I ordered a Centurion C4 rail from Arc Precision.
The rail arrived, nicely packaged in a Jiffy bag and contained within a cardboard tube:
Removing the inner packaging reveals a handsome, well made rail which is well finished, beautifully anodised and exhibits clear markings – including indexing on the RIS:
The rail is a two part design and the upper and lower halves simply sandwich the OEM Systema barrel nut (or RS equivalent). This is very convenient because it means anyone can install this rail. All that’s required is an Allen key (imperial, naturally, not included). As long as the barrel nut is in situ and the delta ring and spring have been removed, it’s a breeze. Some people choose to cut the delta ring and spring to avoid the removal and reinstallation of the barrel nut.
However, I didn’t get as far as installing the rail. In the hand, the Centurion C4 wasn’t for me. It’s a great quad rail, but next to the RIS II the 6 O’clock rail of the C4 is a bit old skool long. The respective rail on the RIS II is tucked in and makes the rail feel much better in the hand – almost tube-like, in fact:
I don’t know why more rail manufacturers don’t adopt this profile. The C4 rail is narrower than the RIS II across the 3 and 9 O’clock rails, but this doesn’t make up for the longer 6 O’clock rail. I also find it surprising that the C4’s ergonomics turned out this way, as I’d read in a number of places that it was one of the more comfortable rails in the hand. All relative, I suppose.
Anyway, if you’re into quad rails, this is right up there. And no wonder, because the owner of Centurion Arms is said to be an active SEAL. In which case I suspect the C4 has seen SOF action in the wild. I’d love to see pics as to how the pros set them up.
Ironically, there was another reason the C4 wasn’t meant to be and it’s yet another example of Arc Precision’s awesome customer service. After the rail had shipped, Viv got in touch to advise me that another customer had spotted a problem with his 9″ C4 rail. Viv advised me to check that the helicoil inserts were in place. I checked and they were indeed missing.
The following pics show helicoils in situ (top) and the rail with no helicoils (bottom).
I’ve returned the rail to Arcn and I’ve chosen a different rail, which is due in stock with Arc next week. The blog will be updated then.
The Reptile House 