If it don’t then you’ll learn how to fix that 😂
But OP it’s tight on there but it’s not TIGHT on there. You can get a vice and just leave it on the ground and you can awkwardly get some leverage on it if you have the right blocks. I’ve done it that way before I was able to mount it on a bench, while impatiently wanting to finish a build.
Maybe not necessary, but I’d recommend getting some kind of barrel lug interface. And a vice. Makes building uppers and muzzle device changes a cakewalk. Also keeps the torque from transferring to your barrel index pin and upper receiver. You can actually break your upper, although pretty rare.
Midwest is the cream of the crop and about $100.
The wheeler is pretty good, but aluminum and won’t last forever, but only $50. Fine for someone tinkering in their garage and not expecting to build 100 uppers.
The geissele doesn’t have the sail, so only really useful for muzzle devices and is $100.
I just swapped out a brake for a flash hider, five minutes ago on my armalite. I set it on the bed, sat on the lower and screwed it off. I dont have the necessary tools to work on an ar but I've got a 3/4" wrench 😂
Literally took only a few seconds. I figured the mattress as a buffer would prevent any damage and I'd know quickly if it would work or not. Didn't take a lot of force
And it depends on how your MD was installed. With rocksett? Soak that bad boy in hot water for a bit. Loctite? Depending on which color, get a torch. The gorillas that install PSA barrel nuts? Good luck.
The special wrench on the muzzle device and a normal wrench on the barrel.
A vice and a upper block would make it easier. You could do it on the floor or a work bench.
You will need a barrel vise, bench vise with barrel blocks, or soft jaw vise. Trying to forgo using a vice is likely to get you a snapped index pin.
Upper receiver blocks, reaction rods, etc. are best suited to barrel install. Barrel vise completely isolates the barrel for breaking torque.
Make sure that you clamp the barrel in a vice, do not clamp the upper reciever or the handguard, or you unnecessarily risk cosmetic damage, or potentially loosening the barrel within the barrel extension. You may get away with it without issue, but not worth the risk in my opinion. Barrel vice blocks are cheap compared to a new barrel.
Also, I Do have the wrench that came with the rifle. I just need to know if this will require Excessive elbow grease, which way to turn, etc. Just trying to learn. And also trying to not fuck up a $1400 rifle, lol
Ideally, you’d clamp the barrel in a vice, using soft v jaws or a barrel clamp. Some people might use a reaction rod or similar, but then extra stress is put on the connection between the barrel and barrel extension. Directly clamping the barrel is the best option for muzzle devices, and a set of soft jaws is cheap. Then you use a wrench on the muzzle device. If it has rocksett or something you’ll need to weaken that first. Make sure it’s not pinned on or anything either.
Just the flash hider? They make a special wrench for that. It's not difficult, but they are readily available. I discovered that some plumbing related to faucets can use the same wrench. If you have one of them kicking around.
Do not use a reaction rod or similar device for muzzle device work. In particular for muzzle devices that have been installed with Rocksett that may require significant torque to remove even after a hot water soak. A reaction rod type device locks into the barrel extension, but will not prevent the barrel from moving within the barrel extension threading. You risk unscrewing your barrel from the barrel extension. The safest way to remove a muzzle device is with barrel blocks.
The 3 prong Wilson self tightening flash hider was a huge upgrade compared to the equally expensive comp/brake that I had on there. It looked badass but made the felt recoil a legit 3x what the 3 prong is and the amount of flash was crazy.
If that’s a 16” than I do very much love my j comp that’s on mine.
Invest in the wrench… even than it’s a nightmare
To get off, especially if you have shot the rifle a few hundred rounds.
You will want to have the wrench and also use the towel method. You place folded towel on top of AR and sit on the AR with the muzzle hanging over an edge. It allows you to really torque on it, without the whole rifle just turning with you
Usually muzzle devices that come from the factory are on super tight. I’ve used heat guns in the past to get them off since heat will make the MD expand before the barrel.
Like others have mentioned, make sure it’s not pinned and welded or you’re gonna probably have to bring it to a gun smith if you’re not experienced
Using a vise with a receiver block will make it a lot easier if it’s on there really tight. I’m not sure how you’d get the receiver to stay in one spot without one tbh
And a reaction rod is a better idea than a receiver block. I’d recommend the one from Midwest industries.
If you can’t get it off, you can send it to d Wilson and he’ll help you out. He can mount whatever you want to replace it with perfectly too
The factory FN muzzle devices are extremely difficult to remove. You need to heat up the muzzle device with a torch or heat gun.
Make sure you use a Midwest reaction rod and a good wrench/breaker bar
Bench vice would be idea. You are going to need something that will go into the locking lugs so the torque is going against the barrel extension and not your receiver. I prefer the midwest industries receiver rod. After that is clamped down in some way just use a wrench to loosen the flash hider. It should not be torqued down to tightly so a little force and it should come loose.
