[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Gas block alignment.

Posted: 12/6/2012 2:26:26 PM EDT

How important is this? I've built 2 rifles and never heard the term before, both work fine.

Posted: 12/6/2012 2:34:29 PM EDT

[#1]

Quoted:
How important is this? I've built 2 rifles and never heard the term before, both work fine.

It is vital. That said, it is not difficult to get right.

Posted: 12/6/2012 2:35:35 PM EDT

[#2]

I just eyeballed it and it works fine.

Posted: 12/6/2012 2:38:38 PM EDT

[#3]

Pretty important if you're at all interested in having your rifle cycle and function correctly.

Most barrels with fixed front sight bases (FSBs), which are also gas blocks, are aligned and pinned from the factory, alleviating the private assembler from having to mess with gas block alignment.

If you've built two rifles and never knew about it, you most likely either bought barrels with gas blocks already installed, or have gotten lucky and gotten away with it.

Granted - it's not terribly difficult, and most aftermarket gas blocks have large enough holes to leave a pretty decent margin of error for the casual assembler, and slight misalignment would probably not be noticed by low volume shooters.

~Augee

Posted: 12/6/2012 2:45:29 PM EDT

[#4]

So how do I tell if the alignment is off?

Posted: 12/6/2012 3:06:51 PM EDT

[#5]

If you have a front sight on it it will be hard to zero, if it is much out of line you will have a single shot rifle!

Posted: 12/6/2012 3:15:44 PM EDT

[#6]

If the gas holes aren't aligned, it will short stroke.

Posted: 12/9/2012 11:35:10 AM EDT

[#7]

its pretty important for proper function but also pretty easy to do with a little planning/effort

Posted: 12/9/2012 9:12:14 PM EDT

[#8]

12 o’clock on the gas block must be at 12 o’clock on the barrel.
Most GBs, not all, are designed to fit against a handguard cap.
If you do not have a handguard cap you will need to space the BG forward an appropriate amount.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Gas block alignment.

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Gas block alignment.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Gas block alignment.