Over torqued the barrel?

[American_Fusilier]

I was changing the muzzle device on my AR-10, and the bird cage that was on there was really hard to get off.

But then the comp that I put on after (with crush washer) was REALLY REALLY hard to get on. I really had to torque the barrel to get it on.

My question is, do you guys think that did any damage to the barrel nut or bent the barrel somehow? It looks fine, but I'm concerned I ruined something because of how hard it was to get on.

What do you guys think?

The rifle I have is a psa AR-10 with a stainless steel barrel. I have not had a chance to shoot it yet.

 

[GBExpat]

If you managed to change the barrel timing by uninstalling & reinstalling recalcitrant comps the barrel was probably not installed correctly in the first place.

A simple way to check the timing in a fashion better than just "eyeballing" it is with 2 pieces of (something like) ~3'-long straight drill rod. Lay the rods on flat horizontal spots on top of the barrel (perhaps on the front sight?) and the top of the receiver, then stand back and see if they are parallel.

Good Luck!

 

[American_Fusilier]

Thanks for the advice! I hate how hard it is to change muzzle devices!

 

[gotboostvr]

I was planning on changing the birdcage on my PSA10 to the flash hider QD mount today.

I know that birdcage is on there tight. As I've tried a few times to coax it off already, but haven't really given it a whole lot of effort.

 

[American_Fusilier]

I had to put it in a vise, and use upper body strength with a wrench the correct size to get it off. And the same to get the new one on

 

[LoonWulf]

I had to put it in a vise, and use upper body strength with a wrench the correct size to get it off. And the same to get the new one onView attachment 1077022

If putting it on was just as hard right from thr get go, your threads probably had locker on them.

If you mean timing your brake, then use shims or a lock nut instead of crush washers...most of those ebay brakes come with both.

I usually use heat also if it seems like its taking excessive force

 

[David Hoback]

A barrel vise cures all these issues. Position the vise close to the muzzle limits rotational torque yield. They really are worth it. I made my own, but there are some affordable options.

 

[American_Fusilier]

If you mean timing your brake, then use shims or a lock nut instead of crush washers...most of those ebay brakes come with both.

It was a brake from eBay, and I used the crush washer that it came with.

Maybe that was a mistake.

 

[LoonWulf]

It was a brake from eBay, and I used the crush washer that it came with.

Maybe that was a mistake.

Not necessarily a mistake, but the crush washers take a lot of energy to crush. The lock nuts are usually the easiest, but normally at least attractive looking, The shims take tinkering, but in my opinion generally produce the cleanest look.

 

[David Hoback]

They do. When I started building AR’s almost 2 decades ago now, I did find installing muzzle devices with crush washers difficult. But I made do for a lotta years. Probably 6 or 7 years ago I built the barrel vise. And installing with crush washers became a non-issue. In those years, I’ve been using the Surefire 3P FS on almost every AR. And even the few of other manufacturers, each one, I’ve used a crush washer with little complaint.

BIG difference from my builds from yester-year.

 

[doubleh]

When I use a crush washer I hone off the taper until the devise clocks right with several pounds of torque. Go slow with the honing using multiple tries until you get it right. Get it tight but not gut busting tight. It's muzzle devise, not the nuts on a Harley five piece crankshaft.

 

[Varminterror]

I hate how hard it is to change muzzle devices!

It shouldn’t be hard.

 

[taliv]

It’s highly unlikely you could damage the barrel, but the leverage you’re applying to that hunk of steel could tweak the aluminum receiver so that maybe it’s a little looser or causes accuracy issues.

the solution is as David said above. A barrel vice (NOT a vice on the action)

 

[jmorris]

What do you guys think?

I think it’s too late to worry about it now, just go shoot it and see.

I don’t know how much torque “REALLY, REALLY hard…” is but if your gut is telling you it’s too much, that would have been a good time to put the tools down and find the cause of the problem.

