1)Is the SIR available with an OD handguard?
(this is not the question noone else has asked; that one's next )

2)I really like the SIR, and am thinking hard about getting one, but I also REALLY like the LMT rear sight I have, and am not going to part with it. My question is, since I would have to cut off a portion of the rear of the SIR (including the rearmost clamping screw), would it still mount strong enough with the clamping area that would remain? As far as I can tell, I'd only need to cut away from the rearmost screw back.

Before anybody asks; no, I don't NEED a SIR on my rifle, but the added options it gives me may come in handy one day, they allow the barrel to cool more rapidly while keeping you from frying your hands during rapid fire, and besides: the damn things are works of art!

If you haven't already, ask ARMS your question by e-mailing them through their website.

They have answered a bunch of SIR questions for me, all replies prompt and courteous.

Hard to beat info from the makers of the item in question.


Chris

That's true, but we also have around here a lot of guys who'd know almost as well, and ya never know; somebody may have already tried it to fit a different sight than the LMT.



Sidenote: I sort of wonder why ARMS didn't go ahead and incorporate the #40 into the SIRs, since it is the only BUIS that will work with it as designed?

The KAC fits behind the SIR like thier #40. The SIR's do give one more notch to the rear by the way they are designed to work with the irons. That extra notch also give extra eye relief position for some optic's depending on the mout, so I wouldn't cut a SIR for any rear iron to fit.
Good shootin, Jack

Oh, well; so much for the LMT/SIR combo...

They did originally when the SIR first came out, they sold it as a package deal.  Kinda like "Buy the new SIR and get an ARMS 40 free."

Then it became an option.  Wise choice marketing-wise.