I do not recall which forum member first reported this trick.  Thirty cents will protect a stored hand-guard from being split by the inward pressure of the riveted barrel springs.  Twist/slide a quarter into the rear spring and a nickel into the front spring.  Not my idea or discovery, but very convenient!  Thank you to the inventor.  p.s.  Always slide hand-guards, (upside down to clear the front sight stud), off or onto the barrel.  Never snap them on or off the barrel!

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I posted this idea some time back - not sure if I was first though. I use this also as insurance whan I ship handguards also. I came up with the idea while repairing a cracked handguard. After you put the epoxy in the crack, snap the coins in and the epoxy will mostly sqeeze out. Wipe with vinegar and the crack will usually be as invisible as can be and, just as importantly, you will not be inducing new stresses caused by creating an epoxy wedge in the crack.

Century2 wrote on Mar 12^th, 2013 at 11:57am:

I came up with the idea while repairing a cracked hand guard. After you put the epoxy in the crack, snap the coins in and the epoxy will mostly squeeze out. Wipe with vinegar and the crack will usually be as invisible as can be and, just as importantly, you will not be inducing new stresses caused by creating an epoxy wedge in the crack.

I just got a 98 Rifle with a crack in the hand guard behind the rear sight.  It does not run from the cutout for the sight to the rear of thehand guard, but it is there and it is noticeablele to the naked eye.  How do you manage to squeeze it open without causing additional damage?  I've repaired other hand guards, but none of them had the potential for additional damage like is possible with the Krag hand guard.  Primum non nocere (do no harm) is certainly involved here.

Thanks,

Bob

I used this method on my hand guard also.  I may have heard about it from you Century2... but I can't remember.  Anyway, I also posted this method to a couple people also...  It really does work! 8-)

If the handguard is not completely cracked, I would not recommend trying to open crack any further and by all means, leave the coins in. Use epoxy reducer to thin the epoxy, use a syringe and inject from the back side with the handguard upside-down – gravity will do the work. Clean any bleed-through with vinegar. If the crack is not visible from the back side, time to get out the Dremel with a very small ball rotary cutter and cut a minute back-side trough. Fill the trough with additional applications of unthinned epoxy. Crack should be unnoticeable from the outside and the handguard will be quite strong.

Thank you!

    I have used this method on a 1901 hand guard that is split from front to rear with only the rivets holding it on. So can someone tell me what is the best stuff to use to put it back together? I have been told to use super glue, gorilla glue, Elmer's glue as well as epoxy.  I will only get one shot at this one so I don't want to screw it up. Any and all GOOD advice will be appreciated.  Thanks!

I solely use Acraglas from Brownells.