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8/14/2026 2:52:45 PM EDT
[Last Edit: ExGreyFox][Edited]
Hi Folks,

I have here a brand new, unfired 11.5" URG-I upper with a SureFire RC2 full size. This is my first suppressor. I ended up buying a Geissele 5.56 suppressor alignment rod as I found one on sale. To my surprise, the rod feels very snug moving down the barrel. Gravity cannot do enough work alone to get it to fall out the muzzle end so I have to nudge it down the bore manually. To add to that, the alignment looks off. The alignment rod is not touching the walls of the suppressor. There is certainly some amount of travel between the wall it sits closest to and where the rod naturally settles. But it does give me some heartburn. I contacted Geissele with the same photo attached to this thread. Upon a glance they told me that despite the alignment not being near perfect, its still within their tolerance spec. I asked if I could RMA the upper so they can get their hands on it directly and look at it. They agreed, a week or so later I had it back in my hands with an RMA findings report also attached here. In short, they were unable to reproduce the issue I perceive the upper to have.

I should add that I also own an 14.5" URG-I and the suppressor alignment rod travels freely from chamber side to muzzle side smoothly. Suppressor alignment with this upper is near perfect as well.

Doing some other less reliable sanity checks on the 11.5", I can look down the bore from chamber side with suppressor installed and do not see any hint of a baffle. I've also tried a goofy trick of shining a light with a piece of paper in front and also do not see any odd shadows.

I have yet to fire this upper and I'm hesitant to destroy a brand new RC2. Perhaps I am being overly paranoid. Would love to hear from you folks on your thoughts.



8/14/2026 3:03:56 PM EDT
[#1]
Choot It!

no, lol, pics didnt post
8/14/2026 3:24:29 PM EDT
[#2]
Apologies, should be corrected now. Had to make an imgbb account.
8/14/2026 3:25:16 PM EDT
[Last Edit: ExGreyFox][Edited] [#3]
Apologies, should be corrected now. Had to make an imgbb account. And I double posted like a goober.
8/14/2026 8:12:25 PM EDT
[#4]
Are you using the alignment rod from chamber to muzzle?

If yes, then where is the rod sticking point. If at barrel shoulder to Supressor attachment device start point, then device may have been over torqued, to bend the barrel threaded section.  If sticking just before that at say the gas block passage in the bore, then may have to take a cleaning brush to knock off any burs at the gas port.

If binding before that down the barrel, and you can roll the alignment rod on a flat surface to make sure it not bent, then may have a problem with Bore not true/ straight on the barrel.

Also, photo's are not loading.
Posted By PlaymoreMinds:

'Twas not the <cough> sweet and innocent <cough> PlaymoreMinds...

<---skips away in frilly skirts to Candyland, leaving gutters and snorkels FAR behind.
8/14/2026 10:43:47 PM EDT
[#5]
Quote History
Originally Posted By Dano523:
Are you using the alignment rod from chamber to muzzle?

If yes, then where is the rod sticking point. If at barrel shoulder to Supressor attachment device start point, then device may have been over torqued, to bend the barrel threaded section.  If sticking just before that at say the gas block passage in the bore, then may have to take a cleaning brush to knock off any burs at the gas port.

If binding before that down the barrel, and you can roll the alignment rod on a flat surface to make sure it not bent, then may have a problem with Bore not true/ straight on the barrel.

Also, photo's are not loading.
View Quote


I need to figure out this photo thing. Apologies, brand new around here.

The rod is very straight. I rolled it on a glass table and it's super straight. Tested on 3 other ARs that have had lots of rounds through them and it passes through very smoothly. So the rod is confirmed to be good.

Now in this brand new and un-fired 11.5" upper, the rod gets abruptly very sticky and tight right at the last 1/4" of the barrel I.e. right before the crown. As in still within the chrome section right before the surefire 4 prong muzzle device starts.

I'm wondering if I just have some burrs I need to shoot out. I'm starting to think that more and more the more I think about it. I'll finally get some rounds through this thing tomorrow.
8/15/2026 1:35:27 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Dano523][Edited] [#6]
the rod gets abruptly very sticky and tight right at the last 1/4" of the barrel I.e. right before the crown.

When FS adapter was installed on barrel,  either too much torque was used, and this caused the threaded part of the bore to be bent when compared to the rest the bore.  Or someone dropped the upper, the adapter took a hit and this caused the last inch of bore to be bent instead, or shoulder side of adapter was not flush/shoulder not tram to threads, and this caused the last inch of bore to be canted.

If RC2 was factory installed, then send upper back for replacement (guessing that where you got the upper was the one that dropped it or was done in shipping, since don't believe that Geissele is going to not check the upper with alignment tool as they are building it.
Note, check with Geissele  since may just have you send them the upper so they can replace the barrel.


