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Thread: Another stuck barrel nut thread - tried everything I can think of - help needed.

  1. #1
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    Another stuck barrel nut thread - tried everything I can think of - help needed.

    So I got a wild hair and decided that I wanted to swap the upper receiver on one of my ARs with a MUR-1A that I had lying around. To make a long story short, after removing the rail, muzzle device, gas block and gas tube, I went to work with my reaction rod and that gnarly barrel wrench that Brownells sells (the 5 prong one). After securing the upper in my vise and about 20 minutes of near hernia-inducing counter-clockwise twisting, I decided that help was needed. I tried the freezing trick. I tried the blowtorch trick. I tried the freeze then blowtorch trick. I tried using a breaker bar. I tried rapping it with a hammer. Kroil? Been there... done that... I have NEVER encountered a barrel nut like this. I've only bought 4 pre-assembled uppers and built the rest and this is one that I bought pre-built - I will refrain from using the vendor's name currently, but they are a respected assembler of AR uppers. There is NO WAY that anti-seize compound/grease was used on this barrel nut. In my 37 years on this earth I've never encountered anything like this. I've never resorted to sending a gun/part back to be worked on unless it suffered catastrophic failure. Does anyone have any magic tricks that they would like to share that I haven't mentioned or maybe any advice on how I should proceed (give up and send it in)? It's extremely frustrating since all the threads I've read concerning this subject either end up with a happy resolution or the poor sap having to dremel the barrel nut off (which I really don't want to have to do). Anyone who comes up with a solution that works will get the AR named after them. LOL. Thanks in advance.
    Last edited by Shao; 11-28-13 at 09:44.

  2. #2
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    How sturdy is your vise?
    "I never learned from a man who agreed with me." Robert A. Heinlein

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    Use a "cheater" extension on your breaker bar. Don't be surprised if the barrel extension index pin shears while using the Reaction Rod...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Koshinn View Post
    How sturdy is your vise?
    It's a Wilton circa 1950s monstrosity attached to very solid workbench. There is no flex on the bench or vice.

    Quote Originally Posted by MarkG View Post
    Use a "cheater" extension on your breaker bar. Don't be surprised if the barrel extension index pin shears while using the Reaction Rod...
    Tried this... glad I didn't shear the index pin. I tried the clamshell too but after repeated monkeying, I really didn't want to tear my receiver in two so I went back to the rod. Forgive my ignorance, but how would the rod shear my index pin? I figured it would be safer to use than any other method.

    Thanks for the replies so far guys, please keep the suggestions coming.

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    Random idea, soak it in distilled water for 24 hrs.
    "I never learned from a man who agreed with me." Robert A. Heinlein

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    Quote Originally Posted by Shao View Post
    It's a Wilton circa 1950s monstrosity attached to very solid workbench. There is no flex on the bench or vice.



    Tried this... glad I didn't shear the index pin. I tried the clamshell too but after repeated monkeying, I really didn't want to tear my receiver in two so I went back to the rod. Forgive my ignorance, but how would the rod shear my index pin? I figured it would be safer to use than any other method.

    Thanks for the replies so far guys, please keep the suggestions coming.
    That's crazy. Using about 14-18" of leverage, I can generate well over 100# torque (I don't know how much, I just know lug-nuts are easy, and they are tq'ed to 100#). Something wrong has occurred, or you're seriously weak. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's the former and not the latter.

    I am guessing that no/not enough grease was used, as you say, and that maybe Loctite or a similar compound was substituted, or maybe nothing was used, and galvanic corrosion has secured it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Koshinn View Post
    Random idea, soak it in distilled water for 24 hrs.
    Ehh?? Distilled water?? I'm willing to try anything but what's your reasoning? I also feel weird about putting any steel parts in water for more than a few minutes.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Shao View Post
    Ehh?? Distilled water?? I'm willing to try anything but what's your reasoning? I also feel weird about putting any steel parts in water for more than a few minutes.
    Maybe Rocksett was used.

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    Very carefully make relief cuts in the barrel nut that run parallel to the barrel. Cut deep enough that it will weaken the nut but don't go deep enough to damage the threads on the receiver itself. If you don't care about the saving the upper, you can cut all the way through. Start off with one or two cuts. You can add more cuts if the one or two don't work. If you have a barrel nut wrench with the pins on one side and what looks like gear teeth on the other and it's a standard barrel nut, use the gear tooth side of your wrench. The gear tooth side will give you more engagement surface on the nut. If you have not already done so, arrange the work so you are pushing up on the barrel nut wrench, not pushing down or pushing sideways, parallel to the floor. Pushing up lets you push against the floor. When pushing down or sideways, you only have your bodyweight to work with

    ETA- Before you push up, make sure your workbench is bolted solidly to the floor or that you can safely stand on the bench

    Because people call tech support to come fix their computer only to discover it wasn't plugged in, double check you're not having a brain fart, trying to turn the nut the wrong way
    Last edited by MistWolf; 11-28-13 at 10:17.
    INSIDE PLAN OF BOX
    1. ROAD-RUNNER LIFTS GLASS OF WATER- PULLING UP MATCH
    2. MATCH SCRATCHES ON MATCH-BOX
    3. MATCH LIGHTS FUSE TO TNT
    4. BOOM!
    5. HA-HA!!

    -WILE E. COYOTE, AUTHOR OF "EVERYTHING I NEEDED TO KNOW IN LIFE, I LEARNED FROM GOLDBERG & MURPHY"

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    Quote Originally Posted by WS6 View Post
    That's crazy. Using about 14-18" of leverage, I can generate well over 100# torque (I don't know how much, I just know lug-nuts are easy, and they are tq'ed to 100#). Something wrong has occurred, or you're seriously weak. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's the former and not the latter.

    I am guessing that no/not enough grease was used, as you say, and that maybe Loctite or a similar compound was substituted, or maybe nothing was used, and galvanic corrosion has secured it.
    Well I've never been accused of being weak so something is definitely wrong. If someone loctited this barrel nut on, I'm gonna be pissed. That's something I would expect from maybe Bushmaster or something, not a respected dealer/builder. I'm thinking that I'm just going to call it in Friday and send it in - that way if they screw it up, it's not my problem. I just hate having to put fresh projects on hold.

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