Removing a staked castle nut.

**ghostman1960** · 05-26-10, 11:17

I have been trying to get the castle nut off of my S&W lower since last night. It's staked and I can't break it off for the life of me. I have been using a standard castle nut wrench. Is there a special tool to get it off? Or am I just a weakling? Lol

**dcs12345** · 05-26-10, 11:33

You are using the best tool I know of, maybe you need to use a cheater bar to get more leverage.

Do you have any way to mount the lower in a vise? If you don't have an action block, you can use an old junk mag and clamp down on it....

**opmike** · 05-26-10, 11:34

You require some mechanical advantage.

Use a breaker bar/long pipe/etc. Should come off with no trouble after using one.

**az doug** · 05-26-10, 11:48

Here is a link to a thread regarding castle nut removal:

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread...ighlight=punch

You can use a small punch to peen the metal back/away from the castle nut before you try to loosen it. If you are going to replace the castle nut you can use a cut off wheel in a dremel tool to cut the "staking" away. Also, your castle nut could have a thread locker on it and if so may require heat to remove. If it is old and has been assembled a long time it may have debris in the threads. Sometimes the mechanical advantage/additional leverage referred to above can induce problems rather than solve them. I suggest trying a few other things first and more leverage being the last resort.

**Stretz Tactical Inc** · 05-26-10, 12:09

Use the tool and a torque wrench set to 40lbs.

**ghostman1960** · 05-26-10, 12:30

Originally Posted by KCS

Use the tool and a torque wrench set to 40lbs.

Thanks all.

**Stickman** · 05-26-10, 12:36

Originally Posted by KCS

Use the tool and a torque wrench set to 40lbs.

Why use a torque wrench set at 40lbs to remove it?

**Irish** · 05-26-10, 12:44

Originally Posted by Stickman

Why use a torque wrench set at 40lbs to remove it?

So you can break your torque wrench when you exceed the 40lbs by a metric shit ton of force. A torque wrench should be used when installing and tightening nuts to a specific load, not to loosen nuts. Also be aware that there are wet & dry load numbers depending on whether lubrication should be used.