AR Sponsor
Posted: 11/7/2004 9:30:19 PM EDT
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Hi all, I've got one of those incredibly loud Mini-Y comps on my Bushy post ban. Now that I can get rid of it, I'm going to. Would it be a waste to buy a whole new upper? Should I buy just a new barrel and trust a gunsmith to guage and headspace it properly? I'm fairly new to the whole AR-15 thing so I don't know how difficult it is for the smith to install a barrel. What risks would I be taking by letting a gunsmith do it? Thanks for your help. |
| He had mentioned that option. I have the 14.5" barrel so I will have to have the new suppresor permanently attached correct? Will he have to do any welding? Part of the reason I am tempted to swap barrels is so that I can get the 16" and I won't need to have anything permanently attached. |
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Correct. Then all you need is a barrel wrench, a vise and an action block. A torque wrench is a big help, but not a must. Then you can do the barrel yourself. It's really very simple. Not worth having a smith do it unless you can't afford the tools. And the smith may charge just as much or more than the tools cost. |
Gauging and headspacing are inter-related. Headspacing, as defined on Head's Bunker is:
Many military rifles require you to go through a very detailed process to properly set the headspace after a barrel change, with much gauging involved. This is not the case with the AR15; the headspace is set by the barrelmaker. This means any one of us can change the barrel on our AR and, assuming our bolt is in reasonably good shape, we'll have perfectly fine headspace. |
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