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Posted: 8/12/2008 7:19:25 PM EDT
| Can you thread a barrel for an A2 flash hider with hand tools? I have a Bushmaster A2 20" in postban config. It is stepped down for a flash hider but it isnt threaded. |
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If the diameter is right, you can use a Thread alignment tool with a die to cut the threads. I have a bushmaster carbon15 dedicated 22lr that I wanted to thread. It's diameter was .560 or 1/16 over 1/2 inch. I opened the die up a little and started cutting. After I got the depth I wanted, I started tightening the die until my flash hider fit snug, but not too snug. A little cold blue to touch up the end and worked fine. You can get the die and TAT from brownells, or a kit from precise innovations (but they are little more expensive) |
By the time you buy the tools and pay the $10 shipping, you're within $10-15 of what it'll cost you to have it done on a lathe, by a properly equipped shop. To me, it's not worth the risk of screwing up, to save $10. 
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Or if you like to DIY and have 3 barrels you want to thread like I did, plus later on a 10/22 barrel. then you save quite a bit of cash. I must have been really lucky, as I didn't screw up any barrel and they all turned out fine. Really, I don't know why everybody jumps on here and says its so hard to thread a barrel with a TAT and die and they just have to use a lathe. |
For three barrels I agree, but the original poster only has one. 
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Why? Easy; threading it on a lathe is the right way to do it, while doing it with a die is a half-assed method. It's really that simple. |
Could you elaborate on how it is a half-assed method? Have you done it? So far, myself and several others have used a TAT and die with great success and can see no difference between a lathe cut barrel and a die cut using both muzzle devices and supressors. |
The TAT and a die may be fine with a flash suppressor that has a large opening and plenty of clearance but I wouldn't trust it with a brake (never with a suppressor) since the exit hole is usually about .030 larger than the bullet. Any misalignment means a bullet strike. |
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