AR15 flash hider removal

[DCP]

I have a AR 15 pistol and want to remove flash hider.

I would have to remove the upper hand rail to clamp the barrel.
It seems that the 2 screws holding it on are very tight and wanted to make sure there was no lock-tite

So I emailed the Manufacture.

There answer
An upper block is required to remove the existing hider. Not necessarily a barrel clamp.

Your thoughts?

[Mica_Hiebert]

use padding to hold barrel in a vise like a towel and just screw it off with a wrench. fwiw I can leave my upper attached to my lower for leverage and hold the rifle between my legs and use a wrench to remove the f.h. on both my rifles. this is also assuming you have a modern upper and not a ban area pinned f.h.

[DCP]

use padding to hold barrel in a vise like a towel and just screw it off with a wrench. fwiw I can leave my upper attached to my lower for leverage and hold the rifle between my legs and use a wrench to remove the f.h. on both my rifles. this is also assuming you have a modern upper and not a ban area pinned f.h.

There is no room to clamp on the barrel

[Mica_Hiebert]

id just try to hold it between your legs then, I have a action block but dont really recommend the cost for removing a flash hider.

[GabbyM]

I'm confused by your mention of two screws. Where are these screws?
Usually it's the gas block/sight base that has screws.

[GabbyM]

Regardless get some KROIL penetrating oil. Soak it then wait until the next day to give it a turn with proper wrenches.

[oldscool]

Get yourself a Brownells or Geisselle ar15 wrench and be done with it. Sorry, I don't have the time or inclination to show pix.

[oldscool]

Sorry, I am confused.

[Greg S]

Myself advise is to try and remove it with a wrench. If it doesn't pop loose, warm with a propane torch (loc-tite) till yiu hear the sizzle (confirms loc-tite) remove. If still tight, might be secured with Rockset which is used mainly for suppressor adapters. For Rockset, soak in water for 12-24 hours and remove. The Gessiele reactor wrench is a rod with a large torx style end (picture bolt lugs) that is clamped in a vise. The barreled upper is slipped over the rod and the torx style bit enters the barrel extension for muzzle device work. No stress to the upper. I generally clamp the flat top upper with a piece of 1/4" plate on the bottom of the upper receiver and a leather pad on the top picatiny rail. Problem is you have to watch torquing the barrel and watch the bottom edges of the upper receiver if they start to spread, stop and borrow the proper tools.

[DCP]

Ok

I will try this again

There is no room to clamp the barrel with out removing the upper hand rail that is held on by 2 screw.
So I can remove the flash hider

It seems that the 2 screws holding it on (hand rail) are very tight and wanted to make sure there was no lock-tite



So I emailed the Manufacture.

The manufacture didn't address the hand guard screws.

There answer
An upper block is required to remove the existing hider. Not necessarily a barrel clamp.

Your thoughts?

[petroid]

If they think you don't need to clamp the barrel you can try to hold the rifle between your legs and unscrew the flash hider with a wrench. You won't be able to hold it tight enough to apply enough torque to damage anything.

[Boolit_Head]

Upper blocks are cheap and once you start modifying a AR you won't stop. Eventually you will be wanting to do more. Better to clamp the upper in the vise than risk marking the barrel.

Use some painters tape on the flash hider if you don't want the wrench to mark it up.

[cheese1566]

Best practice is remove hand guards to clamp barrel securely or an action block in a vise. Make sure nothing on the flash is pinned.

[Whiterabbit]

Ok

I will try this again

There is no room to clamp the barrel with out removing the upper hand rail that is held on by 2 screw.
So I can remove the flash hider

It seems that the 2 screws holding it on (hand rail) are very tight and wanted to make sure there was no lock-tite



So I emailed the Manufacture.

The manufacture didn't address the hand guard screws.

There answer
An upper block is required to remove the existing hider. Not necessarily a barrel clamp.

Your thoughts?

My thought:

everyone is comfortable with what they are comfortable with.

I would NOT be comfortable clamping on the aluminum upper receiver. they say not NECESSARILY a barrel clamp. In my shop, yes necessarily!

If it were me, no doubt: do what it takes to clamp on the barrel.

----------------

Before life with a barrel clamp:

I tried to remove a savage 111 muzzle brake by torquing on the brake and pushing on the STOCK. It was a pucker moment then, and makes me cringe now! my "barrel clamp" back then was homemade inserts put in a bench vise. It worked eventually, but sure gave me the impression that "gun stuff" was torqued way, way too tight.

Now I have a homemade barrel clamp made (from all things) aluminum. Life is so easy now it's ridiculous. Now my concern these days is over-torque.

I tell you, my thought is make the barrel clamp work. And if that means pulling the HG and putting a 75% clamp on the barrel (to clearance the gas tube) then by God that is what I would do!

[Whiterabbit]

my barrel vise, made from $10 of material or less:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151981&d=1445960537

1/2-13 screws, 4 inches long, and enough threads on the aluminum baseblock not to risk stripout with heavy torque. If they ever do I will sink steel nuts into the bottom and keep using it.

can do barrels up to 1", and just lengthen the main screws to go thicker and thicker. my work is usually on .75" barrels.

