{"id":815,"date":"2025-10-07T19:28:39","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T19:28:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/?p=815"},"modified":"2025-10-07T20:53:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T20:53:56","slug":"itw-2006-7-surefire-m73-handguard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/?p=815","title":{"rendered":"ITW &#8211; 2006\/7 : Surefire M73 handguard"},"content":{"rendered":"        <div class=\"wp-block-superb-addons-table-of-contents\" data-smooth-scroll=\"true\">\r\n            <nav class=\"superbaddons-tableofcontents superbaddons-tableofcontents-alignment-left\"  aria-labelledby=\"superb-toc-title-1\">\r\n                                    <span id=\"superb-toc-title-1\" class=\"superbaddons-tableofcontents-title\" style=\"font-size:32px;line-height:40px;\">Table of Contents<\/span>\r\n                                <div class=\"superbaddons-tableofcontents-table\">\r\n                            <ol style=\"list-style-type:decimal\" >\r\n                            <li style=\"font-size:14px;line-height:28px;\">\r\n                                            <a href=\"#hiding-in-plain-sight\">Hiding in plain sight<\/a>\r\n                                                        <\/li>\r\n                            <li style=\"font-size:14px;line-height:28px;\">\r\n                                            <a href=\"#all-hail-the-rail\">All hail the rail<\/a>\r\n                                                        <\/li>\r\n                    <\/ol>\r\n                <\/div>\r\n            <\/nav>\r\n        <\/div>\r\n    \n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hiding in plain sight<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span class=\"has-superb-addons-text-align-justify\">Spend enough years on a hobby and you&#8217;ll start to take finds for granted. Specially on photos you&#8217;ve repeatedly seen on and on and on. Look at this famous Task Force Knight photo.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/iok15u.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-824\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/iok15u.jpg 800w, https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/iok15u-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/iok15u-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span class=\"has-superb-addons-text-align-justify\">If you think there&#8217;s a little something off about the side rail of the handguard of the L119A1 to the left then you&#8217;re onto something because that is not the issued Knight Armament RAS handguard. It&#8217;s a Surefire M73. An interesting one off in a sea of shiny L119A1s, and whose end user appears in quite a handful of TFK photos offering a glimpse at the suite of accessories he used during his 2006-2007 tour in Iraq. In-between the CompM2, the Eotech 552, the AN\/PEQ2 and the DBAL there&#8217;s quite a bit of choice to go with that specific handguard.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"377\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/312476525-5879707835386944-3317303287695155890-n.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-821\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/312476525-5879707835386944-3317303287695155890-n.jpg 377w, https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/312476525-5879707835386944-3317303287695155890-n-151x300.jpg 151w, https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/312476525-5879707835386944-3317303287695155890-n-300x597.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 377px) 100vw, 377px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>On top of the different accessories, there&#8217;s also a whole timeline hiding within the evolution of the rifle&#8217;s paintjob.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"348\" height=\"755\" src=\"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/314492578-459651396256143-2939151266863091778-n-edited.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-822\" style=\"width:346px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/314492578-459651396256143-2939151266863091778-n-edited.jpg 348w, https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/314492578-459651396256143-2939151266863091778-n-edited-138x300.jpg 138w, https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/314492578-459651396256143-2939151266863091778-n-edited-300x651.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 348px) 100vw, 348px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Close up shots offer a better view at the partial picatinny slots on the side rail.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span class=\"has-superb-addons-text-align-justify\">In the end I don&#8217;t know how this handguard ended up on this rifle. Was it to replace a damaged RAS ? A trooper trying for something he judged as better ?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">All hail the rail<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><span class=\"has-superb-addons-text-align-justify\">Building another L119A1 was on my backlog after I finished my first A2. I since missed every opportunity to own the genuine Knight Armament UKSF RAS. So a few years ago now, making this discovery I figured I might as well go for the unique and find a Surefire M73. And oh boy was I in for a quest. But I finally managed to score one very recently.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"452\" src=\"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/markings-1024x452.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-818\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/markings-1024x452.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/markings-300x133.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/markings-768x339.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/markings-850x375.jpg 850w, https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/markings.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Markings are discreetly engraved on the bottom face of the right rail. The lower extended rail is one of the defining features of the handguard.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"403\" src=\"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/side-cut-picatinny-1024x403.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-819\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/side-cut-picatinny-1024x403.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/side-cut-picatinny-300x118.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/side-cut-picatinny-768x303.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/side-cut-picatinny-850x335.jpg 850w, https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/side-cut-picatinny.jpg 1241w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>The second prominent feature has to be the partial picatinny slots most likely envisionned to cut down on the weight along with all the circular cuts.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When hobbying with a detail oriented mind habits can be deceiving. You look at hundreds of L119A1s with their sexy Knight Armament RAS handguards, picking various accessories through different timeperiods. And then it hits you like a firetruck, you finally notice that ugly duckling who isn&#8217;t KAC. The one off that flew under the radar for years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,15],"tags":[120,121,97,118,117,44,119,114,38,105,115,113],"class_list":["post-815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-itw","category-itwuksf","tag-120","tag-121","tag-an-peq-2","tag-compm2","tag-dbal","tag-eotech","tag-fh556-212a","tag-iraq","tag-l119a1","tag-paraclete","tag-surefire","tag-task-force-knight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=815"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":817,"href":"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815\/revisions\/817"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thekitchat.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}