Over the years (decades, really) I've owned Plain-Jane A2's/A4's from Colt, FN, Bushmaster, Stag, Spike's and PSA. Guess I never paid much attention to the handguards since they never gave me any issues. The actual milspec (surplus) handguards are the most desirable and then there's various commercial offerings. My PSA has the "fat" handguards so they're obviously commercial.

What makes the milspec (or equivalent) handguards superior? Is it the quality of the polymer, heat shield attachment, or other factors?

All of the above... The type of polymer (which is a fiberglass composite for heat resistance), the quality of the heat shield and the construction are all better on the real thing vs. the commercial crap that's out there.

Real A2 handguards are available from Colt through Brownells and Windham Weaponry... They're both made by the same place.

Surplus USGI A2 Handguard
No affiliation and I have not ordered from them.  This was posted several years ago and I have kept the link.  Originally they were $40 a set.  I plan on going to the store soon since they are local to me, (25 minutes away).  Hoping for a better price in person.

The photos make me think those may actually be A4 hand guards, as the heat shields are glued in like on M4 carbines.  When did the glued in shields start?

Never knew there was a difference between A2 and A4 handguards.

There really isn't, they both use the same handguards.

I've never seen an A2 with glued in handguards.  I know M4s have theirs glued in.  The time frame for the M4s with this lead me to believe the rifles would be A4s.

The lack of good A2 handguards led to an A4 build...



...and an RAS.

Windham Weaponry A2 handguards are the exact some ones that Colt and FN use.

https://shop.windhamweaponry.com/product/9349059-fb/

For cloning purposes you might be right. I don't really consider slight manufacturing changes over the years to change the designation of them from being A2 handguards. Glued in heat shields or not, A2/A4 handguards are visually and functionally the same and they are interchangeable.

Yep, and there is no lack of good A2 handguards, but there is only one place that is making them for for these manufacturers... If they ever stop making them then we will be up shit creek trying to find good ones.

Windham and RRA were the ones I was looking at when an arfcommer spoke up about having an extra set.  We met up and without any crab meat or model trains:

I totally agree.  For cloning an A2 or an A4 from a particular period, I would be a little picky.  But, on a range gun, I'd use whatever I could get.  Like I implied earlier, I'd never seen (nor heard of) rifle hand guards with glued in shields until this thread.

Do you mostly stick to the old surplus sets? I know A2 handguards have been coming with the heat shields glued in since at least 2003.

Edit: That is unless my memory is fried about what came on my first ever Bushmaster rifle from back then.

Actually, yes.  I have only one factory set (on a pre-ban Colt).  The rest are one NIW set from the 90s, and three sets of hard plastic surplus Gi that I've picked up at gun shows or Army-Navy stores.  None have glued in shields.  I guess that makes me old.  Lol.  I do have one modern commercial set, but they're flexible vinyl with flimsy all black non-glued heat shields.

[Deleted]

Those A2 handguards (at least according to the pictures) are the cheap knock offs used by most commercial manufacturers. There's really only 2 sources that sell the good ones and that's Colt's through Brownells and Windham Weaponry. Other than that your sorting through old surplus from various places.

I have Aero Precison handguards on my A4 clone.

Aero's description says they are polymer.

The Colt/Windham handguards say they are fiberglass.

Seems like that would be worth upgrading if I'm understanding that correctly.

My Aero hanguards also have a loose fit, I'm guessing I might get a tighter fit with the the Colt/Windhams?

My understanding is that the Zytel material introduced with the M16A2 furniture was glass-fiber reinforced nylon. So you could call it fiberglass, or you could call it a polymer — it’s both.

gotcha,

I'm just trying to figure out what I'm missing by having Aero handguards.

There are a whole lot of AR's out there with the cheap commercial handguards and they seem to be doing fine. Personally, I prefer the quality Colt/Windham versions but I would think that the average shooter would be OK with what comes on his AR from Stag, PSA, etc.

is it the fit, finish, or feel that makes the Windham/Colts stand out?

I'm willing to order them, but just don't want to pay the money and not be able to tell a difference.

There have been a bunch of discussions here over the past few years about matte vs. shiny GI / surplus handguards, and there are some subtle differences between ones from different sources. I'm not sure if they are a result of being produced at different times or by different suppliers. I'm not sure when FN last purchased / produced / sold A2 handguards though. I haven't paid attention to their commercial line, but I think their military A4 shipped with a KAC RAS in later years.

Here's an example of a Colt set that I bought off the EE a few years ago. The plastic has sort of an "orange peel" matte look.

Attached File


Here's a comparison of Colt and FN handguards. On the top is the Colt handguard pictures above with the matte finish to the plastic. It has very thin "DO NOT REMOVE" lettering on the heat shield. The bottom one came from a complete surplus FN A2 upper receiver group that I got from Shark. The middle one was purchased from the EE a month ago - the seller described it as an unknown brand GI set, but it's an exact match to the FN handguard on the bottom, so I'll consider it to be an FN. The heat shield shape is the same, but note how the stamped "ribs" between each of the vent holes are slightly larger on the two FN handguards, and the "DO NOT REMOVE" lettering is a deeper, more bold font.

Attached File


The design of the handguard ribs is also slightly different between the Colt and FN sets. Here's the Colt on the left and the FN from the EE on the right. Aside from the matte and smooth textures, note on the Colt how the ribs on either side seem to come up and overlap on top of the longitudinal ribs on either side of the vent holes. That includes the wide rectangular raised "panels" at the front end of the handguard. The FN ribs merge more smoothly into the longitudinal ribs. A very minor difference, but it might be useful in identifying brands of handguards (if there is such a thing). I'd be interested in comparing a shiny Colt set to the FN, but I don't have one of those. The differences seen here might just be associated with old (shiny) vs. new (matte) production A2 handguards from whatever supplier Colt and FN used.

