Good golly, I logged into the system today to make sure everything is running smoothly while the shop is closed and I am out of town, and it is a good thing I planned on making extra Talon AUG A3 scope mounts!  

Ring tops are done, finishing up the bodies right now.  

Sven
Manticore Arms

Very close, all on the anodizer now to get them finished up...  

We are packing them this afternoon, they should ship by friday.

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We brought a half dozen of them to the Bullpup Shoot.  We even had one on display on our AUG on the table.

We actually brought all of our product line and offered it at cheaper than list that day (well, the Talon mount was the same price as we list it - I didn't want to screw pre-order folks on that one...)

Just finished the instruction sheet this afternoon.

FYI, you will need a proparne torch to loosen up the loctite on the three bolts on the underside of the receiver that hold the top rail in.  

Just wanted to mention that so no one gets the mount and then realizes they need to run down to the hardware store and it is already closed!

+1

Using a torch to heat the receiver is the only way we recommend doing it.  

There is no other real practical or safe way to break down the loctite Steyr put on the bolts.

Steyr doesn't recommend using a torch on the Aluminum A3 receiver to break the rail screws loose. You can damage the receiver that way.

I have taken numerous rails of the AUG A3s and have NEVER used a propane torch or any other kind of heat. There is always a simple trick to everything!

Herbert from Steyr sent me this years ago concerning heat and aluminum >>

"Aluminum's sensitivity to heat must be considered. Even a relatively routine workshop procedure involving heating is complicated by the fact that aluminium, unlike steel, will melt without first glowing red. Forming operations where a blow torch is used can reverse or remove heat treating, therefore is not advised whatsoever. No visual signs reveal how the material is internally damaged. Much like welding heat treated, high strength link chain, all strength is now lost by heat of the torch. The chain is dangerous and must be discarded. Aluminium also is subject to internal stresses and strains when it is overheated; the tendency of the metal to creep under these stresses tends to result in delayed distortions"

What is your simple trick to remove without heat?

For the record, excessive torque and stress on a receiver or even a tool slipping when putting a lot of force on it can damage it just as easily as excessive heat.  At the very least it can strip out a bolt head and then you are f**ked on trying to remove it.

Yup, Steyr themselves recommends use of a torch to remove the loctite in their legal department approved, and thus liability checked  manual.

Herberts concern is likely that someone will hold the torch in one area for 20-30 minutes.

Before anyone thinks I am recommending something that might damage the receiver, I want to cover a little bit of my background, and then go through the technical issues involved with removing the top rail.

For those that don't know, I have a Masters degree in Architecutre and have taught Materials and Methods courses and General Engineering course at the University of Illinois School of Architecture and Engineering Schools.  I am not some guy just hocking my wares for a dollar and telling you to do something with no regards the the consequences, but rather I do actually have a bit of knowledge when it comes to this sort of thing.

The receiver of the Steyr AUG A3 is 7075 aluminum with a T6 heat treat.   For those who are not familiar a T6 heat treat is accomplished by heating the entire receiver to 925 degrees farenheit for an hour.  There are actually a few more steps in the process, and differences to the process depending on size of the parts, etc, but the point is you are heating to over 900 degrees farenheit for a good length of time.  

We recommend using the torch for a total of about 30-60 seconds total on the areas with the bolts, moving it around so as not to heat a single point.

You will note when doing this that the WHOLE RECEIVER gets too hot to touch.  Why?  Because aluminum is VERY thermally conductive.

What this means is that the heat you apply will quickly dissipate throughout the entire receiver.

The ability to heat any point of the receiver to where you would create issues with the heat treat would, quite honestly, take some intentional, concerted effort!  Steyr themselves recommends in the manual to use a torch to break down the loctite as already mentioned.

Another way to think about it is like this - you have a steel barrel getting up to 400-500 degrees farenheit when firing an AUG fast and hard.  That heat from the steel barrel is going to go right into the receiver due to the thermal conductivity of the aluminum, but the receiver doesn't fail...and Steyr design the gun with an aluminum receiver this way from the outset. Same with an AR-15, your upper and lower are aluminum, and the upper has the chamber of the barrel completely surrounded by aluminum where the barrel is attached via threads in the aluminum.  Ever heard of an uppers aluminum threads giving out before a barrel or gas tube burst?

In any case, the point is that the quick heat of a propane torch should be completely fine on the receiver.    Now if you want to give it a try with the 4mm allen wrench we include and use a pair of vise grips attached to the end to see if it will turn, go ahead and give it a try!  The worst that can happen is they won't turn (well, you could strip out a hex head on a bolt, so don't overdo it!)

In our experience of the two receivers we did it on the bolts would not budge and we were risking stripping out the hex heads on the bolts.  Per the manual, a little bit of heat losened up the loctite and the bolts came out with a little force to break the remains of the loctite.  

Our other concern is clamping of the receiver to get enough force to turn the bolts without breaking down the loctite- it is very difficult with the shape of an AUG receiver to clamp it properly without risk of it slipping in the clamp while you apply a good amount of force.  Quite honestly, I don't want to see anyone get hurt or bust a receiver if the receiver or a tool slips in the process.  In my professional opinion, a little heat to break down the loctite is the much safer way to do it unless you have special tooling that allows you to clamp the receiver securely.

So there you go.  If anyone has any concerns please let me know, but in any event, you should be fine with a little heat to break down the loctite.

Sven
Manticore Arms

Looking good!