When it comes to handguards I have tested plenty, both ones sent for review and ones I’ve bought. While quality plays a role in how light they are and how many rounds can be put through the barrel before the handguard becomes to hot to touch. I have worked with handguards that range in price from $90 to $260. I have worked with quad rails in the Army, the handguards made of plastic and all have their place. While I am not a fan of the old heat guards or quad rails I am a fan of MLOK and to a lesser degree Keymod. But in the ever-changing world of firearms, making the lightest firearm has become huge for three gunners and builders alike. But for a long time even light weight handguards have fallen short of making light rifles. There are companies making light stocks to go on standard buffer tubes and titanium parts to take every ounce off.
There are few companies who can claim they have the lightest of anything. V-Seven has the market with titanium parts for lowers, Venom Defense has many pistol grips that cut the weight but look appealing also. But when it comes to light weight handguard there are a few options made from aluminum but very few made from carbon fiber. Lancer has made a few carbon fiber handguards but they weigh upwards to a pound. But there is one company making waves when it comes to lightweight parts.
Smoke Composites is a small company and they have innovated what it means to be light weight in the AR world. They have developed not only light weight handguards, but stocks to go with it. They offer a wide variety of handguards and four different stock options. I was sent their standard 15in AR15 handguard, a rifle length and carbine stock (with buffer tubes), and a custom 17.75in AR10 (DPMS high pattern). What needs to be noted is that the stocks are not meant to be mortared, they are lightweight and made from carbon fiber. Using a Magpul shoulder saver these stocks are comfortable and if you choose too you can also add a cheek riser which I recommend. But they are strong for holding up the rifle, part of the testing for the butt stock was to hang both rifles (the AR10 and AR15) on a twig to see if it could hold the weight, both the stocks held the weight.
The real stars were the handguards, both of the handguards are so light weight that when they are listed on the website, they have a maximum weight of 8.6oz. This makes the Smoke Composite handguards are one of the lightest on the markets. Now with the handguards being carbon fiber they do not conduct heat like aluminum does. The AR15 handguard was tested in the standard method, shooting the rifle until it was too hot to touch. The problem was, the handguard never got hot, after 300 rounds fired in rapid succession the barrel is what got too hot. The heat radiating off the barrel made it too hot around the guard to hold onto, the guard was still fine to touch.
The AR10 Handguard was tested slightly differently, dropping 300 rounds of .308 is not exactly cheap. I instead left the handguard in the sun, at 90 degrees and in direct sunlight I wanted to know how it would handle the heat. After letting it sit for around fifteen minutes I picked it up, it was warm but not burning. Other parts of the rifle were too hot to touch but still manageable. This was a surprise as some of my other firearms when they spend just minutes in the sun they are too hot to touch.
In the pursuit of the lightest possible AR, Smoke Composite comes in and makes taking the weight away even easier. I would one day love to build the lightest AR possible, skeletonized uppers and lowers, smoke composites stock and handguard, V-seven titanium parts and venom defense pistol grips. Smoke Composites are a company making waves and finding themselves in a unique position at not only being one of the few companies making parts out of carbon fiber but one of the few to do it right.
