more friction “lock” than aluminum on aluminum. Not sure about steel on steel…sorta doubt it.
Click to expand...
I was attempting to say, the steel would wear the aluminum while sliding in out, locking, unlocking because the aluminum is a much softer metal
 
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