Having PTS MOE furniture is great, but rail space is very limited, even with the PTS MOE Rail System, you’ll always be more limited as for the number and type of attachments you can place in your handguard. So if you want to have a generous Rail space, the alternative is to go for a Rail System Handguard. However, with so many offers out there the choice is hard, so I turned to one of the most reputed companies in the Airsoft market and chose the Spike Rail Bar free floating quad rail from Madbull.

The Spike is a licensed reproduction of the popular Spike’s Tactical Bar Rail from the real steel world which you can see here and the similarities are huge!  So let’s check it out!

INSTALLATION

There are more considerations to installing and choosing a Rail system like this than you’d think: first there’s the type of AEG you have and the barrel length; then there’s the electrical installation; and finally there’s the presence of a gas tube or not.

For my King Arms Smith & Wesson M&P15 MOE, I could have chosen the 7 or 9 inch version of the Spike Bar, but since rail space was the objective I went for the 9”. This forced me to give up the front metal sight and with it a sling attachment point. Thanks to the increased rail space all I have to do is just install a front sight such as an MBUS front sight. As for the attachment points, no worries there since the Spike has its own!

Since the kit comes with a barrel nut, the delta ring must also be removed, so I highly recommend getting a Delta Ring Wrench.

Installation is pretty straight forward once you remove the front sight and delta ring. Then all you have to do is screw the barrel nut to the body of your AEG and then slide the Spike Bar through the barrel until it is perfectly rested on the barrel nut and aligned with the screw holes. Finally, what is left is to screw the Spike Bar to the provided barrel nut using the 8 hex screws that came in the box, and you’re done!

One of the things I would recommend if you are going to install one of these is to make sure your electric system is running to the back of your AEG --- to the buffer tube or stock. If you don’t, then you might consider changing your cabling because once the Spike is setup it’s impossible to insert and remove any batteries without removing all eight screws if you have your electrical cables running to the front of your AEG, like I did, and this is too much work.

DESIGN AND BUILD

Design-wise, this Rail Handguard is awesome. It provides 9 inches of rail space. It is machined from 6061-T6 Aluminum with Type II Anodized hardcoat, so it's very solid and the paint has a matte texturized coating that offers a slip-free experience and the whole handguard is very easy to grasp due to its design, even for those with bigger hands.

Also, you gain new sling attachment points thanks to the 5 QD sockets so it’s a great trade-off for the lost front attachment point.

One of the things I was worried about was the weight of migrating from a polymer lightweight handguard to an aluminum one. But thanks to the numerous holes that reduce the weight, the Spike Bar is not much heavier in comparison to the PTS Handguard. Anyways if you want one of these it’s because you’ll add some pretty good weight worth of attachments, so not being heavy is extremely helpful.

Thanks to the free space between the rail and the outer barrel, it is possible to have a silencer inside the rail, and the Spike also is also compatible with low profile gas block.

Another proof of the build quality of this quad-rail system, is the fact that once its secured it doesn’t move and inch, there’s absolutely no wobble, it just stays firm floating over the outer barrel.

CONCLUSION

With the Spike Bar Rail, MadBull delivered a faithful and lightweight replica of the Spike’s Tactical Bar Rail, being both cool and useful by offering a rugged quad rail system solution that should be more than enough for your attachment needs. You can use it on most AEGs and GBB rifles thanks to the several sizes available (7, 9 and 12 inch).

After using it in the field I am totally won by its design and ruggedness, so now it’s time to load it with attachments!

Pros:

• Lightweight and durable
• Lots and lots of rail space
• QD mounts
• Quality of build

Cons:

• Not optimized for AEG’s with front cabling.