"Fat" handguards?

[Slater]

This is one of several companies that sell this style:

https://www.cavmfg.com/C5-Fat-Rifle-Handguard-C5.htm

Are these "fat" profile handguards made for HBAR's or do some folks just like the extra bulk?

[Stickman]

This is one of several companies that sell this style:

https://www.cavmfg.com/C5-Fat-Rifle-Handguard-C5.htm

Are these "fat" profile handguards made for HBAR's or do some folks just like the extra bulk?

Greater distance away from the barrel results in cooler handguards. The Colt heavy barrel AR15 comes with thin handguards.

[Slater]

Makes sense. I've heard a lot of "Damn, those things are ugly" remarks about them.

[markm]

I like the real Colt ones with the actual heat shielding. But not having a pic rail on a carbine is too unsettling for me to leave them on a gun.

[Dr. Bullseye]

Heat shielding is available on the MOE and B5 Systems handguard. It seems to me to be much harder to get a grip on something with a large diameter than a somewhat smaller diameter. People have given a great deal of thought to this with barbells, for instance. There is an optimum diameter for maximizing human grip (of course it will vary a bit among individuals). The Fat handguard would seem outside this range. Even the older handguards were tapered so that backward pressure could be more easily put on them. Evidently, some people like the fatter guard---but why?