I put together some slides showing some details of things I have learned from you guys about comparing Colt handguards to others.  Thought it might be useful to someone, so here it is.  Please correct me if anything is wrong and I will change it.

Some other brands will have some of the same features as Colts, but usually not all of the same features.  These examples are Colt, RRA (which are close replicas) and an unknown brand.  Captions are below the picture.



Green - Colt's will have six holes.
Red - Colt holes are tapered.  RRA's are tapered also.  The unknown brand is vertical.
Purple - The Colt lines are thin and clear.  RRA's are thin, not as clear cut and the unknown brand has clear, but less lines.
The Colt's tend to be shiny and the others are a more flat finish.  The unknowns also have knubs on the front where they go into the end cap.



Red - Colt vertical ribs go into the horizontal ribs at 45 degrees.  The other two brands are at 90 degrees.
Blue Arrow - The top ridges roll over the end on Colts.  Although you can't see the other brands, the unknown brand stops without rolling over.



Red - A better view of the top ribs rolling over the edge.  Not so on the unknown brand.



Red - The heat shields on the Colt's and RRA's have tabs.  The unknown brand is bent the entire length.  Some brands have tabs, but they are square instead of one end of the tab being curved.
Blue Arrow - The Colt's and RRA's have tongues and grooves along the edge.  The unknown brand is smooth.



Inside, rear close up:

Red - The Colt's have a thin "L" shape.  RRA's have a thicker "U" shape.  The unknowns are covered by the heat shield.
Purple - The top of this ridge is flat on Colt's.  Round on the RRA's and thinner on the unknowns.
Blue Arrow - This wall is angled on the Colt's.  It is vertical on the RRA's.



Inside, front close up:

Red - The Colt's have a smooth "C" shaped curve.  The RRA's are more of an "S".  The unknowns are flat, no ridge.



Green Arrow - Better view of the front ridges.
Blue Arrow - Both the Colt's and RRA's have internal ribs, although slightly different.  The unknowns don't have them.
Red - The Colt's may have a backwards "1" or "2".  The RRA's have "Israel" markings.  The unknowns only have a normal number, "4" in this case.

VERY EXCELLENT and this should be tacked for sure..Great job RL... I will only add this to the unknown types.I have seen and owned a couple that the heat shield do have tabs BUT they are squared tabs.

Thanks.  I added that statement.

Thanks.  I'm saving this one.

I need to pull out my "Genuine Israeli Special Forces" handguards and my Lone Star Ordnance ones for comparison.

Great thread, btw!

eta: didn't read to the very bottom where you'd said the RRA had the IDF marks.

Excellent post.

I pulled 3 spare sets of guards long stashed away and they are all Colt

subscribed until tacked; good job!!!

(psst; anyone know where I can get some "Colt" carbine HGs...  Mine are–– err–– all cracked; yeah, that's it!!!  "Cracked")

Great info Rick, Thanks!

Nice write up. I knew there were differences but, I never knew exactly what to look for.

Doc

Well done.  This should be tacked, or added to the USGI Carbine parts guide.

I'll be referencing this in the morning.

Cool! I was pretty sure mine are Colt, now I'm positive!

Please do tack this!

Thank you, RLR350!! You know I had this very question so this is particularly useful to me!

Yes - this should be tacked for sure!

Do the dual heat shielded Colt carbine handguards have the same characteristics as the single shielded ones as described?

Yes, this a very good write up by the OP!

Edit: I mean the Colt M4 handguards that are dual shielded and is oval in shape at the back by the Delta ring.

excellent job

I'd like to contribute some pics of a set of LSO's to this thread








these have lots of molding flash which gives them some sharp edges. they feel flexible compared to colt or rra's

There ya go,,the square tabs I mentioned above.Did'nt know it was Lone Star that had them tho.Thanks cracked.

Glad you guys liked the thread.  After Dodger57 asked me a question via IM the other night I decided a thread might be useful and fun.  So, Dodger this TMI Colt thread is somewhat your doing.  

Token - I don't know about the M4's.  I don't have any and I don't think I have ever handled them.  Someone here may know.   Of course, they aren't retro, but  a few of us play on both sides of the retro/modern AR's.

Crackedcornish - thanks for adding those.  I've only heard of them, aren't they pretty hard to find?  Seems I recall Tex might have a set, too.

Interesting thing is if you just described them over the phone (LSO markings aside) they would have a lot of the features of Colt.

Six hole, single heat shield
Ribs roll over the end.
Shiny, not matte.
Horizontal and vertical ribs meet at 45 degrees.
Internal ribbing.
Tabbed heat shields (although a good example of what m1sniper pointed out with the square tabs.)

