A buddy of mine has a Bushmaster 20" A2 and it is new and unfired.  While handling it I noticed some movement toward the front end of the handguards.  I removed them and notice the handguard cap behind the front sight tower was somewhat loose.  Is this normal?  I've never experienced this with any upper I've ever owned, so I'm wondering if this is something that needs to be addressed with Bushmaster.

Thanks in advance.

I put a thin line of clear superglue around the barrel and cap. I dont know if this will stand up to repeated fireing though. Some may suggest a small tack weld on the inside of the handguard cap at the barrel. A tack weld may make it harder to move though if you wish to add a freefloat.

My new Bushmaster 20" has very loose handguards in comparision to the handguards on my several 16" Bushmasters.  And the circular metal plate next to the front post is loose too on my new 20".  But these things don't bother me [shrug].