Cranky AR Build

[WinThePennant]

Anyone ever go through the AR build from Hell?

I just finished building a middy that seemed to want to give me fits every step of the way. Every gun has its own personality, and this one definitely has the personality type of someone who always gets up on the wrong side of the bed.



Trigger guard (Magpul) gave me fits. I actually split the guard and had to buy another one.



Tightest delta ring ever in the world. Took me forever to remove the M4 handguard, and just as long to put on the Magpul MOE handguard.



Why, but it took me 10 minutes to get the charging handle to go through with the BCG.



MBUS didn't want to go on.



The pins holding the upper and lower together are TIGHT. I have to use something pointy to get them started.



I never do this, but I think every detent got shot across the room at least once or twice.



Magpul ASAP anti-rotation shim was almost impossible to seat.

 

[taliv]

only one that ever gave me too much grief was one that i had professionally duracoated and apparently their idea of 'quality' was putting so many coats on that the parts wouldn't even fit together anymore. i wound up sanding a lot of it off and it looked like crap. never actually finished it.

 

[justice06rr]

Do you have the right tools? that would help lol...

I've never really had any big issues with my builds, even with polymer lowers.

 

[Sam Cade]

I was cutting off a FSB with a die grinder and sneezed at a critical moment. That caused some rather coarse language.

 

[GCMkc]

I've had one super tight barrel nut, but nothing a large torque wrench couldn't handle. The barrel nuts use a 30-60ft/lbs spec and 30ft-lbs doesn't feel like much using an AR15 wrench so don't over do it.

Gas tube roll pins seem to be my weakness. Last time it took about 30 minutes to get the little guy started. Any tips or tricks would be appreciated!

 

[Trent]

I had one where I shot the forward detent pin across the room no less than 15 times. I was so furious my hands were shaking, which didn't help. This was #9 on a build of 9 that afternoon, so my patience was wearing thin. Got all the others on the first try, no problem. Then the problem child.

Finally got it but man I was on my hands & knees more than I was in the chair.

 

[tarosean]

Just say no to budget builds...

 

[Mot45acp]

Gas tube roll pin trick


Scotch tape it to the tip of your correct size punch..leave tape so tip of pin is exposed enough to get started...the rest will shear off.

 

[Krusty783]

That's a good trick.

I just replaced my gas tube and block and I held the pin with some needle nose vise grips and got it about 1/4 of the way in, then I used an 1/8" drill bit to drive it home since I don't have a punch set.

 

[Fishbed77]

I always get the trigger guard roll pins started with a roll pin punch, then slowly press them in with a C-clamp.

Works every time with zero fuss.