Mine is out. Its no problem to take out or put back. If you have an IDF front sight it may hinder accuracy (this was the intended purpose of this piece) as you can flex the polymer side to side which would move the sights out of line.
With my MI XL handgaurd, I can press the handgaurd left, right and down and feel contact. I am looking into how to reduce flex in the polymer and increase the gap around the barrel.