I assembled my first AR upper yesterday, and overcame some setbacks till I installed a Surefire MB556K. Basically I fudged up trying to read the torque wrench and accidentally applied 30/40 ft-lbs instead of 20, and mistimed the brake. I now need to take it off to re-time it (needs to have the liberal amount of rockset-as if this couldn't get worse-before reattaching it), but it really doesn't want to budge and I don't want to destroy the barrel/receiver as the DPMS action block I have isn't very good. I plan on calling Surefire in the morning, as they aren't too far from me in Fountain Valley, CA but wanted to see if anyone had experience removing overtorqued brakes/brakes put on with excess rockset. I've tried soaking it in boiling water for 20 min and using a pipe attached to a wrench to get more leverage, but to no avail. Any ideas?
Gunsmithing I screwed up good
- Thread starter rideHPD
- Start date
When I went to change a NY pinned/ welded on flash hider over to a brake a couple years back I ended up takin a dremel with a cut off wheel and carefully splitting the brake down one side till I could basically peel it off the threads. Worked fine for me without damaging them. Just have to go real easy while cutting
Soak it in hot water for a few hours before you try taking it off. It doesn't need to be boiling but let the faucet run till it is as hot as it is going to get and then soak it in that. It should come out without any issues because rocksett breaks down from water.
Chuck, I'll give that another go, but I'm more concerned with the torque, because I don't know if the barrel/receiver/vice block can handle the 40 ft-lbs of torque at the end of the barrel. I'd really like to have barrel vise or a live center to keep the barrel from moving all around when I apply torque on it.
a couple of pieces of wood to hold the barrel in place, with a small "V-channel" cut in them to hold the barrel, clamp the wood in a vice and that should hold the barrel while you unscrew the brake. i can understand that your weary about putting that much force on your action block clamp. i think if you do this right up close to where your muzzle device is, it could hold the barrel nice and tight and not damage anything.
just a suggestion.
just a suggestion.
Rockset is not very strong, it just works well for flash hiders/suppressors as it is very heat resistant. You should easily be able to break if free (normally less than 30 ft/lbs) so I don't think that's where your problem lies. In fact, I would only guess that you have the brake torgued quite a bit more than 30-40 ft-lbs. As suggested, a decent barrel vise should easily help you get it off then you can examine to see which threads may be compromised and how you want to repair them. You might be able to just Rockset it back on or you might have to turn down one a bit. You could just send as is to Steve at ADCO and probably have it fixed and timed properly for $100 or so including shipping. Good luck!
Use a barrel vise/block for installing or removing barrel attachments, not an action block. Action blocks do not hold the barrel - they are designed for installing or removing barrel nuts. There have been incidents where the barrel has twisted in the upper or barrel extension, resulting in damage.
Thanks for all the help, I tried improvising a barrel vise with a couple of 2x4 sections, std. vise and a little ingenuity, but didn't budge. Randall from ar15barrels.com is really close to me, and I'm going to pay him a visit this week to get it all sorted out.
Most locktite and thread lockers brake down at 300/350 deg. Heat with torch to brake down the compound and should spin off.
+1 to a heat gun. I would modify wood blocks in a vise to clamp the barrel. if thts not an option and you have the claw, dpms style tht slides in the upper, use tht but instead of clamping the block in the vise. turn the whole blocked receiver sideways in the vise so the flat top and the block is basically sandwiched in the vise. of course grab a piece of wood so the flat tops not marred from the vise. but again tht would be my back up method.
For what it's worth, I purchased the aluminum barrel vice-block which I use with a damp chamois to protect the barrel finish. That way I can apply torque without worrying about damaging the action. I have never had such a hard time taking off muzzle devices even with an epoxy. I wonder if you misaligned the threads? A propane torch works wonders and is not typically hot enough to discolor the metal.
