I have an Olympic 11.5 inch barrel with a permantly attached 5.5 inch flashhider. I'd like to form 1 one of my guns, and it would be nice to use an existing upper I have. Is the flash hider silver sodered on, or is there a way to remove it? Or is it pretty much stuck the way it's on and it would be worth it to just get a new receiver?

you could just change the barrel or send it off to get removed if you cant figure out how it was attatched.

I could get a new barrel, but I'm trying to save money by using what I already have if possible. The barrel looks like it is possibly a removeable front end, but I'd like to confirm it before I hand it to someone with a torch to heat up the solder and save a lot of work. I'd rather not try and wrench something that wasn't designed to turn!

MAPP torch it yourself and see...

make sure do dont see any fresh spots on the flashhider closest to the barrel.


make sure there isnt any pins before you start heating things up and trying to twist it off cause if there is pins in place you will destroy the threads.

It's pinned. I had an oly 11.5 w/5.5 and you could see the welded over pin if you looked really close with oil on it and a bright light. Oly pins them as do most. There may be 2 pins. The best way to be sure is to take a grinder to the FH after taping up the barrel with duct tape (to protect against a slip up)
and look for the pins 360 all the way around. Once the parkerized finish is ground off it becomes easy to see the pins.

The FH will have to be sacrificed in any event the get it off with barrel threads intact.

If you try to twist it off without removing the pins you will just damage your barrel index pin and upper receiver index slot.

The Oly I had back in 1989 had 2 fat pins crossed  through the threaded area like similar to that as seen on the front sight base... just grind till you find them and they fall out, providing yours is done in similar fashion as mine was.

Take and grind away at the first 1/2-3/4" of the flash higer until it comes loose.  If you try to twist it, you'll screw up the end of the barrel.


Bushmaster takes a different approach,  does the job, they drill hole in muzzle device,, then into threaded area about 1 pin diameter, shove pin in  to lock it, weld over top... never did see the pins, just the 2 small holes in the thread area.