I first tried searching the board for something on this – I reely did – but couldn’t find what I needed.
I’m toying with the idea of replacing the factory fixed front sight with a railed gas block to accommodate a flip-up. Is this something considered user/owner do-able, or do I really need a good pro to get it right.
I have reasonable tool skills and a small shop including a drill press.
Thanks for any advice, either way.
I replaced my own FSB with a folding front sight block. You can do it, and if you have tools, and a work bench it should be much easier. I was going to have a local gunsmith do it for me, but he told me it would take a week to do. Hell it only took me a few hours, and that is because I allowed time for some WD40 to soak into the tapper pins. So in short you can do it yourself. Here is a link that can give you an idea of how to do it. Just remember that this guide is brand specific. I don’t know what brand of AR you have so the tapper pins may go in and out in a different fashion.
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=18&t=510994
This video should help as well.
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-change-out-gas-block-ar-15-rifle-barrel-267095/view/
Good luck. By the way, I agree the search function here is horrible. I have yet to have much luck with it. Most of the time you’re better off going to google.com and just adding m4carbine.net into your search parameters.
you are a braver man than I, but the proper tools is key if you have what you need it would not be too bad.
My personal suggestion is to simply cut the FSB down, and do some grinding to make the rail fit over.
Clean it up good and paint it with some high temp paint or Alumahyde.
Okay, I’ll ask. Is there a DIY guide here for doing that? I had thought of cutting mine off and going back to a railed handguard and mountng the FS at the 12:00 position.
As mentioned before, I would cut down and refinish an A2 and then run a rail over it. I did this with my 16in midlength with larue rail. If done properly, it will look very professional.
I thought of this too, my only worry would be making sure its perfectly straight up.
The hardest part of any of this, in my experience, has been getting the taper pins out and then back in.
If you don’t feel like doing the shaving on your FSB, you can just buy a quality low profile gas block, and send it to ADCO for pinning.
I have a dimpled and Rocksett’d low-pro gas block on one of my rifles that I will be sending off to ADCO when I scrounge up the money.
I don’t know.
But if you need some help or want the FSB shaved down to fit under rail let me know.
Thanks everybody. That Brownells video makes it look pretty easy, but he already has the flash hider taken off, which I wasn’t realizing would also be needed. Wonder if they also have a vid on flash-hider replacement.
I’ll continue to think about it and see whether I get enough of a bug-up to take it on. If so, complete documentation shall be posted here.
Also take a good look at your FSB taper pins if you’re doing this on your S&W M&P15. The taper pins are driven from the shooters right to left same as Stag. Everyone else in AR world has them going from left to right.
Major thanks. This kind of detail can create a headache for the unaware.
Check these pic’s out. I followed the instructions and did mine. Mine is the picture about two posts down from the instructions. Easy and clean.
http://www.predatormastersforums.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=194290&Number=1821618#Post1821618
Taking off the flash hider is extremely easy, all you need to do is is take a wrench to it to unscrew it, repeat process in reverse to put it back on.
If you have a hacksaw, grinder and a file shaving down your FSB is extremely easy. A shaved down A2 FSB is probably one of the cheapest, easiest and strongest low profile FSB around. It doesn’t exactly have to be a work of art especially considering its going under a rail.
I ended up having to drill and tap the taper pin holes for set screws due to the rail I used not having enough room to install the fsb first and use the tapper pins. I used red high temp high, strength locktite on the set screws. I also tapped the hole located where the sling was originally and dimpled the barrel slightly for more positive location.