I've always thought the handguard on the 15-22 was just a little too long for my taste. I think a carbine length handguard (without the A2 front sight post) may be [i]too[/i short, but decided to just trim it down to just a hair under 9". I'm really fond of the HK416/MR556 look, so used that handguard as a rough guide for my project.
I got all my goodies from Tacticool22 today so I was ready to go. I referenced another thread here about cutting the guard with a handsaw, and I duct taped my line and had at it. Turned out really good - I used the space between the slats on my deck to keep the saw on track
Ended up taking exactly 3 full "rails" off the handguard. I was worried about having to route out the inside to get the end cap back to fit inside, but I lucked out because it gave exactly enough room to install the end cap on . . . backwards. Locks on and everything. Almost gives it a faux gas block look. You can see in the last two pics how it clips in the circles of the handguard nicely. Just a hair of space between the endcap and handguard, but good enough for me.
This weekend I'll take the handguard off again and do a sand & polish job on the cut end.