There’s two things I think about when I hear ‘Omega’.
This:
And this:
Many will be disappointed to note that I’ll be looking at the latter in this blog. But fear not! I am listening to the former as I write…
The Daniel Defense Omega occupies a very special place for me, because the Madbull version was the very first RIS I installed on my very first PTW.
Now, with big thanks to Tom – Team Cobalt‘s C03 – I’ve acquired an RS one.
The first thing you notice about the Omega is its cross-sectional profile. It’s kind of oval, with relatively tall 12 and 6 O’clock rails and tighter 9 and 3 O’clock ones:
It’s made this way to mimic the profile of the OG M4A1 plastic hand guard.
The Omega was designed as an easy to install free float rail. Free float means that it doesn’t affect the barrel in any way, potentially improving accuracy in the RS.
The way the rail fits is ingenious, with no need for a proprietary barrel nut.
It envelopes the standard barrel nut and locks-on using four allen grub screws (imperial, naturally).
Here’s the business end, the rear of the rail. Note the four grub screws (and the wide open gas tube void at 12 O’clock):
Here’s one of a grub screw from the front. Behind it is the collar which helps keep the barrel nut captive within the rail. When tightened, the grub screws push against the barrel nut. This tightens the collar against the rear of the barrel nut and the rail is thus locked-up, solid.
The Omega is a two piece rail, which is held together by four slotted screws – two on each side:
The screw holes are helicoils; threads are not tapped directly into the 6061-T6 of the rail:
The integrated QD sling swivel point is a nice feature. It cuts down on additional hardware and is rotation limited:
Lastly, I didn’t notice this at first (because I’m a bell end) but as pointed out by my mate and fellow Omega-phile Neil, this rail exhibits the newer DD address:
I really like this rail. Not only that, but it’s a strategically important piece which will help to define an AFSOC-inspired Block 1.5 makeover.
More on that, soon.
The Reptile House 