[Omega]

Ok

I will try this again

There is no room to clamp the barrel with out removing the upper hand rail that is held on by 2 screw.
So I can remove the flash hider

It seems that the 2 screws holding it on (hand rail) are very tight and wanted to make sure there was no lock-tite



So I emailed the Manufacture.

The manufacture didn't address the hand guard screws.

There answer
An upper block is required to remove the existing hider. Not necessarily a barrel clamp.

Your thoughts?
If you can get to the flash suppressor's flats then normally you should be able to loosen it by holding the upper or whole weapon between your legs. If additional torque is required, its best to use a vise block if you can't remove the hand guard. If you can't get to the flats, then you will have to remove the hand guard one way or another. Then you can use either a barrel clamp or vise block; do not clamp onto the outside of the upper, it will crack or distort it real easily, even if you have a block in it. Of course as said above, make sure its not pinned before putting too much torque on it.

[Boolit_Head]

By insisting on using a barrel clamp it seems you are doing things the hard way. Usually the muzzle device does not require a lot of torque so the action blocks are the easy way. I however don't recommend the blocks that use the upper's lugs.

[youngmman]

I have a Bushmaster upper bought several years ago directly from the company. They said the flash suppressor was was welded on and could not be removed. I can't see any welds and wonder if it is a kind of lock tight that might have been used in which case it would come off with a little elbow grease.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

[Boolit_Head]

Instead of welding in cases of 14.5 inch barrels they pin and weld. They drill a small hole in the bottom of the flash hider insert a pin through the hider into the barrel a small bit and spot weld the pin to the flash hider. They could then dress the weld and refinish if desired. Look for some anomalies on the bottom of the flash hider. I guess they could use the same process for 16 inch or longer for some reason.

[Jupiter7]

Easy, two blocks of hard wood. One long enough to cover top rail, other small enough to fit between upper receiver lugs. Clamp upper receiver at 90degree angle and go to town. I repeat, hard wood, soft pine or red will allow flex.

[paul h]

Ok

I will try this again

There is no room to clamp the barrel with out removing the upper hand rail that is held on by 2 screw.
So I can remove the flash hider

It seems that the 2 screws holding it on (hand rail) are very tight and wanted to make sure there was no lock-tite



So I emailed the Manufacture.

The manufacture didn't address the hand guard screws.

There answer
An upper block is required to remove the existing hider. Not necessarily a barrel clamp.

Your thoughts?

Your handguard is likely not held on with two screws. The handguard is likely held on with a lock ring, and the two screws are in addition to the lock ring. You'll have to loosen the screws which likely have loctite, then you'll need to loosen the lock ring, then you can unscrew the hand guard.

[Lever-man]

If you are going to continue to work on AR-15 rifles, spend the money for a Gessiele reactor wrench. Worth every penny and will make working on the AR-15 a piece of cake. Just my 2 cents.

[iraiam]

I would just separate the upper assembly, remove the bolt and charging handle, and put it in my upper receiver vice block. If I didn't have a vice block I would remove the hand guard and clamp the barrel between wood in a vice.

Once you get the Flash Hider off, you may find that you need a new crush washer for it index properly and remain tight once you put it back on.

[GabbyM]

If you have lock-tite on screws. You put a torch on them. Cigarette lighter turned up or a propane torch turned down low. Only takes a few seconds. Even high temp will easily melt under a propane torch.

[Boolit_Head]

Torch or lighter will be prone to discoloring any finish. Better to use a heat gun.

[garym1a2]

My brother used a Gessiele on his to remove the flash hider and end up roatating the barrel as the flash hider was stronger than the Barrel extension was. He had to send back the barrel to fix it. I would recommend a barrel vise be used.

Myself advise is to try and remove it with a wrench. If it doesn't pop loose, warm with a propane torch (loc-tite) till yiu hear the sizzle (confirms loc-tite) remove. If still tight, might be secured with Rockset which is used mainly for suppressor adapters. For Rockset, soak in water for 12-24 hours and remove. The Gessiele reactor wrench is a rod with a large torx style end (picture bolt lugs) that is clamped in a vise. The barreled upper is slipped over the rod and the torx style bit enters the barrel extension for muzzle device work. No stress to the upper. I generally clamp the flat top upper with a piece of 1/4" plate on the bottom of the upper receiver and a leather pad on the top picatiny rail. Problem is you have to watch torquing the barrel and watch the bottom edges of the upper receiver if they start to spread, stop and borrow the proper tools.

[zubrato]

I've used two pieces of wood, with an old leather work glove wrapped around the barrel and tightened down in a vice.
Now, I can remove it with the lower between my legs.
Highly reccomend using Anti-Seize, easier to achieve your specified torque value and easier to remove in the future. The crush washer tension is what keeps it on as designed.
If someone blue loctited it, either use a heat gun, or take it to a range and blast the **** out of a few mags, and try to remove it then.

if none of that works, it may be a pinned barrel and in which case, you may need a new upper/barrel if you want it gone.

Good luck!