That makes sense. The M14icon flash hiders also suffer erosion up front. The sharper the bottom of the flute, the worse it seems to be. Probably not as much of an issue due to the rather shorter service life of the '14.

The Belgian flesh eliminator problem was largely thought to be a material or heat threat drama. Many would split on fairly new rifles that showed no erosion. I first heard about it in the 1980's when some of the US imports developed the same problem. Replaced a few, but haven't though about it in a while.

Back on topic: Are the other two slots on the bottom of the handguards (as a guess) near the front as well?