Rifle Hand Guard

Today’s military relies more and more on composite materials to provide soldiers with lightweight, strong, durable armament and protection.

Challenge -  At high rates of fire, automatic weapons experience extreme heat as bullets travel through the barrel of the weapon.  Dissipating this heat is important to protect the barrel of the weapon and to protect the soldier firing the weapon.  In the original design, heat dissipated through the hand guard became extreme for the soldier and limited their ability to effectively fire for extended periods of time.

Solution -  Composite Resources helped develop a hand guard made of carbon fiber.  The new hand guard would replace the original one and attach to the barrel of the weapon.  It would retain the ease of grip and not negatively affect the performance of the weapon.

Results – The properties of the carbon fiber hand guard brought several benefits to the weapon.  It not only offered great heat dissipation and allowed the soldier to use the weapon for longer durations without the fear of being burned, but it also was light weight and environmentally durable.