Barrel shroud

The military trench shotgun features a ventilated metal handguard with a bayonet attachment lug.

A handguard (also known as the forend or forearm) on firearms is a barrel shroud specifically designed to allow the user to grip the front of the gun.

It provides a safe heat-insulated surface for the user's hand to firmly hold onto without needing to worry about getting burned by the barrel, which may become very hot when firing.

Free floating barrels are known to have greater accuracy than their counterparts that have drop in hand guards.

In the context of melee weapons, a "handguard" refers to the crossguard (also known as the quillons or crosstree), the enlarged front part of a sword, saber or knife/dagger's hilt, which protects the wielder's hands from an opponent's blade sliding towards the hilt or prevents the wielder's own hand and fingers from accidentally slipping onto the blade when stabbing.

[3] Because they void barrel warping, free-floating handguards have been known to increase accuracy between 0.5 and 0.75 MOA (0.15–0.2 mrad) compared to their drop-in counterparts.