page_title: Barrel shroud
hierarchical_section_title: Barrel shroud
caption_attribution_description: English: Royal Netherlands Marine Corps Capt. Charles Suilen (kneeling prone position), attached to the U.S. Marine Corps 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Camp Lejuene, N.C., fires an SA-80 (Small Arms for the 1980s) assault rifle down range at Sierra Prieta, Dominican Republic, on April 20, 2004, during unilateral training at the Joint Task Force Tradewinds 04 Multinational Training Exercise.
context_page_description: A barrel shroud is an external covering that envelops the barrel of a firearm, to prevent unwanted direct contact with the barrel. Moving coverings such as pistol slides, fore-end extension of the gunstock/chassis that do not fully encircle the barrel, and the receiver of a firearm itself are generally not described as barrel shrouds, though they can functionally act as such. A handguard is a type of barrel shrouding that is designed specifically for the operator to grip more frontally on the gun for better stability and control.
  Full-length barrel shrouds are commonly featured on air-cooled machine guns, where frequent rapid bursts or sustained automatic fire will leave the barrel extremely hot and dangerous to the operator. However, shrouds can also be utilized on semi-automatic firearms, especially the ones with light-weight barrels, as even a small number of shots can heat up a barrel enough to injure an operator in certain circumstances.
  Barrel shrouds are also used on pump-action shotguns. The military trench shotgun features a ventilated metal handguard with a bayonet attachment lug.
context_section_description: A barrel shroud is an external covering that envelops (either partially or full-length) the barrel of a firearm, to prevent unwanted direct contact with the barrel (e.g. the operator accidentally touching a hot barrel, which can lead to burns).  Moving coverings such as pistol slides, fore-end extension of the gunstock/chassis that do not fully encircle the barrel, and the receiver (or frame) of a firearm itself are generally not described as barrel shrouds, though they can functionally act as such.  A handguard is a type of (often only half-length) barrel shrouding that is designed specifically for the operator to grip more frontally on the gun for better stability and control.
  Full-length barrel shrouds are commonly featured on air-cooled machine guns, where frequent rapid bursts or sustained automatic fire will leave the barrel extremely hot and dangerous to the operator.  However, shrouds can also be utilized on semi-automatic firearms, especially the ones with light-weight barrels, as even a small number of shots can heat up a barrel enough to injure an operator in certain circumstances.
  Barrel shrouds are also used on pump-action shotguns.  The military trench shotgun features a ventilated metal handguard with a bayonet attachment lug. Ventilated handguards or heat shields (usually without bayonet lugs) are also used on police riot shotguns and shotguns marketed for civilian self-defense. The heat shield also serves as an attachment base for accessories such as sights or sling swivels.
caption: An L85A2 rifle with a partially-shrouded barrel
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