After years of customer requests – with heavy emphasis from the USA – CORVUS DEFENSIO has now decided to develop a special rail for the AUG A3 M1 or SE receiver. The difficulty was always the hump on the receiver, which is only there to create a corresponding transition for the (removable) optic housing. This hump, however, prevents the use of a Picatinny rail that can be extended beyond the end of the receiver without interruption at the same height as the standard rail of the AUG A3 SA. Why users would like to use rails extended forward over the barrel is obvious. The extended section is particularly suitable for mounting rifle sights, lasers and optronical attachments for various optics. It can also be used to mount a handguard if someone prefers this option to the barrel grip. The short M1 rails available so far are not suitable for this purpose.
However, getting around the aforementioned receiver hump when designing an extended Picatinny rail is a bit of a technical challenge. The rail must be reinforced somewhere if it is not to be built twice as high. CORVUS DEFENSIO ultimately decided to raise the rail only slightly. Just enough so that it can be extended over the hump. The necessary reinforcement for this is done on the right side. Here it is least disturbing, since the charging handle is located on the left. However, the reinforcement of the rail does not remain unused. It has an integrated MLOK slot. This feature can be used to mount various accessories directly or via an MLOK Picatinny rail. This location is particularly suitable for mounting a laser or a weapon light.
The extended M1 rail thus has most features of all receiver rails from CORVUS DEFENSIO. More Pictures and a video can be seen on Instagram CORVUS DEFENSIO.
The rail has a length of 38 cm/15 inches, a height above the bore axis of 3.8 cm/1.5 inches, a weight of 220 gr/7.75 oz and features 37 Picatinny slots, two integrated mounts for QD sling swivels with anti-rotation lock, a recess for military AUG stocks that feature a reinforcement on the top, a total of five MLOK slots on the sides and an M16 Carry Handle Interface for direct mounting of Trijicon ACOG scopes without intermediate mounting.
For this rail – as for the A3 SA receiver rails – a special handguard is available, which is mounted on the MLOK slots on the side. It has the unique selling point so far that it allows the barrel to swing completely freely, the barrel can still be swung out and it reliably protects the shooter from burns and injuries in connection with the gas pressure device by means of a replaceable heat shield made of sheet steel. The handguard has been completely redesigned and lightened for the M1 rail. It features milled MLOK slots all around, which in turn can accommodate a wide variety of accessories and is backwards compatible with the previous AUG A3 SA housing rails from CORVUS DEFENSIO. The use of the handguard allows for particularly good recoil control during rapid firing. The new products will be available in late September/early October 2023.
CORVUS DEFENSIO im Internet.
German Language: https://www.spartanat.com/2023/08/corvus-defensio-neue-rail-und-handguard-fuer-aug-a3-m1-se
I have the Corvus forward grip replacement rail on my A3 AUG and love it. It makes it a whole different rifle, almost like the Lithgow Atrax who’s entrance to the US market got canned. I can fit a forward grip, a bipod, and there’s still space for a weapon light. They make great stuff.