Sorry no way to provide pics at the moment.
Got a new upper that has several teeth bent,rounded off and or missing on the barrel nut.
Damaged teeth are at about 10 and 2 o’clock.All are rolled/broken off in a clockwise direction.
IMHO it looks as if there were several assaults on the nut by the amount of dings and rolled material.Almost peened looking in areas.
I contacted the manufacturer on this and Im waiting to see what they say.
While Im waiting,what is the experienced opinion of the folks here on seeing something like this on a barrel nut?
Over torqued,poor tooling or ham fisted monkey?
Using a USGI type of barrel wrench to loosen a VERY tight barrel nut will damage teeth on the barrel nut as will tightening it VERY tight. It you can’t get the torque between 35-80ft lbs then you need to try another barrel nut. When then won’t come off without damage I’ll cut off the delta ring and use a pipe wrench which trashes the nut, but replacement is easy.
gotm4,
Its a brand spankin new factory built upper.Ive never personally put any rounds through it yet.As far as I know its never been disassembled.
So I’d say from the info you provided that my initial feeling of over torqued was correct.
Correct?
Very likely… without giving up the manufacturer (big manufacturer or kinda small?).
This is why I’ve always assembled my own ARs. For the few factory build uppers and/or rifles I’ve bought already assembled I’ve completely disassembled them and then reassembled them to my liking. I trust no one.
I’d say they are a fairly large and well known company.Its the same company Im having a problem finding a front BUIS that will work on their gas block that you responded to recently.Should have known better than to buy another upper assembly,huh.
Yeah I completely understand what your saying.I guess Im going to have to invest in some tools,the time and effort to learn and do my own AR work as well.
Ive had to do this on my other weapons so I guess Im just being lazy with the AR.
Thank you once again for the information.You have been of great help to me here recently.
For me it wouldn’t be an issue. I would tell them I am not happy and that I am sending their upper back for replacement or refund. My guess is they have some guys with little to no experience just slapping them together. I would also wonder about their QA/QC.
I hear ya bro.
Im chasing that rabbitt around the bush right now as a matter of fact.Playing phone tag at the moment.
Honestly Ive been questioning the QC at that company for a number of years now.But they have always stood up and came through for me in the end.Thats why I said what the heck and purchased a couple of the 20" uppers.Turned out to be sort of a PITA…again.
Im a slow learner I guess,but Im getting there.
Just curious…
Whats the usual result or damage caused by a over torqued barrel nut?
Can it warp the upper receiver?
I am no expert but I would think that over-torquing the barrel nut which is stell would damage the aluminum threads on the receiver. Probably would be a pain the ass to remove as well when the time comes.
Thats what I assumed as well.
Got nowhere with it today…their gunsmith is out sick.The tech said I needed to talk with him.
Im going to go run some rounds through the upper in the morning and see where it points.
Why so secretive-whats the company’s name?
I’m betting LMT, just based on your recent posts. While I haven’t seen damaged barrel nuts from them, I have one upper that would need an IED to remove the barrel nut. It’s like they gave a gorilla intravenous Red Bull and let him go nuts with an armorers wrench. Or maybe I just need to hit the gym. I decided to save myself the nosebleed and busted knuckles and just leave it alone.
How often is this required?
I really REALLY hope it’s not. That would be quite the disappointment.
Life is full of disappointment. Doesn’t stop me from buying and shooting LMT guns. I’m absolutely positive that they aren’t the only ones that let a dinged up barrel nut out the door every now and then.
Im not trying to keep it a secret folks…I just did not see that it really mattered what the brand is.Things happen in manufacturing no matter what the brand is.I personally did not want things to turn into a bash this brand or the other.I got one possible,and I mean possible bad upper out of two recently.
Its not a LMT,its a Armalite upper in question.
Yall have to understand Im a nit picking type person bordering on OCD probably due to my mechanical background.As some folks could probably tell here when I lock onto something I go freakin nuts with it until its done.
My flop,roll and crying on the LMT BCG topic was a complaint of pure cosmetics,not function.The parts function 100%,and in trueth by the time I get through rubbing the new off of them they will look much worse.
Fact is I consider LMT about the best there is and I was simply shocked to see a somewhat rough finish on one set of the parts.I was not alone either…so Im not the only nut in the basket.In that case I got two perfect BCG’s and one somewhat ugly.Im happy.
Regardless,I have not intended in the past or present to bash LMT or Armalite as they are the brands I like the best over any of the others,and Im very biased towards the brands.Ive certainly had no problem spending alot of money buying both companies products here recently either.
