AR assembly techniques.

[gaijin]

I saw a Ballistic Advantage video where an armorer (believe it was Hanson) was assembling an Upper with the then new Hanson profile barrel.
He did NOT use a torque wrench on the barrel nut- explaining he never did (use one).
Apparently "the Force" was guiding him.
Watching this I had to try it.
My next Upper I just used a 1/2" drive, "seasoned" the threads thrice, tightened it up and called it good.
No problems were experienced by doing this. Accuracy was 1.5 MOA per normal.

Anyone NOT use a torque wrench?

[MegademiC]

Yup! Brand new right out of the packaging. The guy was saying basically if any little bits of debris get into those areas they could really mess with the function of the rifle. And maybe "soak" wasn't a good word. For instance, Surefire put out a muzzle device installation video a few years ago. And the guy in the video poured acetone on the muzzle threads and barrel thread, cleaned with a Q-tip until the Q-tips had no visible anything on them, then he proceeded to install the muzzle device. It seems like a good practice, but it doesn't seem to be the "standard"?

This makes sense if using a a mount that gets rock set. Critical, probably not, but it can only help adhesion.

[MegademiC]

I saw a Ballistic Advantage video where an armorer (believe it was Hanson) was assembling an Upper with the then new Hanson profile barrel.
He did NOT use a torque wrench on the barrel nut- explaining he never did (use one).
Apparently "the Force" was guiding him.
Watching this I had to try it.
My next Upper I just used a 1/2" drive, "seasoned" the threads thrice, tightened it up and called it good.
No problems were experienced by doing this. Accuracy was 1.5 MOA per normal.

Anyone NOT use a torque wrench?

Guys always tell me how much experience they have and how calibrated they are and don’t need a torque wrench.

They always mess up once in a while. A torque wrench removes all doubt. There is no reason not to use one, IMO.

[Jmedic_]

This makes sense if using a a mount that gets rock set. Critical, probably not, but it can only help adhesion.

Good point. He was using rocksett.

[fishindogwood]

So do you think my Daniel Defense M4v7 has the Aeroshell or grease on the threads from the factory? Not able to check at the moment.

[556Cliff]

I hand torque, to somewhere near max to get any possible stretch out before hitting final torque. I don't trust the minimum to do that if I end up near the maximum for final.

A bit of grease on the threads, but there is way more need for it on the front of the barrel extension. Everything should be clean and free of any grit or metal particles. Air is fine if you have a dryer or good trap.

I always assumed that you need some amount of thread stretch still available to achieve alignment of timed barrel nuts.

I'm glad that you brought up greasing the front facing side of the barrel extension flange as I forgot to mention it... Greasing the flange is a very important step in the assembly process.

[Iraqgunz]

The last 3 PSA uppers I have disassembled in my courses have all had much less than the minimum of torque, and were as dry as Hillary's V spot.

[Vegas]

The last 3 PSA uppers I have disassembled in my courses have all had much less than the minimum of torque, and were as dry as Hillary's V spot.

Enough to give you nightmares!

I use a 1/4 clevis pin from Home Depot to install the pivot. Cheaper than the dedicated tool and saves me launching springs and detents across the garage. This discovery was a revelation for me.

[Hulkstr8]

A gunsmith friend of mine wipes down every part with a nylon brush and a rag. Sometimes I've seen him use a hair dryer on the lowest setting to blow out any junk.

I've usually just wiped down with a rag and then install if they look dirty.

[GH41]

The last 3 PSA uppers I have disassembled in my courses have all had much less than the minimum of torque, and were as dry as Hillary's V spot.

Now I am sick to my stomach! Old "Crusty Cunt" comes to mind!!