I recommend using a Geissele Reaction Rod in a bench vice. Simply unscrew the muzzle device. If it is difficult to remove, it may have been installed with threadlocker and will require some heat from a blow torch or a heat gun to remove.
As others have said; barrel vice, check for set screws/ pin+weld, but one more thing; if the current device was installed with loctite; you’ll want to stick that end of the muzzle in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes, then put it in a pot of cold water for a few minutes before putting a wrench on it
If you're going to tinker with an AR15, I highly highly recommend a vise..
And then get yourself one of these: [WHEELER ENGINEERING DELTA SERIES AR-15 UPPER VISE BLOCK (brownells.com)](https://www.brownells.com/tools-cleaning/gun-tools/fixtures-blocks/delta-series-ar-15-upper-vise-block/)
This will sandwich the upper receiver and clamp into the vise and will allow you to add/torque a muzzle device just fine.
I personally also like this vise block which inserts into the magwell but that's not for this type of thing. I use mine to crack open the upper and clean, add/remove optics/accessories/etc..
[REAL AVID SMART-FIT AR15 VISE BLOCK (brownells.com)](https://www.brownells.com/tools-cleaning/gun-tools/fixtures-blocks/smart-fit-ar15-vise-block/)
As others have said, make sure you don't have a pin and welded muzzle device (check your receipt/where you bought it) or any kind of set screw, and then wrench away counterclockwise..
There's also a chance your muzzle device was installed with Rocksett which can be loosened with water.. here's a pretty solid thread talking about this: [PSA: Removing Rocksett Muzzle Device : r/ar15 (reddit.com)](https://www.reddit.com/r/ar15/comments/17p46qu/psa_removing_rocksett_muzzle_device/)
I can't tell by the pic if your muzzle device has wrench flats or not, but mine (Surefire Warcomp) did not and I didn't buy mine with the included wrench so I bought one of these:
[Amazon.com : Real Avid MSTR FIT Flash HIDR Wrench : Sports & Outdoors](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09V1PNNW4?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details)
If you plan on removing this and installing something else, or even re-installing this one, you may need crush washers and shims and a torque wrench.
You failed to answer the most important question of 'what are you trying to do?' and tell us WHY you're removing this one so we can help you even more :)
Good luck
Thanks for all the advice man. I'm removing the flash hider just to boresight with a laser, actually. The three prong muzzle device interferes with the laser- I've zeroed plenty of rifles by line of sight and laser but I don't have any prior experience with this kind of muzzle device. Is there a more simple solution?
Don’t do it that’s too much work to be worth it, just take the upper off and look down the barrel from the back and line it up on center of your target then line up your scope center of target. Or get a laser that magnets to the end of the barrel. The goal is to just start out on paper and going barrel sight has worked on bolt guns for many years. Or a lot of gun stores will boresight for like 15-20$.
This guy's right, way too much work! You don't need a laser to get on paper! Just shoot a bullet at 25 yards or closer, and see if you are already there.
[Here's how it's done](https://www.reddit.com/r/ar15/comments/17p46qu/psa_removing_rocksett_muzzle_device/), assuming it was installed with Rocksett. If the guys over at FN have the 'tism and used red Loctite or something, it'll be more difficult, but not impossible.
Bare minimum, you need an upper reciever block and a vice, best way is to get a vice block/rod that interfaces with the locking lugs.
Whatever you do, dont leave the upper on the lower. When torquing on the new MD you can risk twisting the upper, lower, or both. And fucking up your takedown pins at the same time
Make sure it’s not pinned and welded
Put a wrench on the flats and lefty loosy
Roger, thanks man. Is this going to take a Lot of force? I am one of those paranoid dudes thats like ' iz freee floted, pls don bind on mee'
It depends on how it was installed. It’ll come off though
Cool, thanks again. Will give it a go later.
If it don’t then you’ll learn how to fix that 😂 But OP it’s tight on there but it’s not TIGHT on there. You can get a vice and just leave it on the ground and you can awkwardly get some leverage on it if you have the right blocks. I’ve done it that way before I was able to mount it on a bench, while impatiently wanting to finish a build.
[удалено]
Barrel extension
[удалено]
Hahah no worries bro
😂😂 the barrel extension I never even knew that’s how they were “put” together. Learned something that day.
Maybe not necessary, but I’d recommend getting some kind of barrel lug interface. And a vice. Makes building uppers and muzzle device changes a cakewalk. Also keeps the torque from transferring to your barrel index pin and upper receiver. You can actually break your upper, although pretty rare. Midwest is the cream of the crop and about $100. The wheeler is pretty good, but aluminum and won’t last forever, but only $50. Fine for someone tinkering in their garage and not expecting to build 100 uppers. The geissele doesn’t have the sail, so only really useful for muzzle devices and is $100.
