Attaching picatinny rail directly to shotgun forend

[No1Buck]

I would like to mount my Inforce WML to my 590 and have been researching all the different options.

The Magpul forend has good reviews but I think it's a little strange looking. The Mako Group has a railed forend but the rails seem to stick out excessively far and it has a rail on the bottom that looks like it could be pretty uncomfortable. Mossberg also has their "tri-rail" forend but it has the same issue as the Mako and it doesn't look like they sell it separately anyway. GG&G has a railed forend that looks perfect but it seems to be out of stock everywhere.

Has anyone here tried screwing a section of picatinny rail directly to the forend of their shotgun? I've seen a couple youtube videos where guys have done this and said it worked pretty well. I'm a little concerned that screwing a rail directly into the plastic won't be strong enough if I bump the light into something by accident.

 

[MikeD]

I've seen it done. I believe there are some threads here on the topic.

Most people use a threaded backing plate to secure the rail. Some rails used to come with screws and plates for universal mounting, I'm not sure if many do any more or not.

 

[95jza80tt]

I was lucky enough to find a guy selling the factory Mossberg tri-rail forend when I first got my gun so I bought it off of him. I currently am running the Magpul forend but have switched back and fourth between the tri-rail and the Magpul. I also have the WML gen2. I felt the same way about the pic rail on the bottom section of the Mossberg forend so I just put some ladder style rail cover on it and it felt more comfortable, but btwn the two the Magpul is still a lot more comfortable to the hand. If I plan to put my AFG back on either would work out great, but I've started to gravitate away from having the extra weight on the front of the gun. I think mounting a small section of pic rail to the factory forend would be a fine idea, but be sure to drill straight through and use a backing plate and just a small word of advice, mounting the pic rail at the 10 or 11'oclock position works out a lot nicer then having it mounted on either my tri-rail or Magpul forned in the 9'oclock. As you wrap your fingers around the forned the thumb feels more natural when hitting the light switch at that angle.

 

[Rossignol]

I'd think it would be easy enough to put a rail on there. If I were doing it right now, I'd use a small Magpul rail and go to the hardware store for screws and nuts.

 

[No1Buck]

and just a small word of advice, mounting the pic rail at the 10 or 11'oclock position works out a lot nicer then having it mounted on either my tri-rail or Magpul forned in the 9'oclock. As you wrap your fingers around the forned the thumb feels more natural when hitting the light switch at that angle.

That actually was a concern because I've read people complaining the rails at 9 o'clock hit their thumbs under recoil. I think I'm going to give the Magpul forend a try so I can try the offset mount.

 

[John A.]

Have you looked at the ergo handguards?

Here's the newer keymod

And the older tri rail

 

[No1Buck]

Thanks for the input guys. I decided to go with the Magpul and a short section of rail. I'm going to try the 9 o'clock mount, might try some kind of offset mount later depending on how it feels.