08-20-2020, 07:55 PM
tdbru Wrote:does anyone know if bear creek arsenal uses a thread locking compound on their complete upper barrel nuts?
i'm taking apart my BCA upper to check/lap the upper extension face and to loctite 609 the barrel extension into the upper.
it seems to me i've been putting quite a bit of torque on the barrel nut with a long wrench and the barrel nut is not budging.
my next step is to use a propane torch to heat up the barrel nut a little to get it to expand relative to the receiver extension barrel nut threads to see if this will help me get the barrel nut loose.
if bca also uses either red or blue loctite (i.e. 242, etc) that would help explain why it's taking so much torque and the barrel nut is not even budging yet. and also in that instance the heat will be needed. i can see no evidence of a thread locker, but if it's used sparingly then it may not be visible.
just as an observation, on the barrel nut which uses standard hex wrench flats (30mm open end wrench) it looks like they put that nut on with enough force to distort the two driving edges of what ever wrench they were using. pushed up a wee bit of metal on the barrel nut.. why would anyone use that much torque? seems like either the wrench fit poorly (doubtful but possible) or they over torqued the heck out of the nut to get the handguard bolts to line up.
anyway, the propane torch is coming out as a next step, but if anyone knows if bca uses thread locker i'l appreciate knowing that as it would help explain why the nut is being so hard to loosen. i'll find out tonight either way i think. or something will break.
also if anyone has other hints for removing very tight factory installed barrel nuts, i'd appreciate hearing it.
thanks,
-tdbru
No one uses thread locker on the receiver threads. You would hear off the front of the receiver if you put thread locker on it.
They just used a metric ton of torque. Best thing to do is put a cheater pipe on the end of your wrench and make sure your receiver is locked in with a reaction type rod, if it's in a clam shell type your most likely going to break it. Also order you a new handguard because that barrel nut is junk now.