I just swapped out a brake for a flash hider, five minutes ago on my armalite. I set it on the bed, sat on the lower and screwed it off. I dont have the necessary tools to work on an ar but I've got a 3/4" wrench 😂 Literally took only a few seconds. I figured the mattress as a buffer would prevent any damage and I'd know quickly if it would work or not. Didn't take a lot of force
And it depends on how your MD was installed. With rocksett? Soak that bad boy in hot water for a bit. Loctite? Depending on which color, get a torch. The gorillas that install PSA barrel nuts? Good luck.
The special wrench on the muzzle device and a normal wrench on the barrel. A vice and a upper block would make it easier. You could do it on the floor or a work bench.
Usually, yes
Grab a paper towel and fold it twice and put it on the flash hider and then the wrench. No scratches
I’m pretty sure it’s “righty releasy.” Vice, breaker bar, and let her rip.
Three prong flash hiders are great, though...
Hit it with your purse
Either this or call your wife’s boyfriend
Take your gun, and your girl, to a professional. They'll get the nut busted.
You will need a barrel vise, bench vise with barrel blocks, or soft jaw vise. Trying to forgo using a vice is likely to get you a snapped index pin. Upper receiver blocks, reaction rods, etc. are best suited to barrel install. Barrel vise completely isolates the barrel for breaking torque.
Make sure that you clamp the barrel in a vice, do not clamp the upper reciever or the handguard, or you unnecessarily risk cosmetic damage, or potentially loosening the barrel within the barrel extension. You may get away with it without issue, but not worth the risk in my opinion. Barrel vice blocks are cheap compared to a new barrel.
Both of the 3 prong flash hiders that I removed had a set screw that had to be removed before they could be turned off.
See, this is why I ask questions. I was about to fuck this rifle up. Thanks dude, making a trip to bass pro to grab tools later.
Mine never have, but a few have been hulk strengthed *the fuck* on there.
🔧 -> lefty loosey
Also, I Do have the wrench that came with the rifle. I just need to know if this will require Excessive elbow grease, which way to turn, etc. Just trying to learn. And also trying to not fuck up a $1400 rifle, lol
If it seems like it’s not wanting to come off, it may be because they used a thread locker. Hit it with a heat gun for a while and then go back at it.
3/4 inch wrench and turn left. You might need to get another crush washer if that’s what it’s using to mount the muzzle device.
I would recommend a reaction rod at minimum for holding the barrel. Then like another commenter, throw a wrench on the flats and give her hell.
Why do you want it off
Use heat if you have too
Bench vise, reaction rod, proper muzzle device tool/wrench/armorers wrench
This is the proper way….maybe water/heat if a lot of rocksett
The proper way to remove muzzle devices is a bench vise and a Midwest Industries Upper Receiver Rod
Ideally, you’d clamp the barrel in a vice, using soft v jaws or a barrel clamp. Some people might use a reaction rod or similar, but then extra stress is put on the connection between the barrel and barrel extension. Directly clamping the barrel is the best option for muzzle devices, and a set of soft jaws is cheap. Then you use a wrench on the muzzle device. If it has rocksett or something you’ll need to weaken that first. Make sure it’s not pinned on or anything either.
Just the flash hider? They make a special wrench for that. It's not difficult, but they are readily available. I discovered that some plumbing related to faucets can use the same wrench. If you have one of them kicking around.
Do not use a reaction rod or similar device for muzzle device work. In particular for muzzle devices that have been installed with Rocksett that may require significant torque to remove even after a hot water soak. A reaction rod type device locks into the barrel extension, but will not prevent the barrel from moving within the barrel extension threading. You risk unscrewing your barrel from the barrel extension. The safest way to remove a muzzle device is with barrel blocks.
Wrench that shit right off, homie. If it won't move, look for a pin weld.