If you installed the RC2, then problem of replacement barrel  falls back on you.  The barrel can be fixed, but with it shorten to make a new threaded end section/increase the gas port size, the rig is going to be really ammo sensitive.
Posted By PlaymoreMinds:

'Twas not the <cough> sweet and innocent <cough> PlaymoreMinds...

<---skips away in frilly skirts to Candyland, leaving gutters and snorkels FAR behind.
8/15/2026 1:44:56 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Gthirteen][Edited] [#7]
Would one of those relatively inexpensive borescopes on Amazon help ID the problem?
8/16/2026 5:15:34 AM EDT
[#8]
I would remove the flash hider and recheck for tightness and inspect the crown. Then I’d reinstall the muzzle device. It sounds like it was over tightened. I don’t think the muzzle was bent from a fall, but who knows. The barrel will return as soon as the over torqued muzzle device is removed.

Call surefire and have a set of shims and a tube of rocksett on hand. I wouldn’t reuse the shim.
8/18/2026 2:53:32 PM EDT
[Last Edit: ExGreyFox][Edited] [#9]
Thanks for all of the responses so far gents.

Long story short, I sent off the upper to Geissele as an RMA, they said they looked at it and and that they could not reproduce the fault, they shipped it back to me, and despite my better judgment I went ahead and test fired it one time and got a baffle strike right at the point on the Surefire RC2 suppressor endcap where the alignment rod is closest to the wall of the suppressor. Luckily it did not destroy the can but I do have a small gouge on the inside of the end cap and a slight mark on the final 3-5 baffles from muzzle device side to the end-cap end of the suppressor.

I then had a heart to heart with Geissele over the phone and they've agreed to bring it back in, and this time re-install a new SureFire 4 Prong muzzle device and have the bore be checked by their gunsmiths. In addition I submitted an 8-page report with photos showing all of the details and test procedures I followed.

They did point the finger at the RC2 being the culprit with which I countered that this RC2 has been running happily on the exact same URG-I upper but in 14.5" length. This 14.5" upper also has perfect alignment with the same RC2 suppressor.

The RC2 suppressor is a fast attach. I have put it on and taken it off the 14.5" many times and am very good at it. Its  a simple task. I have tried re-seating the RC2 many times on the faulty 11.5" URGI and each time the fault is reproduced exactly the same. It is very repeatable.  

At this point, if they yet again come back with "unable to reproduce" I am going to have a very expensive $1,500 paper weight to contend with. There is, without a shadow of a doubt, a spot roughly 1/4" away from the muzzle device inside the bore where the alignment rod binds very hard, deflects the trajectory of the rod, and requires excessive force to push through and out of the bore. You cannot twist the alignment rod in the bore AT ALL when it hits this specific spot.
8/18/2026 4:23:25 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Dano523][Edited] [#10]
Seen it too many times,
[img]https://adcofirearms.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/crown-1.jpg[/img},

Where FS or suppressor attachment device is over torqued when indexing them, puts a ton of torque on the barrel shoulder, and will cause the threaded section of the bore to be torqued off line.  Or, the suppressor/adapter takes a hit, which can cause the threaded section of the barrel to be canted as well.

As for Geissele, make sure they use a alignment rod to check the bore (one that fits the rifling Tightly like your does).
Posted By PlaymoreMinds:

'Twas not the <cough> sweet and innocent <cough> PlaymoreMinds...

<---skips away in frilly skirts to Candyland, leaving gutters and snorkels FAR behind.
8/18/2026 4:37:51 PM EDT
[#11]
Quote History
Originally Posted By Dano523:
Seen it too many times,
[url]https://adcofirearms.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/crown-1.jpg[/img),

Where FS or suppressor attachment device is over torqued when indexing them, puts a ton of torque on the barrel shoulder, and will cause the threaded section of the bore to be torqued off line.  Or, the suppressor/adapter takes a hit, which can cause the threaded section of the barrel to be canted as well.

As for Geissele, make sure they use a alignment rod to check the bore (one that fits the rifling Tightly like your does).
View Quote


I'm finding out that its very difficult to get a big firearm manufacturer to admit to a fault. I'm even using a Geissele brand suppressor alignment gage. They'll have it back in their hands in the next day or so. Let's see what they say.

This time they have assured me that they will remove and install a new SureFire 4 Prong muzzle device and then have the bore checked in detail. And I'm over here going "Why didn't yall do that in the first RMA and I had to go and get a baffle strike for yall to do the right things??"
8/19/2026 3:33:12 PM EDT
[#12]
"This time they have assured me that they will remove and install a new SureFire 4 Prong muzzle device and then have the bore checked in detail".

Problem is, if the 4 prong too over torque to index it on the barrel to bend the bore at threaded section shoulder, then new 4 prong installed is not going to solve the problem.  Hence problem is the barrel bore is now bent at the barrel shoulder onwards.

