lowers are easy, an ar uppers should be, but....

[doctorjj]

I guess my barrel is not timed correctly cause the gas tube drags on the bolt. I haven't shot it, but it is not smooth, so figure there is something out of alignment. Damn thing is stroking my adhd so bad I can't mess with it. Can anyone help me? cheap, free, for ammo, for the hell of it. whatcha need to fix a bro up?

Barrel timing is determined by the pin in the barrel extension. It won't change. Your barrel nut may not be indexed properly. That's probably the most likely cause. Your gas block could be off, that would also cant the tube as it goes through the barrel nut and receiver.

 

[Mkokc]

I've NEVER had to do that

^^^^ this

 

[AR Addict]

I've NEVER had to do that

Only had it happen once, and it didn't take much at all, I could have left it as is but it would wear more to have it dragging too hard on one side. I'd definitely check everything else first, the barrel nut (MI G3 in my avatar) I used didn't have to be timed, the gas tube just went over the top of it and I checked and checked my GB. It had to be the tube, nothing is prefect all the time.

I wouldn't have even thought to check it had I not read about others with the same situation on the AR forum. There is even a special tool just for this, but with how little I needed to move it I just did it by hand. For a lot of guys it's just considered another possible step.

 

[ssgrock3]

you guys are awesome. It has been 6 months since I jacked with it. I am probably up to the task again. I was rushing this one at the end and got frustrated, thinking uppers were as easy as the lower assembly. There is a reason I always bought assembled and often matched uppers.