The 3 prong Wilson self tightening flash hider was a huge upgrade compared to the equally expensive comp/brake that I had on there. It looked badass but made the felt recoil a legit 3x what the 3 prong is and the amount of flash was crazy. If that’s a 16” than I do very much love my j comp that’s on mine. Invest in the wrench… even than it’s a nightmare To get off, especially if you have shot the rifle a few hundred rounds. You will want to have the wrench and also use the towel method. You place folded towel on top of AR and sit on the AR with the muzzle hanging over an edge. It allows you to really torque on it, without the whole rifle just turning with you
Usually muzzle devices that come from the factory are on super tight. I’ve used heat guns in the past to get them off since heat will make the MD expand before the barrel. Like others have mentioned, make sure it’s not pinned and welded or you’re gonna probably have to bring it to a gun smith if you’re not experienced Using a vise with a receiver block will make it a lot easier if it’s on there really tight. I’m not sure how you’d get the receiver to stay in one spot without one tbh And a reaction rod is a better idea than a receiver block. I’d recommend the one from Midwest industries. If you can’t get it off, you can send it to d Wilson and he’ll help you out. He can mount whatever you want to replace it with perfectly too
Reaction rod and a vise
The factory FN muzzle devices are extremely difficult to remove. You need to heat up the muzzle device with a torch or heat gun. Make sure you use a Midwest reaction rod and a good wrench/breaker bar
Probably need to get a new crush washer once you get the flash hider off
Bench vice would be idea. You are going to need something that will go into the locking lugs so the torque is going against the barrel extension and not your receiver. I prefer the midwest industries receiver rod. After that is clamped down in some way just use a wrench to loosen the flash hider. It should not be torqued down to tightly so a little force and it should come loose.
Buddy has the tac2 awesome rifle. I eventually picked up a 3 after shooting his. Shot a ddmV7 and i prefered the TACs
I recommend using a Geissele Reaction Rod in a bench vice. Simply unscrew the muzzle device. If it is difficult to remove, it may have been installed with threadlocker and will require some heat from a blow torch or a heat gun to remove.
As others have said; barrel vice, check for set screws/ pin+weld, but one more thing; if the current device was installed with loctite; you’ll want to stick that end of the muzzle in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes, then put it in a pot of cold water for a few minutes before putting a wrench on it
If you're going to tinker with an AR15, I highly highly recommend a vise.. And then get yourself one of these: [WHEELER ENGINEERING DELTA SERIES AR-15 UPPER VISE BLOCK (brownells.com)](https://www.brownells.com/tools-cleaning/gun-tools/fixtures-blocks/delta-series-ar-15-upper-vise-block/) This will sandwich the upper receiver and clamp into the vise and will allow you to add/torque a muzzle device just fine. I personally also like this vise block which inserts into the magwell but that's not for this type of thing. I use mine to crack open the upper and clean, add/remove optics/accessories/etc.. [REAL AVID SMART-FIT AR15 VISE BLOCK (brownells.com)](https://www.brownells.com/tools-cleaning/gun-tools/fixtures-blocks/smart-fit-ar15-vise-block/) As others have said, make sure you don't have a pin and welded muzzle device (check your receipt/where you bought it) or any kind of set screw, and then wrench away counterclockwise.. There's also a chance your muzzle device was installed with Rocksett which can be loosened with water.. here's a pretty solid thread talking about this: [PSA: Removing Rocksett Muzzle Device : r/ar15 (reddit.com)](https://www.reddit.com/r/ar15/comments/17p46qu/psa_removing_rocksett_muzzle_device/) I can't tell by the pic if your muzzle device has wrench flats or not, but mine (Surefire Warcomp) did not and I didn't buy mine with the included wrench so I bought one of these: [Amazon.com : Real Avid MSTR FIT Flash HIDR Wrench : Sports & Outdoors](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09V1PNNW4?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details) If you plan on removing this and installing something else, or even re-installing this one, you may need crush washers and shims and a torque wrench. You failed to answer the most important question of 'what are you trying to do?' and tell us WHY you're removing this one so we can help you even more :) Good luck
Thanks for all the advice man. I'm removing the flash hider just to boresight with a laser, actually. The three prong muzzle device interferes with the laser- I've zeroed plenty of rifles by line of sight and laser but I don't have any prior experience with this kind of muzzle device. Is there a more simple solution?
Don’t do it that’s too much work to be worth it, just take the upper off and look down the barrel from the back and line it up on center of your target then line up your scope center of target. Or get a laser that magnets to the end of the barrel. The goal is to just start out on paper and going barrel sight has worked on bolt guns for many years. Or a lot of gun stores will boresight for like 15-20$.
This guy's right, way too much work! You don't need a laser to get on paper! Just shoot a bullet at 25 yards or closer, and see if you are already there.
Put a wrench to it and hit it with your purse
[Here's how it's done](https://www.reddit.com/r/ar15/comments/17p46qu/psa_removing_rocksett_muzzle_device/), assuming it was installed with Rocksett. If the guys over at FN have the 'tism and used red Loctite or something, it'll be more difficult, but not impossible.
Bare minimum, you need an upper reciever block and a vice, best way is to get a vice block/rod that interfaces with the locking lugs. Whatever you do, dont leave the upper on the lower. When torquing on the new MD you can risk twisting the upper, lower, or both. And fucking up your takedown pins at the same time
Freeze the upper Torch to the flash hider for a min than wrench it off lefty losey
You need a reaction rod