I call dibs on the handguard!

It's not that they are rare, which they are, but it is more rifles are out there without handguards.  And if you're a Krag man or Krag woman you would want a carbine or rifle with a handguard.  Any thing else is uncivilized.  Pass the mustard.

Many handguards have been removed and thrown away when guys started to sporterize the guns over the last one hundred and twenty-five years.  Many handguards have been broken by guys prying the handguards off the barrels instead of the correct way of removing the rear sight by sliding the handguard all the way down to the front sight and then carefully lifting it off.  And many just broke with the wood grain from being banged around willy-nilly.