Sorry 'bout all the acronyms...

I'm getting ready to install a FF RAS.  From reading these forums, I gather that the installation may be more involved than it appears (it looks to be quite straight forward).  I was hoping that someone could share their insight and perhaps say specifically what one should look out for when installing.  Thanks for your time, and have a nice day.

Stych

It all sounded confusing to me but it is EXTREMELY EASY (I finally installed one last week.)
All you do is...
1. install barrel
2. (I do anyway) dope threads with anti-sieze that will not react between aluminum and steel
3. throw hadguard tightening ring over the barrel, followed by barrel nut.
4.3x torque the nut and line up a gas tube hole
5. install gas tube (if using KAC low profile block)- if not ignore.
6. put alignment pins in the holes in the barrel nut at 3 and 9 oclock.
7. slide RAS onto barrel nut alligned and tighten handguard nut.
8. If you don't have a KAC Low profile block now you would be installing your front sight with its gas tube attached.

[b]That is all easilly done in 5 minutes (assuming the front sight post is allready removed.)[/b]

A buddy and I just installed mine last night.  The procedure was essentially the same as Green0's.  We learned the hard way that a receiver block is much more effective than a barrel block.  We had a barrel block and ended up having to fashion a receiver block out of wood.  The two hardest parts (probably due to the fact that we had the wrong blocks) were breaking the barrel loose and torqueing the barrel back down.

If you are starting with a new match barrel with no front sight, it is quite simple.  If you are doing it to a used standard barrel, the front sight removal will be the hardest part.  Those pins are tight, and a bunch of heating and cooling cycles only make them tighter.  That said, it just takes brute force and a lot of swearing.  I did my FF MRE in about an hour, including removing and replacing the FS on a Colt M4 barrel.

If you don't have a receiver vise block, buy or borrow one as it makes the whole barelling job so much easier.

i just put one on a build i did yesterday and it is very easy once the sight is off.

If you are stuck with only the barrel vise option, one thing I found to help is to use medium grit sandpaper wrapped around the barrel smooth side around the barrel. the grit helps lock onto the vise a bit better. lock it down tight though. have had some paper stick afterward and had to brush it a bit to get it off but worked better than having to scrub the transferred aluminum that I have also had.

Ruff

can someone post pics of the various "blocks"?

thx

Here's a couple of options...

[url]http://bushmaster.com/shopping/gunsmith/om-003.asp[/url]

[url]http://bushmaster.com/shopping/gunsmith/amer-001.asp[/url]

Thanks for all the info.

I've got the barrel all naked now, no real issues with that.  In the meantime, while waiting for parts, I'm setting the barrel up for a Wilson comp.  Is there any such thing as a 2-piece gas block/FSB to make future tweaking simpler?  Thanks again.

Stych