So yall dont take my comments the wrong way…I just like things to be the way they should be in a perfect world…which its not always the case.
Sorry for the ramble.
I can understand you reluctance to publicly bash a company but Rob_S gave us the chart that has influenced buyers and manufactures alike but what is the purpose of having a rifle built with top quality components but assembled incorrectly. They seem to have QC problems so I wonder if they are inspecting and testing components like they should be? The individual that built your rifle knows he butchered it but didn’t care enough to make it right. Inspect your rifle carefully-there may be other issues. Is this SOP for the company? Is it common for their rifles to have manufacturing defects? FTR I don’t know who the manufacturer is but considering an operator could die as a result of poor QC, I find this disturbing. Whats worse-a rifle built with inferior components or a rifle assembled incorrectly?
These are the right questions but there’s no way this thread will ever provide the answers. It’s an isolated case. And don’t think that even the companies that have the QC mechanisms in place don’t pump out lemons occasionally.
For all intents and purposes, unless you note weapon malfunctions, this is nothing more than a fit and finish issue, and it’s a stretch to use this as an example of something that could lead to someone’s death.
I agree about inspecting the rifle for other defects, but the real test will be in ringing it out on the range. I wouldn’t get to uptight about by this one just yet.
Without seeing what the barrel nut looks like, its a hard call to make as whether its a non-issue, or whether there is enough to complain about. You would have to really mangle a barrel nut to make it an issue for me. Its a covered portion of the weapon that serves the purpose of keeping the barrel tight. It either does that job, or it doesn’t. If installed incorrectly, or in a manner that prevents the barrel nut from being taken off or used again, its an issue.
Again, I don’t see it as being possible to make comment/ judgement on this side of the keyboard without seeing it in pictures.
Like I said I did not mean to start a fire.I just wanted the experienced opinion of what to look for and related unseen issues.Ive got that so far.I do appreciate the information,concern and attention that has been given to my issue by the folks here.
That being said the gunsmith at Armalite is still out sick,so Im waiting to talk to him.So no further information to give at the moment.
The Armalite tech to whom I spoke with on the phone(I will not mention his name)said that there is no given warranty on the individual uppers per se.Only complete rifles are covered with a warranty.But if there is a manufacturing defect found or related to a failure they do repair the uppers or provide parts to do so.
Mario,
Trust me I have the same concerns as you listed and is why I posted on the subject asking for advice and information.As things would have it,I was not able to get out and run some rounds through the upper this morning and it will have to wait until the weekend now.
From what I can see the upper should function 100% as I have gone over it as well as could be expected without disassembly,and I see not other flaws or defects.
As far as being a commonly seen issue from Armalite or any other manufacturer…well in my search it looks like Im the lucky one to get a chewed barrel nut straight from the factory.
In my past experience with Armalites products I would have to say this is not normal.
But it goes to show that its a good idea to inspect each and every part,upper or rifle as you receive it.Especially if it is to be a used in the line of service.
The detailed information provided by the experienced folks on this forum list is worth its weight in gold for that purpose.
I think what gotm4 has said about build quality is as good of advice as a man could get on the subject.
Otherwise I’d say just buy the best product you can afford and deal with it.
Stickman,
I have no way to take pictures at the moment.I have not had a camera in years.I will see if I can find someone with a camera and provide pictures for inspection.I’d value your opinion on the subject.
As far as the damage/defect,its as I described above.Several teeth missing,rounded off and metal rolled from the area leaving a peened looking surface on one side at about 2 o’clock.Almost looks like a punch and hammer was used to me really by all the peening.
The otherside there are deformed teeth that are almost sheared off at about 10 o’clock.All are rolled clockwise,so I’d say it happened when tightening the nut.Could have been a bad wrench I guess…dont know really.
I would say the barrel nut is tight so there is no worries about that.Gas tube alignment is on the money and the barrel looks to be straight in the upper.No other obvious damage.Fit and finish is perfect otherwise.
Like you I dont care what the barrel nut looks like.It could have all the teeth rounded off and rusty as far as Im concerned.My concern originally, what is the result or possible damage to other components like the upper receiver that could be caused by putting enough force on a barrel nut to rip teeth off of it.Afterall its a brand spankin new $500.00 upper assembly…I would hate to have to buy a new upper receiver because of a heavy handed line employee.
Maybe Im just looking too deep and worrying about nothing.
Missing teeth is not a good thing. Did it come from LMT directly?