So with new barrel, instead of playing the shim game for index on the  4 prong,
[img]https://www-wp.silencercentral.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Product-Slider-SC-BNSH-30G-1-min-scaled-1-1270x1080.jpg/img]
better to just face the back of the 4 prong to square it up/get it to index against the shoulder with min amount of torque and no shim needed (touch over hand tight), then rock-sett it in place.

Hence you can still bend the last Inch of bore if the suppressor does take a side strike (why best to run a longer forearm, so less of the supressor is protruding out), but at least you know that the threaded section of the barrel is not bent at the shoulder to start with.
Posted By PlaymoreMinds:

'Twas not the <cough> sweet and innocent <cough> PlaymoreMinds...

<---skips away in frilly skirts to Candyland, leaving gutters and snorkels FAR behind.
8/19/2026 5:23:22 PM EDT
[#13]
Quote History
Originally Posted By Dano523:
"This time they have assured me that they will remove and install a new SureFire 4 Prong muzzle device and then have the bore checked in detail".

Problem is, if the 4 prong too over torque to index it on the barrel to bend the bore at threaded section shoulder, then new 4 prong installed is not going to solve the problem.  Hence problem is the barrel bore is now bent at the barrel shoulder onwards.

So with new barrel, instead of playing the shim game for index on the  4 prong,
[url]https://www-wp.silencercentral.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Product-Slider-SC-BNSH-30G-1-min-scaled-1-1270x1080.jpg/img]
better to just face the back of the 4 prong to square it up/get it to index against the shoulder with min amount of torque and no shim needed (touch over hand tight), then rock-sett it in place.

Hence you can still bend the last Inch of bore if the suppressor does take a side strike (why best to run a longer forearm, so less of the supressor is protruding out), but at least you know that the threaded section of the barrel is not bent at the shoulder to start with.
View Quote


I'm operating under the hope that the barrel isn't wrecked and they can figure out exactly what you just said and do it right.

With all of the finger pointing they have done on how it checked out fine on the first RMA, and how I'm the first baffle strike they've ever had, and how they're gonna re torque a new surefire 4 prong on it, there is a good to fair chance they wont give me a new barrel and double down that everything is fine. At this point I'll need to figure out what to do with a $1,500 paperweight.
8/19/2026 11:05:42 PM EDT
[#14]
All up to you, but unless your shooting MK262 ammo, the barrel twist rate is too fast for 55gr ammo, and maybe for some 62 grain ammo as well to print tight groups.
Note, I put it right up there with Melonite bore barrels, then tend to foul on the quicker side to grow groups in prolong shot strings as well.

Chrome lined on a hammer forged barrel may be great for full auto fire rates, but it a negative when it comes to semi auto that is going to shoot tight.  I bring this up since FM did manage to perfect chrome lining for their  police bolt action SPR rifles barrels that would shoot sub MOA with match ammo (but  not as tight as the 40X's with 5r rifling), but as for other manufacturers, just causes too much variances when air gauge for a barrel that is going to try to shoot sub MOA with match ammo.

As for you get the rig back and it still has the same problem, them maybe time to get adco on the phone.  As stated, the threaded section can be removed, muzzle Od set back to re-thread the barrel shorter .620", and they can open up the gas port for it to work with the shorter length off the gas port for around a C note.  Or if the plan is to run 55gr ammo in the rig, then maybe would be better off with swapping to  1-9 twist barrel for a few hundred more.
Posted By PlaymoreMinds:

'Twas not the <cough> sweet and innocent <cough> PlaymoreMinds...

<---skips away in frilly skirts to Candyland, leaving gutters and snorkels FAR behind.
8/19/2026 11:19:39 PM EDT
[#15]
Quote History
Originally Posted By Dano523:
All up to you, but unless your shooting MK262 ammo, the barrel twist rate is too fast for 55gr ammo, and maybe for some 62 grain ammo as well to print tight groups.
Note, I put it right up there with Melonite bore barrels, then tend to foul on the quicker side to grow groups in prolong shot strings as well.

Chrome lined on a hammer forged barrel may be great for full auto fire rates, but it a negative when it comes to semi auto that is going to shoot tight.  I bring this up since FM did manage to perfect chrome lining for their  police bolt action SPR rifles barrels that would shoot sub MOA with match ammo (but  not as tight as the 40X's with 5r rifling), but as for other manufacturers, just causes too much variances when air gauge for a barrel that is going to try to shoot sub MOA with match ammo.

As for you get the rig back and it still has the same problem, them maybe time to get adco on the phone.  As stated, the threaded section can be removed, muzzle Od set back to re-thread the barrel shorter .620", and they can open up the gas port for it to work with the shorter length off the gas port for around a C note.  Or if the plan is to run 55gr ammo in the rig, then maybe would be better off with swapping to  1-9 twist barrel for a few hundred more.
View Quote


Understood. Im just still stuck on the part where Geissele claim that they saw no issue. Who knows, maybe on this RMA they will correct everything and send me back a fully working 11.5" URGI.

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