Breaking bbl nut free...

[integr8d]

Adams Arms upper. Put it in the vice, took the wrench to it. Maxed out the torque gauge at 150lbs. Twisted the upper.

Also heated it with a torch, thinking there may be something in there seizing it up. Nada. Bought a milled upper to replace the trashed one. But still can't get the nut off.

As an aside, the tapered gas block pins will also not break free. The punch is mushrooming on them and yes, I'm sure I'm going the right direction.

Sent an e-mail to AA a week ago with no response. Tried to phone in also but just got the machine.

Thoughts? Is AA not necessarily known for support?

[kcstott]

You don't use torque wrenches to break nuts loose. You will screw up your wrench

[integr8d]

The first attempt was with a standard 1/2". When I realized that I was using so much force, I wanted to see where it was on the gauge.

That said, do you have any idea of what's going on? Did they just over-tighten at the factory? Or is there some special sauce that I'm not aware of?

[AKSOG]

How long is the barrel? You sure it's not blind pinned?

[klewan]

This is 20-20 hindsight, but could you have cut the nut off? Just reread your post, you can still cut it off.


It might have galled threads, especially if it got installed dry for some reason. Or it had the worse case misalignment between the gas tube and nut and they had to really crank it to line up.

Randall, AR15 Barrels, sells shims you install on the end of the threaded part of the upper to adjust the timing of the nut and gas tube. I've read of using a BIG new fine cut file and remove a couple of thousandths to do the same thing.

[integr8d]

How long is the barrel? You sure it's not blind pinned?

16" and I'd be shocked if it was.

http://www.adamsarms.net/store/uppers/73-16-mid-base-upper.html

[integr8d]

This is 20-20 hindsight, but could you have cut the nut off? Just reread your post, you can still cut it off.


It might have galled threads, especially if it got installed dry for some reason. Or it had the worse case misalignment between the gas tube and nut and they had to really crank it to line up.

Randall, AR15 Barrels, sells shims you install on the end of the threaded part of the upper to adjust the timing of the nut and gas tube. I've read of using a BIG new fine cut file and remove a couple of thousandths to do the same thing.

Yep. That's the last solution, if I don't hear back from the company. Ideally, they'll offer to take it in and disassemble it. Not sure what their warranty policy is, if they even have one. But that'd probably be the best way to maintain it.

Still, I'm left with a gas block that I can't remove either. The solution to getting the end cap off would be the same.

Thanks for the note about shims.

[kcstott]

If you're putting 150# to get it off something is seriously wrong. Threads are probably shot. I think I'd cut it off. Af for your gas block try a stubby punch to get it moving then us a regular length punch.

[ar15barrels]

I'm betting on him not having a proper way to hold the receiver.
I have a pair of PRI aluminum receiver blocks that I use on stubborn uppers.
The receiver gets clamped in the kurt vise.
KC will know what the kurt vise is likely bolted to.
Then I have a 3ft long cheater pipe that removes ALL barrel nuts without any receiver damage...

I have taken apart a few adams arms uppers without any issues.

[integr8d]

I'm betting on him not having a proper way to hold the receiver.
I have a pair of PRI aluminum receiver blocks that I use on stubborn uppers.
The receiver gets clamped in the kurt vise.
KC will know what the kurt vise is likely bolted to.
Then I have a 3ft long cheater pipe that removes ALL barrel nuts without any receiver damage...

I have taken apart a few adams arms uppers without any issues.

Kurt vise? I'm guessing a bridgeport

The upper was mounted in one of those delrin adapters. When I saw what was happening to the receiver, I yanked it out of the block and just shoved the whole thing into the vise. Tried a cheater bar and the whole contorted. When I saw that it was about to pop out of the vise, I threw in the towel. I value my eyes and other soft human parts too much...

Not the way it's supposed to be. But I'm glad you've had better luck.

[Gutpile66]

I just took my AA 16" Evo upper apart two days ago for some Cerakote work. I used the white plastic upper receiver block (from Riflegear) with a standard AR nut wrench. Took a little effort, as always, but the nut popped loose with no more than average tension. I had the hair dryer ready but didn't need it. BTW, there was no thread lock residue on the threads.

Man, I'm not gloating. I really like my AA piston upper (so far) and I don't want people thinking that the OP's bad experience is par-for-the-coarse.

Follow-up question: the AA upper has a perfect little hole meant for the piston rod. It's not oversized and it doesn't have the four "cuts" of a standard DI upper. My extra gas tubes fit in the hole but with hardly any play. If I want to convert this upper to DI will that little hole work?

Gut

[StuckInTheP.R.O.Ca]

LOL. I just went through this. After soaking it in PB blaster for weeks and trying heat to no avail. I remounted my vice to two 2x4's, stabilized them by parking my truck tire on them. I then used a old torque wrench with a 8 ft pipe over the wrench as a cheater bar. I don't know how much torque I used but I bet it was well over 100 ft/lbs. It broke loose like nothing with the 8ft cheater but showed no signs of coming off just using the AR and torque wrench.

[Gutpile66]

Eight footer and a Chevy. Still laughing. Maybe "Sheila" put mine together at the factory, but here she is:

[integr8d]

That's a hilarious story!

Gutpile, glad you had better luck. I had the heat gun and eventually torch on standby too. Tried them both, along with everything else.

I'm not at all implying that this is a mainstream experience for AA customers. I'd be shocked if it was, b/c I've heard nothing like it in the forums. But definitely in my case and potentially in Stuck's (glad he didn't need it) support is mandatory. And today marks one week with no e-mail or returned phone call from AA. That's not too stellar in my book. Unless these guys are absolute ballers and whipping out 100,000 conversion kits per month for some massive military contract, they can shoot out an e-mail. It's not too much to ask. Ya' know?

[integr8d]

Update: Finally heard from AA. We'll see what they say.