Cross posting in trouble shooting

Hi to all, I have build lowers but never an upper. I have a .300 AAC with a factory pinned gas block like the picture, I am going to use with an Aero M4E1 enhanced upper (pistol build). I just realized I am going to have to unpin the gas block so I can get the barrel nut on.

Best way to unpin this gas block?

Two set screws clearly have to be loosened, drive the pin out from left to right?? Left to right defined as when looking through the barrel, looking down the breech out the muzzle, like bore sighting?

What tools are needed, Geissele gas block punch set, and? hockey puck from Brownells, or??

Anyone unpin a Ballistic Advantage or BA Hanson barrel, I have read the pinned Noveskes are %$##@!

I just did mine a couple of weeks ago on a Ballistic Advantage Wylde barrel.  It's a roll pin, not a taper pin.  A proper size roll pin punch is your friend; it will keep you from mangling the end up.  
Since it's not a taper pin, you really won't need a gas-block taper punch.  I started with a roll pin punch just a little bigger than the pin until it was flush, then switched to the correct diameter to finish driving it out.  
Mine took a little effort to get out, but I was being careful.  Leave the set screws tightened up until you get the pin out.  On reinstall, put the pin in first, then the set screws.  

And yes, best practice is left to right to remove looking down the barrel like you're boresighting.  
Not a huge deal on a roll pin, but the end that got pounded on during the install can still be a bitch if you're trying to drive it through the opposite way as it can be slightly flared.  

I like to use an el'-cheapo polymer cutting board from Wal-mart as a work surface.  You can find some that have 1" wide shallow grooves on one side that keep your barrel from slipping and sliding around while you're pounding on the pin.  Just drill a couple of holes for the pin to drop through and you're good to go.  The grooves aren't really deep enough to do as good a job as a bench puck from Brownell's, but it's non-marring and it works.  

One thing I would suggest getting are some "holder" punches from Brownell's.  They make life so much easier on gas blocks and lower builds.  
This set here has everything you need, including a nifty flat-sided punch that works great for the bolt-catch pin.

Thank you, I am going to check and see what I have, I have bought a couple punch sets from Brownells and I might have what I need.

I recently purchased a 10.3" 300 BLK Hanson also although I didn't think about getting a barrel nut over the gas block.

I will be going with a SLR Intrepid Handguard.  Does anyone know what type of barrel nut SLR uses?  Any chance it will go over a low pro gas block?

Wont most barrel nuts have a problem with a setup like this?  Wonder why Ballistic Advantage pinned them?

I cross posted this a couple places and I also heard back from Aero who owns or co-owns BA, the pin can be driven from either side and is a roll pin. It should not be a big deal, just use the proper punch, drive it out, add your barrel nut of choice, replace pin. I will be doing mine in a couple days. Yes, very unlikely any b nut is going to fit over it.

This would be of interest posted in the SBR sub-forum of the Armory forum.

I posted in Team, Build it yourself, and troubleshooting. I imagine most in the Armory/SBR forum are more experienced at building uppers. Feel free to cross-link if you want.

I had a question partaining to this topic.  I have a very similar 5.56 BA 10.3" Hanson barrel.  Only my problem seems to be the opposite! I can remove the roll pin, and the set screws just fine.... but what can you do to get the actually gas block out? It seems stuck in there pretty good, any hints, tips or advice?  I don't want to mar or warp my barrel.

When re-installing the gas block, can I skip re-pinning it and just use the set screws?

I am sure you could, many blocks only use screws, I would use both the roll pin and set screws if you are using the rifle for anything besides a range rifle.

don't do that

I won one of those barrels at CW5 (hella nice barrel btw)

it's super easy to get the pin in and out, as stated above it's just a roll pin - any punch will do