Attached File


I mention all this just to point out that there can be slight differences between real military / surplus handguards, so just because one set looks a little different from another, it doesn't be that it's not a true GI handguard set.

I'm guessing that .mil handguards don't have a CAGE code stamped anywhere on them?

Many do, on the heat shields.

Here are some NOS USGI hand guards I picked up a while ago on eBay. The CAGE code belongs to CUSTOM TECHNOLOGY OF AMERICA INC, in Lexington, SC.

This is the Doublestar branded handguard I ordered from Brownell's when I started my M16A4 project.




I was so impressed, I went to ebay and bought a RAS.



My M16A2 clone wears genuine surplus that came from Del Ton, of all places, back in 2007.

Going by DSA's advertisement, they make their own handguards. Haven't heard any feedback about these, anyway:


https://www.dsarms.com/p-12928-dsa-ar15-rifle-length-handguard-set-tapered-with-heat-shields.aspx

Excellent, that looks just like my two FN sets, including the size and shape of the small ribs between the round vent holes in the metal liner.

I think eBay has been removing auctions for anything that says “M16” in the title or description. I believe that’s what happened to tkaz6a’s auctions a few years ago.

Buy Colt/USGI or Windham. Nothing else is the same.

I don't have an actual set of DSA's handguards, but the photo on their website is of a commercial, oval set.

After reading this thread, I decided I needed the "real deal" for my A4 clone.

So I just got a Windham set today and I don't know if I got a bad pair, but I'm not impressed with the fit.

I bought the Windham's to replace my "inferior" Aero Precison A2 handguards.  Turns out the Aero's must be a lot better than I was aware.

The Windhams don't close completely flush near my triangular handguard cap. I've tried swapping sides and no difference.

When I grip the Windhams there is a click of them trying to close flush.

Other than the heat shields, and amount of shine, the Aeros seem exactly the same thickness and made of the same polymer/fiberglass.

My Aero's are rock solid when mounted.  The Aero's have melonited heat shields and no glue on the shields.

The Windhams appear to have better heat shields.  The Windhams outer black color are more shinier than the Aeros.  

But the fit of the Windham's, makes me want to put my Aero's back on.

Seems like over the last two years anything I order has been subpar.

I may call Windham tommorow to see about returning or maybe trying another pair.

I bought the Aero's for under twenty bucks, makes me want the Windhams to be damn near perfect fit.

It can be or miss on the Colt/Windham A2 handguards at times, but I've experienced the same with some sets having a slight gap at the sides near the handguard end cap and not being perfectly flush. This is because some sets are a bit more bowed or warped than others, it's really luck of the draw. I still haven't seen anything out there that I'd say is better other than Magpul's furniture.

I looked at the ones from Aero, but I'd be afraid to buy a set looking at the mixed reviews.

That makes sense, thanks again as usual.

I will try to see if Windham will swap them out for another pair and try my luck.

Were you reading Aero Reviews on their website? I'm curios to read what issues others are having.

Doesn't Aero contract their handguards from a separate vendor?

FWIW, has anybody tried LMT's A2 handguards? The company has a solid reputation, but they may source these from someplace that supplies so-so products.


https://lmtdefense.com/product/rifle-length-handguards/

The majority of furniture is outsourced by manufacturers.

It was just the reviews on Aero's site. Some of them are good and some are bad, but the bad ones sound typical of qualities found in the cheap knock off A2 handguards that are sold by most places.

About two years ago I went and ordered a set from LMT and it was the same as the Colt set I bought from Brownells a couple years prior, but it is the most warped set of authentic A2s I have. After that I went and ordered three more sets thinking they'd be about the same as what I received before and boy was I in for a surprise... Upon opening the box I found three sets of well packaged, but used and abused, dirty and beat to heck old surplus with scratches and gouges... The heat shields were even popping out on most of them. Luckily I was able to return them for a full refund.

Interesting. Surprising that LMT would be such a crap shoot.

Surprised the keck out of me too, I did not think LMT would be selling beat up old surplus for the same price as you could get a set of new Colt's through Brownells.

These are inexpensive, ship fast and circle is better than oval.

This is a Stag Arms "Retro" HBAR that I recently picked up. Handguards are typical current commercial pattern. They fit solidly but have some small gaps visible. They work for my purposes so I'll probably keep this rifle "as is". Interestingly, Stag doesn't seem to sell these on their website.

Does anyone have any experience with IMI Defense A2 hand guards?  I was web-surfing the other night and came across this - IMI Defense A2 Rifle Length Hand Guards  I e-mailed the folks to ask about the cross section and they claim they're round and not oval.  Plus the description stating they're fiberglass reinforced polymer has got me curious.  Anyone out there tried them?

I picked up a set of A2 handguards from Amherst for a clone project, they aren't as nice as the Colt ones I remember from active duty, but will be just fine for a rifle that is going to hang on the wall.

Lack? I can find them easily for about $10 a set.

Link?  Because I spent more for non-USGI that don't even look the part very well.

I have a question about A2 handguards. None of my ARs have the plastic slip in clamshell handguards so I have very little experience with them.

Attached File


What are these little nubs?  Are these handguards I got from RRA for my A2 build for a round cap? I test fit these on my barrel and they do fit the triangle cap but the four nubs on the sides are on the outside of the cap. Is this normal?

Sorry for the dumb questions but I always use free float guards and this is the first time I'm using these guards. I didn't read through the entire thread so forgive me if this was covered already.

triangle end cap fits around them like such.

I just double checked and yep that's how it looks when I put it on. Thanks.

@JupiterMaximus

Could you please post a link? I need a new set of rifle length handguards.