I am trying to learn this stuff, what makes one handguard $50 and one $200?
Marketing and branding have a lot to do with the cost - the name sells sometimes mo' betta than the product qualities do.
But - reality, the cost difference is alloy of the metal used - better alloy, more cost - you'll pull accessories off of cheap rails when the soft metal gives way.
Complexity of the handguard - how much machining does it take to make the tube, cut the rails, any mounting points for slings, etc.
Proprietary parts - to use "our rail", you have to use "our barrel nut", or "our barrel nut wrench" - or both.
Hardware - cheap rails "generally" have cheap hardware - either off-sized (the one metric allen wrench you don't have), or are soft metal - they strip out in the head, or in the rail mounts - as noted above.
An noted - metal finish - "hard anodized" verses "baked on" verses "painted" - they all have a different half-life.
Its doesn't take a "combat tour" to have some of these problems show up - it can be as simple as bump going to and from the range, or in and out of the truck.
