Can I use a 3/16 punch to stake the carrier key and buffer tube or should I use something smaller. Anything else I should stake on my Rock River?
You want a pointed punch, not a roll punch.
An auto center punch does a good job on the castle nut. Also works on the carrier, but takes multiple strikes.
I personally would not go the punch route… That is too important of a part to not get it right the FIRST TIME…
There are great tools designed just for staking gas keys, such as the Moack.
GotM4 could do it for you if you ask him and send it to him… Maybe a local shop has these tools?
Rmpl
I’ve used a flathead screwdriver as a field expedient route, and its worked out very well.
The idea is to displace a little bit of metal so the screws can’t back out, but somehow the internet seems to have turned that idea into massive metal displacement as a matter of course.
I used to use an old screwdriver or chisel.
I now use a MOACKS. MOACKS is fast, easy and consistent.
I use a standard prick punch to place the stake positions and finish them with a center punch.
Two stakes per screw.
I like to stake inline with the carrier key gas tube port but it really doesn’t matter as long as material is displaced against the screw head side wall ridges.
This is effective and a whole lot less expensive than a MOACK.
When I re-staked my AR-10 carrier key, the MOACKS is too tall, so I used an old screwdriver.
I believe it worked, but I don’t think it’s as good as it could be.
Ed,
I had Ned Christiansen make me an AR10/SR25 MOACKS if you want to bring your carriers by sometime.
I use a broken punch I filed into a rectangular shape. It works perfectly.