Removing a muzzle brake

[ginshun]

I have a Sabre Defense upper / barrel that has a Sabre Defense "gill" brake installed on it that I would like to remove. The brake is nice, and looks cool, but I would like to use the gun for hunting, and this brake is crazy loud. I don't really care about the recoil or flash from the little Grendel anyway, I have been using a 300 WSM with no break for the last few years, so the recoil on the Grendel is nothing in comparison.

I am pretty sure that the break is not pinned or welded in place, so I think taking the brake off should just involve clamping the barrel in a vice and unscrewing the brake. Does this sound correct? This should be threaded like a normal nut correct? When looking at the end of the barrel just turn CCW and it should come off?

Any tips or things to watch out for would be helpful. I am new to AR's in general.

Thanks.

[mongoosesnipe]

Should be left loosey as ar ar typical right handed threads, typical torque spec for a thread on barrel assessory is 35ft/lbs but if it was a factory installed item I would expect some sort of thread sealant was applied and you will probably need to apply some heat, if it takes more than say 45ft/lbs to break loose it is probably loo titled on and you will need heat, red lock tite breaks down at around 400*f if that doesn't get it to loosen at under 40ft/lbs take it to a smith

Also you zero is going to change so you will need to revert and you will probably want some sort of thread protector of muzzle device to protect the thread/crown

[ginshun]

Thanks.

The brake was installed at the factory, this I know for sure. How would you suggest heating it? lighter? torch? I can do whatever.
What I don't have is a torque wrench. That should be easy enough to figure out though... 45lbs on the end of a 1ft long wrench = 45 ft-lbs of toque, right?

I did plan on getting a thread protector for it, which I assume will require a 9/16-24 threading based on research I have done. Any suggestions on which one to get? Does it make any difference as long as they cover the threads and crown and have a right size or larger hole?

[mongoosesnipe]

I would probably go with a flash hider over a thread protected as it will protect the crown better than a thread protected and if you don't plan on removing it a bunch of times the flash hider will provide means to torque it down so you don't have to worry about it coming loose

I wouldn't hang wieghts off a wrench as a means of gauging the torque, for loossining you can just guess if int not coming loose add heat with propane tourch when you smell loctite its ready to take apart

I recomend picking up a torque wrench though doesn't need to be fancy the ones from harbor frieght will do just fine and the go on sale fo $10 every other month

[ginshun]

Ya, I didn't actually plan on hanging a weight off of the bench - just thinking it through as gage for myself. I should be able to guesstimate if I am putting more than 50 lbs of torque on a wrench or not though, or 100 lbs if the wrench is only 6 inches long.

Any ideas for a flash hider that doesn't increase the volume blast?

[burkew23]

Any ideas for a flash hider that doesn't increase the volume blast?

There's a ton of choices out there, here's a pretty good review of several flash hiders/brakes...... it's a 4 part series but hope it helps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtVB4IubWyc

[Drifter]

Any ideas for a flash hider that doesn't increase the volume blast?

Standard A2 birdcage and SEI Vortex are both tolerable.

[kamrr4437]

i use a heat gun to just heat gas blocks and stuff with. You just keep applying the heat till they move back and forth and slide right off. Should work on your brake as well. But im figuring if you have a good torque wrench it will probably let you have enough leverage to turn it right off.

[mongoosesnipe]

probably the best thing for taking away muzzle blast from the shooter other than a suppressor is the noveske fire breathing pig design which is effectively an update of the enfield jungle flash suppressor basically a cone on the muzzle but the vast majority of flash suppressors will not increase muzzle blast back to the shooter A2 is the best bang for the buck as far as flash suppression goes you will want something that wont catch on brush so the prong designs are out.... i would probably just go with an A2 type

[Drifter]

...you will want something that wont catch on brush so the prong designs are out....

Internet myth in my experience. If truly in thick brush where optics are useless, the front sight will usually catch a lot more brush than any prong-style FH. If the brush isn't so thick to negate the use of optics, the amount of brush catching on anything is relatively inconsequential.

[LRRPF52]

When you remove any muzzle device, just make sure to isolate the barrel itself in insulated jaws in a vice. Don't use the receiver, for example.

For muzzle devices, if stalking in the woods or plains for your hunting profile, an A2 compensator is fine. The original "duck bill" flash hider was very effective at reducing flash. The conical 3-prong hider came next, and was also good at flash reduction, but there are two main stories as to why the "bird cage" flash hider was adopted on the Colt Model 603 XM16E1 and M16A1 rifles.

One story is that soldiers were using the prongs to pry open ammo crates, and snapping off prongs. The other is that the prongs became entangled in vines in the dense jungle vegetation of the SEA area of operations, although there are plenty of vines at Fort Benning, where a lot of the trials were conducted with the AR15.

Another possible hang-up would be when negotiating the obstacle course as you crawl under barbed wire lattices, using the rifle as a guide or insulator between you and the wire.

For hunting, I think a muzzle device serves the purpose of protecting your muzzle from falls and debris, especially when climbing into deer stands or while riding on 4-Wheelers.

[Klem]

When you remove any muzzle device, just make sure to isolate the barrel itself in insulated jaws in a vice. Don't use the receiver, for example.

The conical 3-prong hider came next, and was also good at flash reduction, but there are two main stories as to why the "bird cage" flash hider was adopted on the Colt Model 603 XM16E1 and M16A1 rifles.

.

+1

Brace the barrel as close to the muzzle as possible in a barrel vise, not the receiver. If you don't have a barrel vise you can clamp two blocks of wood together and drill a slighly less than barrel-diameter hole along the seam. Then you can use them as barrel blocks. For friction you can use rosin or thin leather. Even cardboard works.

Those three pronged hiders have made a sort of come-back with the AAC versions. Have you noticed how they act like tuning forks every time you fire it? The metallic 'ting' gets annoying after a while.

The original A1 birdcage is not a bad choice for hunting. It's cheap, does the job and no need to index it so you can use a simple spring washer to keep it from coming loose... No need to torque it on with crush washers so you can take it off by hand after shooting to clean the crown.