This is the second tool I’ve gone through. And this shit is getting expensive. Everytime I try to remove my castle nut to put on my ASAP I destroy the teeth on the tool. WTF am I doing wrong here? I have a M&P 15 and I just want to switch out end plates. Advice please before i drop another 25$$ on a piece of crap tool. Oh and I should add that my local gun smith chewed up his tool the last time I was in there and couldn’t do my what I was hoping to be simple procedure.
This is the best armorers tool I’ve ever used, and I’ve never had a single issue with it, after years of use. http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/Armorer-AR15-Barrel-Wrench-p/tool%20armorer%20ar15%20wrench.htm
IIRC, they are made by Guntec, and they used to come stamped with “USMC” on them, and now I think they just say “Guntec”.
They are about the best made, IMO, unless something else has hit the market which I don’t happen to know about…
I guess I’ll ask an incredibly stupid question. Which end would you use to take the castle nut off with? I have another type which has 3 prongs. And they everytime just rip right off like tin foil. Is there a specific way that we’re suppose to remove it? After all it is torqued on.
I have used this wrench to pull off lots of castle nuts. It breaks the Colt staking without any problems or damage to the tool or the nut.
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=12782&title=AR-15/M16%20CARBINE%20STOCK%20WRENCH
gogetal3,
Just out curiousity. What type of carbine is this? Do you know its origins/ assembly? I am asking because you may have a castle nut that someone applied Loc-Tite to. I would try and heat it a little first.
Second thing is that I would try and tap it off first. Usually if it is just staked you should be able to break it loose with only slight difficulty.
S&W M&P15 mil spec tube. These guys typically use loc tite? So use a lighter to heat it up sound ok? guessing it doesn’t need a ton of heat
all the 3 prong units that I have ran across are junk, the best I have found are like the ones posted above with just the one pin on the end, like the one from bravo company, I use it and it works great.
I’ve had the exact opposite experience with that lousy guntec tool. It was grossly out of spec on both the stock wrench and the barrel nut sides.
IIRC, Guntec is that group of people who sell chinese airsoft crap at gunshows.
The first time I tried to remove the castle nut from my Colt factory sliding stock, I found out that Colt stakes those things in place pretty well. I broke a couple of the generic wrenches before I finally went to a machinist friend who suggested the wrench in the below photo. It’s the only one I’ve ever needed and with the assistance of a two foot long piece of pipe, the castle nut came off pretty quick. It’s worked for every stock I’ve used it on both Mil-Spec and civilian
I used that 1 prong end of it too, and guess what I bent the holy hell outta it.
you bent one of these?
Olympic Arms makes that tool and you can get it pretty cheap at Rainier.
I used it to R&I the buffer tube nut so I could install my CQD harness plate. It worked great for that.
I used the splined side to remove the OEM barrel nut so I could install my rail. It fit very tight and had to be tapped in place with a soft hammer to get in all the way.
When I went to use the side with the three pins to install the LaRue barrel nut the three pins were off just a little bit so they would not insert into the holes in the barrel nut.
It worked well enough to get the job done and it was reasonably priced. If I was assembling AR’s all day I would look for a better tool.
I got that same one from Rainier and took the barrel nut off my M&P15T without an issue. I haven’t tried anything on the back end of the rifle yet.
i’ve used a few armourer’s tools and cheapo stamped castle nut wrenches, and deformed the teeth or broke pins.
this is the best castle nut tool i’ve ever used. instead of round pins, it has two rectangular ones that fit the castle nut. it’s friggin’ tough and will take a pounding to remove stubborn castle nuts that will shear other pins deform the castle nut notches. i lined it with a bit of tape so the buffer tube wouldn’t get marred.
i think it’s made by tony’s custom uppers, but i got it a few years back at a gun show, not online.
update: Just broke the mofo loose magpul asap is about to mated with M&P
Good thing I’m as stubborn as they come. I don’t know when to quit. Here it is the end result and the culprit that gave me so much grief up until the very end. I broke a second tooth on the pos wrench when i applied the torque :mad: but the hell with it it’s in there and i don’t plan on changing it. I gave the ASAP some exercise time and hell yea the transitions are quick and easy. I’m pretty content with the result… There isn’t a name brand on it. i picked it up at the gun show a couple weeks ago in anticipation of this. trial and error on tools I guess. Craftsman where the hell are you, the AR world is in need of an AR multi tool!!
I use this one. I got it from Ken Elmore
Are all of S.A.W. armaments tools that nice?
I doubt you’ll find Craftsman Tools at a gun show. 
There are at least two types of nuts which hold receiver extensions in place:
The older one with round holes (not really a castle nut) (this is a 25-year-old SGW; note that there are no provisions for staking the nut);
and the new one with square notches (a castle nut) (this is a 3-year old-Noveske)
I notice that the wrenches used by mskdgunman and car-15 have round pegs, whereas the ones used by mm and scattergun have square pegs. Could this be the problem … trying to make a round peg fit a square hole?
Brownell’s sells this wrench
which comes equipped with interchangeable round and square pins. I’ve been thinking about buying it, but it’s pretty expensive (almost $60). Has anyone out there had any experience with it?