Christensen Arms CA5Five6 Rifle and M-Lok

Vanguard.45 · Feb 13, 2024

Greetings, all!

I recently picked up a Christensen Arms CA5Five6 rifle. TriggerTech trigger is PHENOMENAL, and the rifle is lightweight (CF barrel), accurate, balanced, and reliable. No issues there.

One issue I do have, though, is that the Carbon Fiber barrel is thick, while the M-Lok-equipped handguard is thin, which leaves little room to actually be able to screw on any M-Lok accessories. Seems to be a design flaw with the rifle. Here are a couple of photos showing the clearance issue:

Anyone dealt with this sort of issue before, and, if so, any suggestions on how to remedy the situation?

Thanks,

Vanguard.45

Kdf101 · Feb 13, 2024

Is it the screw that is hitting the barrel? If so, you could dremel the screw down. Used to be able to get shorter screws from magpul, don’t know if you still can.

Vanguard.45 · Feb 13, 2024

It is the screw for sure, but, to be honest, there isn't a whole lot of room even for the T-nut under there. If so, the screw would have to be cut flush with it for sure. Just seems like they might have thought this through a bit more.

patience0830 · Feb 13, 2024

Vanguard.45 said:
It is the screw for sure, but, to be honest, there isn't a whole lot of room even for the T-nut under there. If so, the screw would have to be cut flush with it for sure. Just seems like they might have thought this through a bit more.

Don't add crap. Shooot it like it is. You're right, they should have considered that b4 they put the m-lock forend on it.

kawtech87 · Feb 13, 2024

You could try removing the handguard and replacing it with a Keymod handguard. I know, I know and trust me the only thing I hate more than M-lok is Keymod BUT, Keymod sits flush under the rail and won't interfere with the barrel.

Vanguard.45 · Feb 13, 2024

kawtech87 said:
You could try removing the handguard and replacing it with a Keymod handguard. I know, I know and trust me the only thing I hate more than M-lok is Keymod BUT, Keymod sits flush under the rail and won't interfere with the barrel.

Wondering if there are any free float quad rail handguards that attach to the receiver with the eight screws like the CA5Five6 does?

Here is a photo:

kawtech87 · Feb 14, 2024

Don't know. Probably CA proprietary if I had to guess. My only other suggestion would be to swap the whole thing, barrel nut and all and replace with a fatter M-lok handguard.

Vanguard.45 · Feb 17, 2024

Update: Spoke with a rep at Christensen Arms. Understood the issue and acknowledged that the carbon fiber barrel with such a thin handguard could be problematic for the M-Lok to actually work. Said the CA5FIVE6, as are many of their rifles, was primarily designed for competition use where a lot of extra accessories on the handguards are rare, but that, if they put M-Lok slots on the handguard, they should work. Offered to pay to have my rifle sent to them for them to look at the issue and to see if they might have a slightly larger handguard that would allow the use of M-Lok. Wasn't aware of any quad-rail handguards using the same attachment method as their handguards. Very helpful guy. Will let you know how it turns out.

Vanguard.45 · Feb 21, 2024

Final update: I was able to dremel down the M-Lok screws to the point that the QD attachment was able to be placed on the side of the handguard with some clearance between the screw and the barrel. Christensen Arms was willing to make it right and have the rifle sent in for evaluation and to possibly replace the handguard, so I am very pleased with both the rifle and with their customer service. Class company and products.

Christensen Arms CA5Five6 Rifle and M-Lok

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