However, looking at the pictures they are obviously different.  GVS also pointed out at one time the RRA handgaurds have the flex and are not as stiff as Colts.

(BTW:  The unknown hand guards in the photos came off a Tac Sol M4 .22 upper)

I just IMed moderator coctailer and requested this be tacked as a sticky,if anyone else agrees,please write him and or moderator aimless and request it be added..I feel this is really great info right here!!! Again,GREAT job RL...

did you also notice the LSO's only have 1 long tab/slot arrangement on the edges where the colt and rra's have two shorter ones?

If your gonna tack it, you, we, me, someone has to include the CAR stock ID comparisoms as well.  Would only be prudent.

I've got a set of the LSO handguards also. They have found a home on my XM177E22LR  (XM177E2 in .22LR) build. I figured they will see a lot of use so why beat up a nice set of Colt handguards. The LSO handguards can be made quite a bit more comfortable by spending a little time with some fine sandpaper to soothe out the sharp edges of the molding flash. Then a little polishing compound to shine up the sanded areas.

Doc

Cool - thanks!

Anyway to have the images display with the text? Not a problem if not, I'll just bookmark this thread.

Thanks Coctailer and M1.  I think that is a good solution.

Dodger - Those are in a Power Point presentation.  I can move the wording onto each slide and e-mail you a copy if you want it.  The pictures are a little clearer that way, too.  IM or e-mail me so I have your E-mail and I'll send it within a few days.

(I think Power Point is retro these days, but it's the only thing I know how to use.  )

Thanks again Coctailer - I saw the post and it looks good there - appreciate it.

Rick

That's okay, cocktailer has fixed the images to show with the text. Thanks!

THANK YOU SIR,,you are the man!!!

Absolutely great guide. I'm pretty up to speed on most retro parts but carbine handguards kind of stumped me. I've posted pictures of a set of six hole handguards I picked up at a show for $15 before , and was told that they looked like Colt, but this absolutely confirms it. Thanks for your contribution to the forum.

I took some pictures of my M4 handguards. The earlier ones do not have glued in heat shields. The later ones do...no I won't take them apart (I only have one set left).

I took some pictures but do not have any after market stuff to compare with anymore, but if I remember, the single heatshield M4 HGs had the heatshield plastic riveted in around the vent holes.

some quick comments...the outer shield is blackened to reduce reflection, glare. the tabs are staggered. the black pieces have a "1" and "2" modeled in them. 7 vent holes, vertical, and otherwise the same as the CAR HGs attributes....

the CAR Gen3 buttstock has some pictures too, of the most important parts I could think of.

Someone else can do commentary on these pictures...but today I can't, I have to prep for clinical.

This

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TTT useful info!

Taggity Tag!

Guess who's in the market for a set now!

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I have two pair of hand guards that have all the Colt features, on one pair the center band rolls over more than the other.  Is this just a mold / production variation?

I have a set of Colt hg's and a set of unknown 6 hole.

It's sad that we lost pictures in a lot of the great threads like this one. I wonder if anyone has them saved, or if the OP still has them?

There are add-ons available for both Firefox and Chrome that will allow you to view Photobucket images. See this thread from Monday.

I can again view the images in the OP.

What do you think about these hand guards? I bought them for my XM177E1 project and the seller said they'd be Colt, but I don't think so. Anyway I know that real Colt early 6 hole hand guards are hard to come by, especially when looking for almost mint condition.

not colt.  those U shaped raised areas are too thick.  these look like the RRA ones.

Thank you! I know you are an expert on those parts. I will keep on searching and use these in the meantime.

was thinking the same thing...look like RRA to me

Is there any way to make the first post photo bucket pics clear?   All but one are out of focus.  Thanks for taking time to post.  
You saved me from paying $90.00 for a set of RRA listed as Colt.

Its Photobuckets latest attempt to extract money from people. They went from free hosting, to not showing pictures unless you pay to showing blurry pictures unless you pay.
Maybe in another year they will only be half blurry.

Here are a couple of the main features to look for.

The main thing I look for is the thin “L” shape on the inside of a Colt (left) compared to the thicker “U” shape on non-Colts.



The other is the angled ribs on the Colts (top pic), but then again, I will always check for the thin L on the inside.



On a similar note, if you’re looking at a CAR stock and don’t know if it is N1 marked or not, look for the mold marks. They are Colt birth marks.

Now, here is a nice 6 hole copy that even has a similar sheen and the angled ribs as the Colts.



But turn it over and it is clearly not a Colt. That’s why you always check the inside.

Excellent information. Thanks for posting.

I just found a set of these at my lgs. They're also similar to the "unknowns" in the op. Not Colts, but still pretty nice copy.

are the rock river one still available?

Wanna bump this up for some peeps that were asking some questions.

Bump