Stubborn Barrel Nut (will read like bubba wrote it)

[Sgt Dog]

I bought what I thought was a Spikes AR-15 back around 2011 during the Frankenstein legislation scare. Was a novice to ARs other than cleaning and shooting a lot of rounds through one in 1975 back in the Corps. Did way too little research in my tantrum fit and was thoroughly embarrassed at what I spent and what arrived in the mail. Only thing that was Spikes was the lower.

Long story short a decade goes buy and that thing stays in the back of the safe out of sight I'm so pi$$ed about it. Finally decided to make it mine with an upgrade to something more closely resembling what I thought I was buying off Gunbroker. Wanted to remove a bulky drop-in handguard, which required removing a railed gas-block as well and replace with a free float STNGR and change out trigger, etc. Got the parts all in before beginning the tear-down only to find once I started that there was no way that barrel nut was budging with an armorers wrench - not with heat, not with all my weight on it, not with a hammer, nada!

After breaking some of the teeth off the barrel nut I finally had to get the dremmal-tool-of-death out just like any good bubba would do and cut the Delta Ring in half just to get a pipe wrench on the barrel nut.

Someone forgot the anti-seize grease and then put a gorilla torque on that thing. All is good now but when I see recommendation for anti-seize grease in the future I'm gonna take that recommendation seriously.

 

[tRidiot]

Wow.... I've never heard of one like that. Hell, if you put THAT much torque on it, I'd think you'd twist the aluminuminuminum upper receiver in the vise block and get it all out of spec.

Lucky it still functions, honestly.

 

[THE JOKER]

Wow.... I've never heard of one like that. Hell, if you put THAT much torque on it, I'd think you'd twist the aluminuminuminum upper receiver in the vise block and get it all out of spec.

Lucky it still functions, honestly.

That barrel nut was a terrible design. If you were maxed out on recommended torque and the point was still in the way of the gas tube, your only choices were to tighten or loosen it.
A business couldn’t really take the time to mix and match parts.

 

[mouthpiece]

I had a LR308 that I took apart at fatboy tacticals workbench with a 3 or 4 foot breaker bar they had in the shop. HO LEE MOTHER !!!

Grease should be aeroshel 33 on the barrel nut
I'd be curious to see the wrench you used to break teeth off

 

[Cowbaby]

If you think those are tuff you should see what happens to some of those breech plugs on those old muzzleloaders after a couple of pounds of black powder and punkin balls get smoked down em..
CRIKEY MATE, some of those just become part of the woodwork. I have an 18" Ridgid aluminum pipe wrench with a bent handle and a 4 foot cheater pipe that Ole Betsy said you just be happy with ramming your balls down the other end. I'm not in to your backdoor man stuff.

 

[Sgt Dog]

This is the armorers wrench I used. Did my best to keep it square but at when you are nearly standing on it that is a challenge.
Also pictured is a Magpul Industries BEV Block Accessory that has barrel extension support.

 

[Sgt Dog]

The barrel extension splines don't make you feel all that comfortable that you are not flexing the aluminum as much as a genuine action bar. I had one for a 308 but not a 5.56.

 

[dennishoddy]

If you think those are tuff you should see what happens to some of those breech plugs on those old muzzleloaders after a couple of pounds of black powder and punkin balls get smoked down em..
CRIKEY MATE, some of those just become part of the woodwork. I have an 18" Ridgid aluminum pipe wrench with a bent handle and a 4 foot cheater pipe that Ole Betsy said you just be happy with ramming your balls down the other end. I'm not in to your backdoor man stuff.

I have two 48” cast iron pipe wrenches you can borrow next time. You will not bend a handle on that project, I can assure you. [emoji12]

 

[BobbyV]

If you think those are tuff you should see what happens to some of those breech plugs on those old muzzleloaders after a couple of pounds of black powder and punkin balls get smoked down em..
CRIKEY MATE, some of those just become part of the woodwork. I have an 18" Ridgid aluminum pipe wrench with a bent handle and a 4 foot cheater pipe that Ole Betsy said you just be happy with ramming your balls down the other end. I'm not in to your backdoor man stuff.

Oh man . . . this reminds me that I need to clean my muzzleloader . . .

 

[BobbyV]

I bought what I thought was a Spikes AR-15 back around 2011 during the Frankenstein legislation scare. Was a novice to ARs other than cleaning and shooting a lot of rounds through one in 1975 back in the Corps. Did way too little research in my tantrum fit and was thoroughly embarrassed at what I spent and what arrived in the mail. Only thing that was Spikes was the lower.

Long story short a decade goes buy and that thing stays in the back of the safe out of sight I'm so pi$$ed about it. Finally decided to make it mine with an upgrade to something more closely resembling what I thought I was buying off Gunbroker. Wanted to remove a bulky drop-in handguard, which required removing a railed gas-block as well and replace with a free float STNGR and change out trigger, etc. Got the parts all in before beginning the tear-down only to find once I started that there was no way that barrel nut was budging with an armorers wrench - not with heat, not with all my weight on it, not with a hammer, nada!

After breaking some of the teeth off the barrel nut I finally had to get the dremmal-tool-of-death out just like any good bubba would do and cut the Delta Ring in half just to get a pipe wrench on the barrel nut.

Someone forgot the anti-seize grease and then put a gorilla torque on that thing. All is good now but when I see recommendation for anti-seize grease in the future I'm gonna take that recommendation seriously.

I had to cut an Aero Precision barrel nut off several years ago when I first got into building ARs for pretty much the same reason. No grease. Learned my lesson.