hand guards with locking tabs, needed or not?

[Raivkka]

I have an Armalite compatible upper receiver and I am looking for a hand guard.
I can get one from the manufaturer but it does not have locking tabs.

Is it necessary to have those tabs (building a 6.5C) or not that important?

 

[black max]

I have an Armalite compatible upper receiver and I am looking for a hand guard.
I can get one from the manufaturer but it does not have locking tabs.

Is it necessary to have those tabs (building a 6.5C) or not that important?

What are these locking tabs your talking about??? Do ypu have a picture? One of my favorite rails is the Fortis switch and there are no tabs of any kind...

 

[hlee]

The anti rotation tabs are not a requirement, and plenty of hand guards lack them though being highly regarded. But, assuming they are machined well, the tabs make aligning the top rails "even a cave man can do it" simple. After buying a hand guard with them, I will not buy another without them.

 

[The King]

You are in 308 land I see. The large frame gas guns have 0 standard whatsoever on the shape of the upper behind the rail system, so most companies don't do anything locking tab related.

The trick to avoiding the locking tab's purpose altogether is to use a torque wrench on your barrel nut and torque it to the high end of the spec from the manufacturer. Problem eliminated.

I don't have a preferred 308 rail at this time. If I were building a light gun I would try the 2A Armory Xanthos rail, and my heavy gun has a JP handguard on there being that its an LRP-07.