Painful Harbor Freight fail.

[jbett98]

I go to a lot of estate sales and the first thing I look for are older well cared for made in America tools.
Besides paying nickles on the dollar for quality tools, I get the satisfaction of continuing the previous owners appreciation of using a tool that was built to last a lifetime, which is sadly lacking from anything made in China.

 

[DuneHopper]

I go to a lot of estate sales and the first thing I look for are older well cared for made in America tools.
Besides paying nickles on the dollar for quality tools, I get the satisfaction of continuing the previous owners appreciation of using a tool that was built to last a lifetime, which is sadly lacking from anything made in China.

I have the same hammer I found outside MareIsland one day that was 1987 still have it best hammer I have, I like my craftsman hammers have a couple of those but the Estwing has built many rooms, decks and everything in between, probably still be used when I am gone. Made me wonder who had it before 87 and how long.

 

[bimmerstuff]

I bought a harbor freight vise for assembling ARs etc. Ya I know...But it was cheap and I didn't intend on using it for much more than a third hand. Up to this point it has served me well.
Today I was trying to remove the factory barrel nut from a Ruger AR556 upper... FYI they are not easy to remove! I put the upper in the jig, tightened it in the vice and leaned on it with all 300lbs of my weight... sucker wouldn't budge.
Sooo... I put the heat to it and tried again. this time the stupid vice snapped, Everthing went flying... and something caught me in the forehead, splitting it open... And I somehow burnt the crap out of my thumb. At least I'll get a cool scar out of it.

Moral of the story: Ruger really doesn't want you to take their barrels off, and buying/using Harbor Freight tools can lead to injury,dismemberment, and even death.
View attachment 431273 View attachment 431272

I bought a harbor freight vise for assembling ARs etc. Ya I know...But it was cheap and I didn't intend on using it for much more than a third hand. Up to this point it has served me well.
Today I was trying to remove the factory barrel nut from a Ruger AR556 upper... FYI they are not easy to remove! I put the upper in the jig, tightened it in the vice and leaned on it with all 300lbs of my weight... sucker wouldn't budge.
Sooo... I put the heat to it and tried again. this time the stupid vice snapped, Everthing went flying... and something caught me in the forehead, splitting it open... And I somehow burnt the crap out of my thumb. At least I'll get a cool scar out of it.

Moral of the story: Ruger really doesn't want you to take their barrels off, and buying/using Harbor Freight tools can lead to injury,dismemberment, and even death.
View attachment 431273 View attachment 431272 View attachment 431272

Chinese people say, "All your injury are belong to us!

 

[almakki]

I bought a harbor freight vise for assembling ARs etc. Ya I know...But it was cheap and I didn't intend on using it for much more than a third hand. Up to this point it has served me well.
Today I was trying to remove the factory barrel nut from a Ruger AR556 upper... FYI they are not easy to remove! I put the upper in the jig, tightened it in the vice and leaned on it with all 300lbs of my weight... sucker wouldn't budge.
Sooo... I put the heat to it and tried again. this time the stupid vice snapped, Everthing went flying... and something caught me in the forehead, splitting it open... And I somehow burnt the crap out of my thumb. At least I'll get a cool scar out of it.

Moral of the story: Ruger really doesn't want you to take their barrels off, and buying/using Harbor Freight tools can lead to injury,dismemberment, and even death.
View attachment 431273 View attachment 431272

 

[almakki]

Creates character. I have a few just like that. Conversation starter.

 

[HB of CJ]

At the uncared risk of peeing off lots of wanna be AR15 builders, IF RUGER has in fact used locking compound on the barrel extension and upper receiver barrel threads, then RUGER needs to FIRE the guy in charge of AR15 type Ruger rifle production.

This should fetch them all out. That barrel gets torqued up DRY to around 40-42 pounds adjusted torque. The barrel is locked down. The upper floats. Any other way is contraindicated. The right way. The WRONG way. No staking anywhere in the build either.

You do NOT torque up to the next small hole. You remove the upper and slightly dress off some of the upper receiver front flat. Just a tad. Then re-torque up again. Over and over until that gas tube is perfect. Takes time. Takes knowledge. Now you know.

hundreds of builds. Am I just in a bad mood today? Possible.

 

[11Charlie]

Well if you ever wondered why I'm such a trim magnet, there you go!

Are you sure you didn't get hit in the head? Its that or your drunk!

 

[11Charlie]

Glad you got everything worked out @Mygrainman I will keep this post in mind next time I use mine!

 

[Mygrainman]

At the uncared risk of peeing off lots of wanna be AR15 builders, IF RUGER has in fact used locking compound on the barrel extension and upper receiver barrel threads, then RUGER needs to FIRE the guy in charge of AR15 type Ruger rifle production.

This should fetch them all out. That barrel gets torqued up DRY to around 40-42 pounds adjusted torque. The barrel is locked down. The upper floats. Any other way is contraindicated. The right way. The WRONG way. No staking anywhere in the build either.

You do NOT torque up to the next small hole. You remove the upper and slightly dress off some of the upper receiver front flat. Just a tad. Then re-torque up again. Over and over until that gas tube is perfect. Takes time. Takes knowledge. Now you know.

hundreds of builds. Am I just in a bad mood today? Possible.

After the fact, I consulted the interwebs, and many folks ran into this... either having to freeze or heat to get it off. Ruger kinda marches to thier own drum. they dont use anything milspec.. they use a plastic ring that screws the foreund tight in place rather than a standard delta assembly, and they attach the FSP with taper pins on the top side of the barrel.. and its machine fit to each barrel so once its off there is no replacing it, unless you go aftermarket FSP... I got mine used with the fsp hacked off. I was taking off the barrel nut so I could install a free float system.

Ive never removed material from the reciever, but Ive added shims... same result. Many of the new freefloat systems dont require "timing" the gas tube. Shims are cheap, and can be had from amazon.


If you remove from the receiver Im sure it would take skill.. I would be afraid of killing the accuracy, but there's always the lapping tool. Ive been meaning to get one just to see if it really helps.