3 piece handguard removal

[plant_one]

so my upper arrived the other day, and i took it out a bit ago

first thing i noticed - the damn handguard is out of index. the sling swivel pin is cocked to about 12:15 position. so its not off by much, but enough.


as i mentioned in the other thread re gas blocks, i was considering replacing the gas block for an adjustable anyway.



well this 3 peice handguard with the jam nut.. holy wow!

i put her in the vice block and she wont budge. all my channel lockks are fairly wide, so i cant just grab ahold of the jam nut with the tools i have (plus i dont want to mark it all up). I'm used to being able to spin something like this free... hah! jokes on me!



do i go pick up a strap wrench and twist it free in front of the jam nut? should that be enough to get this bugger free? or am i going to need to get the flame wrench out to break it free that way because someone got heavy handed with the loctite at the factory even though this is a jam nut model?


any tips/tricks i'm overlooking?



the other thing that makes me scratch my damn head. BM installed a milled FSB - not even a railed one - in front of the damn handguard at the rifle length gas position. its just there for pure looks. but why?!?!?!?!??!!?!?!?!?!

i mean i could understand if it was a railed block, or it still had the bayo lug on there... but... am i missing somethign? or is it just a stupid pretty-part they installed for pure stupid??

[Hoot]

do i go pick up a strap wrench and twist it free in front of the jam nut? should that be enough to get this bugger free? or am i going to need to get the flame wrench out to break it free that way because someone got heavy handed with the loctite at the factory even though this is a jam nut model?

any tips/tricks i'm overlooking?

IIRC, I took a pair of large needle nose vise-grips and a strip of old boot leather to get somewhat of a non-marring grip on the lock ring, then took a strap wrench to the handguard. Broke free almost instantly when I began to rotate the strap wrench. Both turned easily by hand after that. The key is not to try and rotate the lock ring as much as just immobilize it, so that it doesn't turn in unison with the handguard. Test locate the lock ring "while leading the bird" a little to determine where to immobilize it so that the handguard snugs up to it when properly indexed. A little like truing the table with the uneven legs, but perseverance pays off.

Hoot

[Hoot]

I almost forgot your other question. We never heard exactly why from Bushmaster, but generally assumed the FSB was added to give a picatinny rail in front of the handguard. Its a functional FSB, and if you don't intend to mount a sight to it, take it off ad use it on a different build. Mine is on my 6.5 Grendel. Works great!

Hoot

[plant_one]

ya once it comes off - its not going back on ... at least on a permant basis.

i'm gonna be at the Gun and knife show tomorrow, so i'll be browsing handguard prices. i have a couple options i already like so it'll just be price shopping vs .com pricing on them. i'm hopeing that since its last day theyll want to bargin vs taking it home.

i've had lock ring handguards before and just CBA with them. pain in the r ear to line them up. i'll probalby get a samson or a UTG. i like both of them, and the samson will pretty much allow me any gas block possible on there.

and it'll probalby allow me to shave a few oz off the upper weight, especially once i pull the FSB too. the bushmaster and DPMS handguards are so bulky. they're sturdy and all, but compared to current production stuff they'er like wrapping a hammer head around your barrel weight wise.

thanks for the tip on the large needle nose. i'll stop at hazard fraught tomorrow and see what they have.



and i mean ... you never know they might have the lazer guided paint brushes back in stock or maybe even the pneumatic slide whistles. and i mean isnt everyone on the lookout for a fresh pair of bono safety glasses?


this week's flyers are exeptionally tantalizing

[Hoot]

LOL! Made my day!

Thanks,

Hoot

[kklatt450]

Looks like a lot of useful tools there cool .

[plant_one]

ya - neve rknow what those guys'll come up with

looks like the gun show trip is canceled. my ride got snookered into a remodeling project for his folks.