I just bought an ar15 and, unlike my other, the handguards are loose and rattle around.  It is just a bit abnoxious.  The delta ring can easily be pressed down by hand and the guards taken out.  My other is a lot harder to remove the guards.  Is there a simple fix?

New Handguards.


When they get older, they wear.


If these are new, i don't know what to say

I have had some handguards that fit real loose on one barrel and then tight on another.  I wonder if the barrel nut makes the difference.  At any rate, I use new Colt carbine handguards on all my uppers as well as new barrel nuts.  Some are still loose.  The way I tighten them up is to take some silicone putty and put it around the teeth and indentations at the base of the handguard where it contacts the teeth of the barrel nut.  Press into place and let it setup for 24 hours, and you will have handguards with no play in them.

Charles Tatum
Alamo Professional Arms

Before you insert the handguard into the handguard cap, lay a thin strip of innertube over the top of the handguard where it inserts and meets the cap. This should help. It worked on my Colt M4's that were alittle loose.

[b]I have had some handguards that fit real loose on one barrel and then tight on another. I wonder if the barrel nut makes the difference. At any rate, I use new Colt carbine handguards on all my uppers as well as new barrel nuts. Some are still loose. The way I tighten them up is to take some silicone putty and put it around the teeth and indentations at the base of the handguard where it contacts the teeth of the barrel nut. Press into place and let it setup for 24 hours, and you will have handguards with no play in them.

Charles Tatum
Alamo Professional Arms[/b]

Some one else on this board also recommended this type of fix by using the PERMATEX black HI-temp RTV silicon. I have done this to my shorty, just waiting on a good day to go to the range and test it. So far it looks like it will work and the black RTV blends in with the rest of the rifle. Overflow trimmed right off using a razor blade.