Has anyone been able to pin their receiver extension nut with an ASAP plate?
You can do it, you just have to dremel a little material off the asap plate. IIRC, rob_s did this and I remember seeing a picture of it.
ETA: Do you mean stake, not pin?
Ah, damnit, I did mean stake. Typed it in a hurry.
IMHO this is one of the issues with the ASAP. I have pictures around here somewhere, but basically it stands too tall above the nut (which is not just a staking issue but also a potential binding issue with the CH).
Not my pic, but the below illustrates the issue pretty well. You can use a dremel grinding wheel to take the material down so that it’s flush with the nut (do this with the ASAP OFF the gun) and then stake it. I think they designed it to sit flush with the receiver and not the nut, which is wrong IMHO. Regardless of the amount of grinding you’ll be able to get the nut to line up for one stake at best, not two.
This is just real quick, off the top of my head, but entertain this idea: Reverse the staking procedure.
One possibility might be to:
Instead of staking the receiver end plate (in this case the ASAP plate) into the castle nut, do the reverse. Stake the castle nut into the ASAP plate.
File a slot in the ASAP plate, that goes down slightly lower than flush with the exterior surface of the castle nut. Support the receiver extension internally to prevent the possibility of deformation during the staking procedure……and peen material from the castle nut into the slot in the ASAP plate……essentially staking the castle nut to the ASAP plate.
I didn’t re-stake my castle nut after putting an ASAP on my Stag. About 1000 rounds since then and one carbine course and it hasn’t loosened. I’ll keep an eye on it but at this point I’m not very worried about it.
Famous last words. 
Heh. That particular rifle isn’t a critical-use weapon, so I’m comfortable just watching it, especially sine it’s right there under my nose. My Noveske has a Noveske QD end-plate and my SBR has a PWS buffer tube.
I have a big ass center punch, it is meant for 1"+ plate. I put that very close to the edge of the ASAP and give it three good whacks with my official Bell Systems staking hammer (16oz.) Then I put a little cold blue on the stake sites. Remember to stake to the right side of the notch, since it will rotate counter-clockwise if it wants to loosen. I can post a picture of one I just did if anyone is interested.
I would like to see your pictures.
I was considering the ASAP, thanks for bringing this up.
I have 3 ASAP’s, no trouble staking any of them.
In the tens of thousands of ASAP plates we have sold we have yet to receive any complaints about the plate causing binding with the CH.
Also, as you can see from the images above not all receiver extension nuts are the same size. While we recommend that you have a gunsmith install and stake this part, it is not difficult to do by yourselft if you do not want to go that route.
If you have any questions feel free to contact us at techsupport@magpul.com.
Yeah I tried to make the charging handle bind and it wouldn’t, so no problems there. My receiver is thinner than the one mvician has pictured. Anyone have a tip on who make one of the thicker ones? I may look for a thicker one for my next build.
I have three as well and no problems. Someone referred me to Harbor Freight for a cheap punch. It worked great. Some of the jobs were prettier than others, but they staked very well. Stake -File-Blue:D
Exactly what I did, sorry no pics but works perfectly with good effect!
Sparky
Here are some pictures of my staking. That receiver extension nut is not coming off unless I take it off! I touch it up with some cold blue when I’m done.
Here are my weapons of choice:
The stakes, well done:
The handle I had issues with was, IIRC, the Gas Buster.
IMHO if the ASAP requires a certain thickness of nut to be able to be staked (which is apparently thicker than the Colt nut I was using) then it should come with that nut. No big deal either way for me as the staking issue was only one thing I didn’t like about the plate and I wouldn’t be using one even if it was easier to stake.