Have you ever heard of bending an AR upper receiver?

[waveslayer]

I recently had to remove my barrel off an AR build I did for the 6.5 Grendel because of the Satern Barrels that had the improper throat cut into them... they scraped it for free and we're great to deal with. It was a pain in the butt to remove the barrel, it took some muscle that is for sure. I had to get my old man with his old man strength to help.

Well I reinstalled the barrel and when I mount any optic it looks like it's facing to the right as if you were aiming the gun... like it's bent. I mounted the same optics on another AR and it looks perfectly straight.

Have you guys ever heard of bending an AR upper receiver?

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[BIPMaster]

I would think the receiver would crack before you bent it.

 

[Pahntr760]

I would think the receiver would crack before you bent it.

I would think so as well. It may just be an optical illusion.

Oh///and next time you're removing a barrel, a little bit of heat can sure help the process.

 

[lima1seven]

Do have a pic of this you could post? Also what metal is it, 7075 or 6061?

 

[waveslayer]

I will verify the type of metal it is... I know it's bent because I zeroed it before I had the throat scraped and it shot well. I then reassembled it and when I shot it, after torquing down the screws to mount a scope at the same torque as before, it was shooting about 12' to the left. I was able to adjust the scope but I have 2 more clicks of windage available. ..

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[SporterII]

Barrel nut threads?

 

[Mod Adahy]

I have seen twisted uppers and it will cause the same problem. How did you have it attached in a vise?

 

[MarkCO]

Yep, have seen them bent and twisted.

 

[stinkyDrunk]

How exactly did you secure the upper when your Dad exercised his old man strength on the barrel nut?

 

[Pat M]

if you didn't use something like this, you could have bent it some, guys bend remington bolt actions trying to get barrels off by locking down the barrel and putting a piece of flat iron in the magwell and ejection port and twisting (and that is steel)

http://rouschsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/AR15-Upper-Receiver-Vise-Block-12.jpg

 

[waveslayer]

Thanks. Good lesson learned

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[SuckitTrebek]

Hell yes they can be bent. Saw one take a 50 foot drop. Bent real nicely without breaking.

 

[scimitar2]

Yes. One of the guys in my agency had "a dude" swap out his A-1 upper to a flat top and it bent enough to bind up the BCG movement that I had to fix a month or two ago.

 

[sirhrmechanic]

They will most definitely twist/bend. Especially if mounted in a vice badly and/or if the barrel nut is over-tightened or gronked (it's a technical term) too hard in the removal.

Get a proper mounting block for the upper if you are going to be changing barrels. And for removing a barrel nut that is really "on" (sometimes they are extremely tight or the threads are locked up) a good single blow is much better than torqueing the hell out of it or putting an extension bar.

A hammer and a stiff bar make an extremely precise tool. An exact amount of force, applied instantly at a known distance from center... is much better than leaning on a bar. And far less likely to twist a frame.

Cheers,

Sirhr

 

[KUSA]

Fortunately stripped uppers are fairly cheap.

 

[Dogtown]

As a side note, when I was a lowly E-2 armorer in the Army, I made the mistake of issuing everyone their rifles for a day of bayonet training. What I was supposed to do instead was draw and issue "rubber duck" plastic training weapons. The reason became obvious several hours later as guys came back from the range with bent and cracked receivers. If anything, a simple crack and bend at the rear of the lower receiver will deadline an AR so fast that it will no longer cycle.

 

[doctordoctor]

Haha. Dad still has the old man strength. Way to go Gary!

 

[waveslayer]

He still has it

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[Redmanss]

Get a Geissele Reaction Rod to do barrel work in the future. They really are worth it, putting the torque onto the barrel extension versus the receiver.