I have the Swiss handguards and new end cap. Anyone have the hole pattern and length for cutting and drilling 551 handguards to fit the 556?
Thanks

Do you mean cutting 552 / 553 handguards from the longer 550 handguards?

551 handguards are their own mold and don't require an endcap.

DD le sales (I think) made an end cap designed to fit cut 551 hand guards.

I think I remember that as a thing now that you mention it.

I've never seen anyone do it though.

DDLES is gone.
MFI is not a good fit or material.
Here is a posting off the archive server:
LINK

Did contact the poster but never heard back.
It is a major weight savings compared to the rail system.

I did what C-Swimm did and cut down 550's to 556 SBR length. I can get you measurements off of mine and I'm using a DDLES 552 cap. I originally used MFI's 552 handguards as a template, but wound up making a few adjustments (mostly to hole spacing).

However if you are cutting 551 handguards I can't help you with hole positions, and I would assume length is the same (but I'd still cut a little long and file back, which is what I did to achieve a tight fit).

Yes - they are indeed 550 handguards. Any help with the hole pattern would be appreciated. Perhaps you could do a trace and email it to me?

Haven't forgotten about you OP, just been really busy.

I'll try to get you something this weekend.

Many thanks.

I figured since this is the second or third time I've measured these handguards for folks needing measurements I'd post these here in case others want this info.





The overall length from the furthest back point of the top handguard is roughly 6 1/2". When you cut the handguards to length you are best served leaving them a little long and then gradually sanding them back to ensure a tight fit to your specific rifle.



I tried my best to trace the hole pattern off the handguard but the radius of the surface caused my tracing to skew, so I threw in some rough measurements just in case. The bottom edge of the paper is the bottom edge of the top handguard.

How I drilled my holes was two fold. First I bought some "map dots" from Amazon (which are simply little round stickers) and stuck these on the undrilled handguard. This allowed me to place and move where I wanted the holes to be drilled and have a rough idea of what the finished product might look like. And then all I had to do was chuck up the handguard in the drill press and align the bit with the center of the stickers.

For the position of the optional rails I put the rails on the handguard where I wanted them and simply used a pencil through the hole to mark the position of the take holes. The holes for these should be around 3 or 4mm, small enough so the screws will bite into the meat of the handguard. I personally found these optional rails to be annoying, so I leave them off. But the mounting holes remain, as they do on the real SG553 handguards.

Many thanks