 

[Walkalong]

I have had these two items for a long time, the top one works for most AR barrels, just clamp it in a good vise, where the bottom one would work well on fat “varmint” or “target” barrels. I had it for changing barrels on my Benchrest gun.

 

[Zerodefect]

Excess tension does seem to negatively effect accuracy.

I use a crush washer. You can use a shim behind the crush washer to adjust to avoid crushing it too much.

 

[gotboostvr]

PSA really likes to snug down their muzzle devices.

Which for me, was a non-issue as I like A2 muzzle devices. But now that I've got to install suppressor mounts, I'm just a little annoyed.

 

[taliv]

i was shocked several months ago to find daniel defense does NOT overtighten. their brake came right off with just the right amount of umph so i could put the suppressor on.

 

[Skylerbone]

My inexpensive solution was a Magpul BevBlock. Unpin the upper, insert the block into your vise, insert the top into your upper and crank to your heart's desire.

I did swap a PSA A2 o an SS barrel for an F1 comp and did not find it overly tight that I recall, far less so than the RRA comp I changed out for a KVP linear comp.

 

[rabid wombat]

Expensive, but should work… https://geissele.com/reaction-rod-7-62-308.html

I have the 5.56 version - so I will guess it works the same….

 

[WestKentucky]

Nah. No worries. Unless you manage to break something then keep on keeping on. My Ruger AR had everything so grossly overtorqued I broke parts trying to break them loose. The birdcage was so tight that I sprung the jaws on an adjustable wrench that I tried to use for moe leverage since my armorers tool wasn’t budging it. When the wrench went it buggered the finish and I put really heavy vice grips on and used a cheater bar on the fixed arm portion of the vice grips. Then when I went to change out the handguard to a free float the barrel nut was so tight that I snapped the action wrench studs off. Then I went after it with a pipe wrench and had the upper in blocks in a bench vice. Broke the plywood bench top. Remounted the vice, used an 18” adjustable wrench on top of the upper blocks to keep from destroying another bench top, and a 24” pipe wrench to break the barrel nut loose. After all of that the barrel was still good, upper still good, and with new parts on it the gun shot quite well for being a tactical type carbine but I’m a precision guy and I wanted better accuracy so I sold that one.

 

[jmorris]

Nah. No worries. Unless you manage to break something then keep on keeping on.

I had to laugh as this reminded me of a set of Chinese drills I was given many, many years ago. Long before manufacturers had outsourced their production to China and they had stolen all of the intellectual property they have over the years, to be able to make a good product.

They were so crummy, once they bit into the material, the flutes would straighten out, they were so soft….

 

[David Hoback]

I’m not a big fan of the Geissele tool. Don’t get me wrong, it works well. These tools are also available for bolt gun Actions.I’m not a fan because they introduce leverage torque against the Action lugs. Which are precision pieces. Given enough force, the lugs can be marred by the tool.

In addition, when speaking of these tools & installing muzzle devices & crush washers, or removing a seized component(such was the OP’s case), there is still the rotational torque yield of the barrel. This can add to an increase of force, thus adding to possibility of component damage, bending the barrel, etc.

As I previously stated, a barrel vise placed just behind the muzzle threads eliminates any & all problems. Including any possibility of component damage.

 

[citizenconn]

Not necessarily a mistake, but the crush washers take a lot of energy to crush. The lock nuts are usually the easiest, but normally at least attractive looking, The shims take tinkering, but in my opinion generally produce the cleanest look.

One of the best purchases I made when I started building ARs was to buy a few kits of crush washers that had 20+ washers per kit in various thicknesses (both 1/2 & 5/8" kits). Makes it much easier to time those type of muzzle devices. I also bought a couple of quality vice blocks and wrenches. I highly recommend the Magpul ones, but there are other quality ones out there. Don't buy the cheap $10-20 ones.

And yes, if the muzzle device is really hard to turn, heat is your best friend. That is all.

 

[gotboostvr]

What do y'all suggest to supply heat?

Would a lighter suffice?