Un SAFE acting my rifles, are the barrels OK?

Vapor

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So many many years ago when the SAFE act droppedI had a local "gunsmith" make two upper complaint for me.


Fast forward to moving, and the muzzle caps bothered me. I already was taking care of the welded part carefully. Now I tried to undo the caps, and they were stuck like Hercules.



I figured this much, if I needed new uppers or barrels, I had nothing to lose by seeing if they had simply loctite them on

I used the only torch I had, MAP gas. I just did some very quick, gentle passes. Sure enough, they caps moved with some mild help of some vise grips


Then I worried I hurt the heat treat of the barrels.

Again, these were quick passes with minimal dwell time. I used the map gas as short as possible to just make that red loctite move.

Now, does everything look okay? Can I time the A2 birdcages and enjoy the rifles as they were intended after cleaning the red loctite residue off?

The barrel on top is a heavy profile FN chrome lined and the bottom is an m4 profile nitride.

IMG_20250304_210707105.jpg IMG_20250304_210715575.jpg
 
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Vapor

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Rondo223 said:
Loctite only requires about 350-400F to break it's bond. I seriously doubt you caused any damage to the barrel unless it was damage from gripping the cap too tightly and deforming the threads.
Click to expand...


I already test fit the A2 birdcages I got. Threads seem fine. I'm pretty excited to give new life back to these uppers.
 
spat

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Put a damp cloth on the barrel above where you're heating it as a heat sink.

Even if the heat treat right at the muzzle gets hosed, that doesn't matter much anyway. It's not a high pressure zone. Having the last inch of a barrel fully annealed probably wouldn't matter much anyway even if you did overheat it to incandescent. Be more worried about warping it than the temper.

But, like others said, heat it just enough to break free and you're probably fine.

I soldered mine on and had to heat them quite a bit more to remove when I got out here and have had no trouble at all.
 
libertysnake

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Two of my rifles were never threaded, while one the manufacturer spun the threads off during building it.

The two that never had threads I could have someone just cut the end of the barrel and put brand new threads on those when I move one day.

And since they're AKs, I have no mounting ears on the side of the rail that holds my cleaning rod. They ground the area down with a dremel or something. That's where the bayonet would be, below the gas block and no slant break in front -- both of which are required to get the bayonet to mount correctly. (Otherwise it'll be insecure in the front and back, and detach. The break is thicker than the barrel actually significantly, and that's why mounting one assumes both are cut to spec on top of the notches near the accessory rail.)

So with a proper break, and the ears for the rear to hold onto, I should be able to "un" ban state it and get all those features back one day, but with some work from a gunsmith probably. (Although the one without threads, I can never properly mount a bayonet since you need the break, so I'd have a break welded onto the end without threads.)

That's my "when I move to a free state" plan.
 
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H

Hochulsucks1234

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Letitia "Jabba" James will come down on you for this. It does not matter if you moved out of NY. The picture of you commiting such an illegal act has made it to the screens of hundreds of NY citizens [still stranded]. Such an act will cause redeemable harm and you must face the consequences.
 
Mosinitis

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Breaking loctite is not enough heat to anneal barrel metal. Welding that was also done (if I understood you correctly) probably did.
Glad you had it compliant and avoided death sentences that came with noncompliance.
 
Beerman

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Looks good. As much as I hate a fixed/pinned mag in an AR-patterned rig, at least I get to keep all the scary evil parts, which is the stuff that makes it fun to have. Adjustable stock, pistol grip, muzzle device, vertical/angled/any foregrip, etc. Having all that AND being able to drop mags and put a suppressor up front would be freedom. Enjoy it for those of us who are still living back here in the Vampire State.
 
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Vapor

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Beerman said:
Looks good. As much as I hate a fixed/pinned mag in an AR-patterned rig, at least I get to keep all the scary evil parts, which is the stuff that makes it fun to have. Adjustable stock, pistol grip, muzzle device, vertical/angled/any foregrip, etc. Having all that AND being able to drop mags and put a suppressor up front would be freedom. Enjoy it for those of us who living back here in the Vampire State.
Click to expand...


If the big beautiful bill passes, I'm off the races on suppressors here in PA. I may even have to get a .300 black out bolt gun for deer.
 
Vapor

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Mosinitis said:
Breaking loctite is not enough heat to anneal barrel metal. Welding that was also done (if I understood you correctly) probably did.
Glad you had it compliant and avoided death sentences that came with noncompliance.
Click to expand...


Welds were tiny and mostly on the very surface of what are fairly thick barrels. I think it will be just fine.


Eventually I'll get a reaction rod and start changing out my own barrels anyway.
 
Depick

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Vapor said:
Try not to be scared guys ...project mostly done. I just want to swab out those bores.

I elected to go with muzzle devices that didn't require indexing at this time. I don't have a reaction rod or a lot of time to mess with indexing.


View attachment 268314
Click to expand...
So that’s what freedom looks like.

Reminds me of when I saw a gun store in a free state. It nearly brought me to tears.
 
Mosinitis

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Vapor said:
Eventually I'll get a reaction rod and start changing out my own barrels anyway.
Click to expand...

Reaction rod is not the best thing for barrel changes, it puts stress on barrel extension pin and can bend it. I change barrels every year for the past 27 years. Clam shell block is the best tool for barrel changes. It places torque on the receiver and barrel nut, leaving the barrel and barrel extension passive.

Reaction rod has caused problems.
 
Vapor

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Mosinitis said:
Reaction rod is not the best thing for barrel changes, it puts stress on barrel extension pin and can bend it. I change barrels every year for the past 27 years. Clam shell block is the best tool for barrel changes. It places torque on the receiver and barrel nut, leaving the barrel and barrel extension passive.

Reaction rod has caused problems.
Click to expand...


I thought the vise blocks then put all th stress on the indexing pin.


Ala this demonstration.

 
Mosinitis

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Vapor said:
I thought the vise blocks then put all th stress on the indexing pin.


Ala this demonstration.

Click to expand...

Sorry, I don't have half an hour to watch this. This subject I know very well. Using a barrel block or reaction rod, you apply torque on the barrel/brl extension and the barrel nut. You don't want to apply torque to the barrel/brl extension. This is what can screw things up. You want to apply torque to barrel nut and the receiver through equal and opposite reaction. These are the two components that are screwed together. Barrel/barl extension is wedged between them. It has to be passive during unscrewing to avoid the damage.
If you are mechanically inclined, you should be able to visualise this.
 
dwa12479

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Vapor said:
Welds were tiny and mostly on the very surface of what are fairly thick barrels. I think it will be just fine.


Eventually I'll get a reaction rod and start changing out my own barrels anyway.
Click to expand...
The reaction rod is good for muzzle device installation, as it holds the barrel solid while the device goes on and crushes the washer, but you're better off with an upper clamshell in the vise for barrel installation. You always want to "hold" the component thats getting screwed on to.

I use the reaction rod for all kinds of other things too to secure an upper in the vise, but not for barrel changes.
 
FP1201

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Buy a 1/2"-28 Die to chase the threads, install a new device and crush washer, then enjoy the Freedom the Communist bastards in NY stole from you.
 
Vapor

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dwa12479 said:
The reaction rod is good for muzzle device installation, as it holds the barrel solid while the device goes on and crushes the washer, but you're better off with an upper clamshell in the vise for barrel installation. You always want to "hold" the component thats getting screwed on to.

I use the reaction rod for all kinds of other things too to secure an upper in the vise, but not for barrel changes.
Click to expand...


That'sy issue. I was still thinking about changing muzzle devices and not the barrel exchange.
 
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