C8 SFW Handguards?
 

Ok i'm offically stumped, I just aquired a Triad ITM and real C8 stock with buttpad and am just dying to turn my Inokatsu GBB into an SFW or C8 CQB. Great!... only problem is regular M4 handguards do not look right and are waaay to wide for the triad to fit around it. So i'm wondering if anybody out there who just by chance has a Triad ITM and a C8 styled gun. Im looking at M635, M733 and the M15 to a lesser extent, but the handguards seem slimmer and not so 'fat' as it were. Since I have an Inokatsu I'll be able to even take real handguards if somebody could point me in the direction of! Let me know your thoughts.

If you can find any of the old pattern Colt handguards, maybe Bushmaster. Basically it does have the skinny guards compared to whats being used these days. Airsoft side, the cheapest source of the old pattern guards is the G&P front sets, like the M733/M635/M655 kits on Redwolf.

I also have a TRIAD on my custom C8 and have the same issue. It has a CA M15 carbine front end and the the handguards are also too fat. I've been looking for several months not to find suitable handguards, and to no avail. So I just mounted the TRIAD backwards wtih the tines pointing to the front of the gun instead of to the rear.

Like I said, newer pattern guards are fat.

Apperently G&P front kits are nice and thin.

Jon, a local's gonna be buying a XM177 and turning it into a CQB-R... perhaps he'd trade hand-guards with you.

Are the hand guards on the XM177 the same length as the M4? I was told that they were be a few people, and had someone else check it out and he said they weren't.

I have a feeling the XM177 handguards may be a tad longer, but if he's converting it see if he'll borrow the handguards to me to see if they'll fit because that would be excellent. My next stop might be the CGN classifieds god forbid lol.

It depends, like the XM grips should be same/similar length to the regular M4 grips. If you have something like the Army Code SFW barrel, you can adjust the length for different grip sizes (small adjustment, but nonetheless). The DragonRed/Element SFW barrel is fixed and can't accomodate changes.

Hang on, I'll go try a CA XM177 handguards on a CA M15a2

Did you actually try the handguards?

At the Mill a couple of weeks ago, I compared XM177 handguards to my C8 and they APPEARED to be the same length. We didn't actually remove them to test since I had tape around my handguard to hold on my pressure switch on and didn't want to remove it. But looked the same to me in terms of length.

I have a set of Bushmaster handguards, as well as a set of PTW handguards.

The Bushmasters measure 1.957" at the front laterally, while the Systema measure 2.167". That works out to about 3/16" difference.

I may be persuaded to part with the Bushmasters to help you with your project, Mr. Jon.

The space between the tines of the TRIAD are about 2" or maybe a bit less (measured with a measuring tape, so not 100% accurate). I doubt those Bushmaster handguards will fit. The front end of a standard M16 handguard is the pefect size.

Use a caliper if you want a precise number, but the Bushy's are off a real AR, and I doubt that the triad would not fit a real AR with standard AR handguards. The AR is so modular and the specs are such that I can grab any part from any other manufacturer and make it work, unless it's some cloner somewhere.

Unfortunately, I don't have a caliper. However, I removed the TRIAD and measured it again, and I can say for sure that the tines on the TRIAD are just under 2" wide.

I understand that real steel AR parts are pretty standard, however, C8 handguards that the TRIAD are designed to fit around are thinner at the tip than the fatter US-style M4 handguards. They taper more and come to a thinner end like the tip of M16 / C7 handguards. While either will physically fit into an M4 / C8 (real steel), the TRIAD will fit around one, but not around the other.

Well, the Bushy measure 1.957". Last I checked, that is under 2". And they don't taper up to 2" until 1.75" back from the front.