Staked castle nut or not ?

nagantguy said:

Just wondering the consensus; my first AR build i staked - maybe one other time haven’t done so to recent ones . Noticed no difference. Now my two working rifles are staked but is it necessary for a range /varmint rifle ?

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I have at least one rifle with a ratchet style castle nut. No need to stake that one as it is most likely much more secure than one that is staked. The others are not staked but rather secured with thread compound.

Personally I am not a fan of staking. It is not needed when there are much better options out there that cosmetically look a lot better and provide at least as much (if not more) security.

Charger442 said:

Im not sure why using this with judiciously applied torque is so difficult

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Had to have this one made to fit this funky lugged end plate..

dms416 said:

The newer nuts don’t use that old spanner design…look harder

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Looked. Couldn't find one. I did find pictures of their newer rifles with a standard style castle nut but they still aren't staked. Even their standard style castle nut doesn't have the recesses for the end plate to be staked into it. Almost like they designed it to not be staked.

I can't believe this thread has made it two pages. Staking is easy and provides a level of insurance that's practically free. A staked castle nut is still easy to brake loose. You can stake it again, it's not one and done. It doesn't take a mongo amount of strength and material movement to provide adequate staking.
Crazy.....

Staking is mostly an attempt to soldier-proof the stock. "We don't want you taking this off."
Non applicable.

Yoteski said:

I can't believe this thread has made it two pages..........

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Just wait until we get to page 5

Milf Dots said:

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I have no doubt that Chad knows his stuff, but some days I think he's just looking for problems where there don't have to be any.
Reminds me of an OSHA guy. Nothing is perfectly safe, but if you follow the six thousand page rulebook to the letter it'll be 0.12% safer.

Nope, I do not stake castle nuts...not necessary IMO, they stay in place when torqued plus a little dab loctite blue and can be Disassembled easily.
Remember: Life is not good when ya have difficulty getting the nut off.

I don’t like castle nuts either for ar applications

There are plenty of good stocks that don’t rely on them

MSTN said:

Try a Fortis K-1 tapered castle nut with corresponding receiver end plate:

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Gay gucci solution to a non-existent problem

Any thread locker, even medium strength will solve the problem permanently.

It's a big ass nut that sees mild vibration, not something holding a space ship together for fuck's sake.

Milf Dots said:

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If it's on the internet it must be true?

cas6969 said:

Staking is mostly an attempt to soldier-proof the stock. "We don't want you taking this off."
Non applicable.

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Exactly. It's also an artifact of manufacturing techniques from 60 years ago.

I bet gas key bolts wouldn't need it either if they were torqued correctly with red loctite.

The main reasons for why your lock nut will come loose are:

1. Not enough torque applied, especially with loose/undersized threads on the RET
2. If you use an end plate with sling loops or a QD sling swivel socket and mount a sling at that point, which pulls on the plate.

With the Lock nut installation jig, that clamps to the pistol grip boss on the lower and keeps the RET aligned TDC for the stock shaft, you can really crank down on them and get the torque value plus alignment.

I prefer using Blue Loc-tite, sufficient torque, and never attach slings to the end plate.

We’re already dealing with what is essentially a prototype quick solution from about 1965 for the first XM177s that hasn’t been replaced with something superior, because it actually works pretty well. As soon as you apply forces to it that it wasn’t meant to handle, it might come loose.



Q did an interesting video on this recently:

I have 8 of them, never staked, none have ever came loose, just tighten them correctly and they wont. No way would I stake them cause I may want to take them apart., swap, or change them. Looks to be more of a anti-tamper thing so people didnt take them apart in the field. ... or staking it created one less removable part... maybe it was a selling point? Less parts to get lost sounds more appealing.

And, there is this vid showing just how easy staking is to defeat. Makes you wonder “what’s the point…?”

Carbines built specifically for duty / hard use usually get a Magpul UBR. If not, proper torque and staking for insurance. The other 90% don't get staked, just properly torqued. I've never had one come loose, and I've been using this platform for over 40 years. If it happens, I have the tools to fix it in the truck. I also don't glue Legos together.