Granted Patent B2

US 8,776,420 · App. 13/723,583 · Granted Jul 15, 2014

Abstract

Claims (30)

1. A method of making a hand guard for a semi-automatic or automatic rifle, comprising:

forming a first portion of the hand guard from a first material;

inserting the formed first portion into a mold; and

molding a second portion of the hand guard about the first portion, the second portion being a second material, the second material being different from the first material, wherein a first section of the first portion is completely encased by the second portion and a second section of the first portion is not encased by the second portion wherein the first section of the first portion is a pair of mounting flanges extending along opposite edges of the second section.

2. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the second section of the first portion is a mounting rail.

3. The method as in claim 2 , wherein the first material is aluminum, and wherein the second material is a polymer.

4. The method as in claim 3 , wherein the polymer is a peek polymer.

5. The method as in claim 4 , wherein the second section of the first portion is a mounting rail.

6. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the hand guard is configured to be removably secured to the semi-automatic or automatic rifle.

7. The method as in claim 6 , wherein the hand guard further comprises a removable heat shield.

8. The method as in claim 6 , wherein the hand guard is configured as a lower hand guard.

9. The method as in claim 8 , wherein the removable hand guard further comprises an integrally molded pistol grip.

10. The method as in claim 6 , wherein the hand guard is configured as an upper hand guard.

11. A hand guard formed by the method of claim 1 .

12. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the hand guard further comprises: a locating feature adapted to engage a hand guard capture of the rifle and locate the hand guard relative to the hand guard capture.

13. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the first material is aluminum, and wherein the second material is a polymer.

14. The method as in claim 13 , wherein the polymer is a peek polymer.

15. A method of making hand guard for a semi-automatic or automatic rifle, comprising:

forming a first portion of the hand guard from a first material;

inserting the formed first portion into a mold; and

molding a second portion of the hand guard about the first portion, the second portion being a second material, the second material being different from the first material, wherein a first section of the first portion is completely encased by the second portion and a second section of the first portion is not encased by the second portion, wherein the second section of the first portion is a mounting rail and wherein the first section of the first portion is a pair of mounting flanges extending along opposite edges of the second section.

16. The method as in claim 15 , wherein the hand guard is configured to be removably secured to the semi-automatic or automatic rifle.

17. A method of providing a removable hand guard for a rifle, comprising:

providing an upper receiver of a rifle;

removably securing the hand guard to the receiver, wherein the hand guard is formed by:

forming a first portion of the hand guard from a first material;

inserting the formed first portion into a mold; and

molding a second portion of the hand guard about the first portion, the second portion being a second material, the second material being different from the first material, wherein a first section of the first portion is completely encased by the second portion and a second section of the first portion is not encased by the second portion, wherein the first section of the first portion is a pair of mounting flanges extending along opposite edges of the second section.

18. The method as in claim 17 , wherein the second section of the first portion is a mounting rail and wherein the first material is aluminum, and wherein the second material is a polymer.

19. A rifle formed by the method of claim 18 .

Assignments (19)