Ok, so that guy was right. I would always just unscrew them before I took it apart, but you don't have to. Just unscrew the cap and don't worry about taking the screws off around the forend. Once you take the cap off it will just slide off, so yes, it is a tool-less take down.
It is much longer than the stock handguard, but I have the 13" Briley handguard, they do make a smaller one, and I think it is 8". It feels great, personally, I love it. I like the fact that I can wrap my thumb around the top without having to worry about touching the barrel. It is not that wide as I have average hands and I can still get a solid grip on it. My wife has tiny hands and she says she likes it set up this way over the stock handguard. I still have some more parts that I am working on getting to add to this, so it is not a complete build yet. Once I finish it I will post an updated picture.