09-29-2019, 05:11 PM
My barrel approach is to use two blocks of oak with a hole carved out, half in one block and half in the other, then clamp them down/together fiercely onto my B&D workbench holding the barrel in between. I made them from the time I was doing some savage barrel swaps. Use oak hardwood b/c it is stronger than pine at holding while clamped. Make sure there is a stretch of parallel barrel pipewall long enough to fit into your oaken slot.
Now this all being said I will confess that for AR barrel nuts I don't use this at all, instead I use the Wheeler AR receiver clam-shell clamp inside of my 5" vise... As far as torque on the barrel nut the ones I use don't need the gas tube indexing (like Midwest Ind's, etc) b/c they are smooth. And the 35-40 necessary to tighten down has not been a problem for me to achieve with this rig. If I were to go higher, then the oak blocks would be my choice.
And for muzzle brakes I use either accuwasher (some) or mostly jam nuts so torque gets applied between the jam nut and the brake, the barrel does not see any... and the MB stays flat without the distortion added when using a crush washer.
Now this all being said I will confess that for AR barrel nuts I don't use this at all, instead I use the Wheeler AR receiver clam-shell clamp inside of my 5" vise... As far as torque on the barrel nut the ones I use don't need the gas tube indexing (like Midwest Ind's, etc) b/c they are smooth. And the 35-40 necessary to tighten down has not been a problem for me to achieve with this rig. If I were to go higher, then the oak blocks would be my choice.
And for muzzle brakes I use either accuwasher (some) or mostly jam nuts so torque gets applied between the jam nut and the brake, the barrel does not see any... and the MB stays flat without the distortion added when using a crush washer.
"Down the floor, out the door, Go Brandon Go!!!!!"