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Posted: 3/22/2009 1:45:56 PM EDT
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This is more of a rant. I need to vent. I'll contact Clark Custom Monday AM and see if they have a solution.
Two years ago I bought a Clark Custom carbon fiber FF tube for my 20" AR. It's very light, looks good and performed well. Until a couple months ago. The groups went to shit. The stud for the bipod kept moving ever so slightly. I couldn't figure out why and the groups got bigger. This morning I figured our why. The tube is moving. The barrel nut is firm on the receiver. At first I thought the whole assembly was loose. Further examination revealed that the tube is loose. The nut is still firmly attached to the receiver. If you buy the tube from Clark, the aluminum barrel nut and the tube are separate. The user must glue them together. I was going to use my old standby Acraglas. But I bought the tube from Brownells. The tube was already glued to the barrel nut. Evidently, the glue that was used wasn't up to the task after a couple of years. I can move the tube with a lot of force but I can't move it in such a way to separate from the barrel nut. This cost me two strap wrenches to find this out. I'm calling Clark Custom Monday morning to see if they have had this problem in the past. If they can remove the tube and save the parts, i'd pay for that service if the price was right. I'd hate to have to get all Primitive Pete on the tube and cut it off and then use channel locks on the barrel nut. And I have an e-mail into Hiperform. Their design eliminates the problem inherent in the Clark design. To make matters worse, I gave away my old 20" GI rifle handguards in a ARFCOM "pay it forward". If I had to cut off the tube, I could have put all the GI parts back on it and still had a shooter. Now it's a bunch of useless parts. Piss and moan.....Piss and moan....At least I have a second AR. ZM I had a late night revelation. I wrapped the end of the tube and the barrel nut in an old inner tube, then put the tube it in my aluminum barrel jaws tightened until snug in my vise then turned the receiver and VIOLA, the nut turned and I removed the barrel. This may become the removal method of choice in the future. Then I used a big piece of doweling to punch the nut out of the carbon fiber tube. I'm going to mix up a batch of black Acraglas and put the whole setup back together after the barrel gets back from a cut and crown. This time, after the glue hardens, it will stay adhered to the barrel nut. |
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