05-16-2013, 11:06 PM
I just went through this process when I removed a DD RIS II handguard from an AA 20" GDMR for the Cerakote job I did.
Tap out the gas block pins if you can. I use the Brownell's installation/removal block that I modified to work with circular low-pro gas blocks, as well as the standard FSB. To release the Red Loc-tite, you do not need insane high heat, but just some time and patience with a hot air gun or hair dryer on high. Apply heat to the gas block for several minutes, then use a strap wrench to break the fit.
You need to clamp the barrel with insulators when applying torque to any part that is attached to it, not the upper receiver. If you can get the handguard off itself first, not the barrel nut, do that.
Punch out the gas tube roll pin and remove the gas tube. You can do that only if the handguard tube is removed. To get the gas block off after the pins are removed and heat has been absorbed enough to break the Loc-tite, you will need to tap the block off with either a large Delrin piece or brass, insulating the barrel from any stray blows and resulting surface damage.
Once you get the block off, take some Kroil or penetrating oil and apply it to the crevice between the barrel nut and the upper receiver threads.
Let it sit overnight, or for no less than 6 hours
See above.
No really, you need to let it sit and allow the oil to do its job.
At this point, I applied heat to the barrel nut, because copious amounts of Blue Loc-tite had been used to bed the barrel extension to the upper receiver, and the gun shoots lights out, so I ain't arguing with anyone who does it.
Once the nut was heated enough for me, I was able to break the seal and turn it off of the upper.
When I re-assembled, I placed the gas block in the freezer, because it was an anus to get off. I cleaned the Red Loc-tite residue off of from inside using fine sandpaper lightly. After the block was in the freezer for about 2 hours while I had been installing the barrel and barrel nut, again with Blue Loc-tite, I was able to literally hand-slip the block over the gas block journal right into place. I literally prayed before that it would go on smoothly, because it had been such a pain to remove-the hardest gas block removal I have done since 2003. I was pleasantly surprised by how well it slipped into place, and I attribute that to the molecular shrink dimensionally, as the ID moves away from the center of the gas block, as well as the OD moving towards the center.
If you follow these steps, and know your way around several barrel changes on the AR15, you might get it right. I'm concerned that you applied torque to the handguard with the gas tube in-place, if I read correctly. It's probably a good thing that it is Loc-tited, because that could cause some damage if the handguard started to turn.
Tap out the gas block pins if you can. I use the Brownell's installation/removal block that I modified to work with circular low-pro gas blocks, as well as the standard FSB. To release the Red Loc-tite, you do not need insane high heat, but just some time and patience with a hot air gun or hair dryer on high. Apply heat to the gas block for several minutes, then use a strap wrench to break the fit.
You need to clamp the barrel with insulators when applying torque to any part that is attached to it, not the upper receiver. If you can get the handguard off itself first, not the barrel nut, do that.
Punch out the gas tube roll pin and remove the gas tube. You can do that only if the handguard tube is removed. To get the gas block off after the pins are removed and heat has been absorbed enough to break the Loc-tite, you will need to tap the block off with either a large Delrin piece or brass, insulating the barrel from any stray blows and resulting surface damage.
Once you get the block off, take some Kroil or penetrating oil and apply it to the crevice between the barrel nut and the upper receiver threads.
Let it sit overnight, or for no less than 6 hours
See above.
No really, you need to let it sit and allow the oil to do its job.
At this point, I applied heat to the barrel nut, because copious amounts of Blue Loc-tite had been used to bed the barrel extension to the upper receiver, and the gun shoots lights out, so I ain't arguing with anyone who does it.
Once the nut was heated enough for me, I was able to break the seal and turn it off of the upper.
When I re-assembled, I placed the gas block in the freezer, because it was an anus to get off. I cleaned the Red Loc-tite residue off of from inside using fine sandpaper lightly. After the block was in the freezer for about 2 hours while I had been installing the barrel and barrel nut, again with Blue Loc-tite, I was able to literally hand-slip the block over the gas block journal right into place. I literally prayed before that it would go on smoothly, because it had been such a pain to remove-the hardest gas block removal I have done since 2003. I was pleasantly surprised by how well it slipped into place, and I attribute that to the molecular shrink dimensionally, as the ID moves away from the center of the gas block, as well as the OD moving towards the center.
If you follow these steps, and know your way around several barrel changes on the AR15, you might get it right. I'm concerned that you applied torque to the handguard with the gas tube in-place, if I read correctly. It's probably a good thing that it is Loc-tited, because that could cause some damage if the handguard started to turn.