Pinning is great if you never plan to swap barrels or change gas blocks or experiment. But in my honest opinion unless you're headed to Afghanistan to be dropped behind enemy lines and need to depend on your rifle to get you through to your check point to be airlifted out you could probably suffer through a slipped gas block once every few years. I check the set screws occasionally and check for looseness on the screw holding the sling swivel. I was worried the gas block would get extremely hot and eventually make the swivel so hot it would melt the sling. That hasn't happened but then again I don't do magazine dumps or extended firing at hostiles on the battle field. I also custom made a hand guard cap that is a press fit on the barrel so there's absolutely no slop or rattle in the hand guard. (I hate things that rattle)