hey guys, new to forum…my buffer tube keeps getting loose. everytime I shoot my m4. thinking of loctiting buffer and ring…good or bad idea? I know if something was to happen to tube,etc. I would have to heat up loctite area to remove, beyond that any other concerns…
Stake it 
I think that is going to be the universal response to this question. You could use loctite, I would only use blue though, anything stronger can be an ass pain.
Do a couple of searchs on staking and you’ll find everything you wanted to know.
just my 2cents.
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=6994&highlight=stake
Do not use loctite. Stake the reciever end plate and castle nut. Do a search. Welcome.
Ryanm beat me by seconds! Haha. To add… look up “the chart” and read the knowledge based sticky threads. There is a wealth of knowledge that is invaluable to the black rifle owner.
Instead of a punch and hammer, what is that tool that stakes in a somewhat more controlled manner?
Spring loaded center punch.
http://www.m-guns.com/tools.php
Nevermind, above post beat me.
But, if you are running an ASAP, I suspect this center punch won’t touch it. Those things are HARD! I just use a hammer and modded punch. Takes about 30 seconds.
Auto center punch.
If the tube “keeps getting loose” without shooting it a whole bunch you probably don’t have enough torque. Make sure you torque it good and then stake.
how tight do I torque nut, not to over
torque?
I personally just tighten it as much as I possibly can. Due to the design of the castle nut and the armorer’s wrench that you use to tighten it, I am pretty sure it’s practically impossible to actually “over torque” it, or strip it or anything. The only damage I’ve ever done to it was kinda chew up one of the wrench slots on the castle nut due to my wrench not being inserted ALL the way inside it when tightening it up to an ASAP.
I actually just staked my first castle nut/ASAP combo 2 nights ago. I’m not sure if I did the best job or not, or how effective I made it. But it was easy. I’ve never had any of my castle nuts staked previously and have never had any of them come loose on me. All my other castle nuts are secured via blue loctite, because up until 2 nights ago I was too afraid to stake it due to the possibility of fucking up my Magpul ASAP. It’s one thing to screw up a cheap milspec end plate, but the last thing I wanna do is screw up a $25-$30 ASAP. I may or may not eventually stake them, I’m not sure yet. But I have yet to have any castle nut that I secured via blue loctite come loose or back off in the least.
YMMV of course!
I am a little rusty but I think the required torqe spec is 40 or 50 foot/lbs
just tighten it up and stake it. no need to “torque” it.
In addition to the advice given I will say that you should also put a small amount of anti-seize on the threads before you re-tighten and stake.
That’s good advice! Watch where you put that stuff it gets everywhere if you’re not careful!
I think the TM says inch pounds, not foot pounds. 40 foot pounds would likely twist the receiver before it is even torqued completely.
Thank you, that is a very nice website.