OK... I'm not too much of an AR newb, having been here for a while now (and 12 years in the Corps), but one thing that puzzles me is the method by which Bushmaster has "permanently" attached the Mini Comp-Y onto my M4gery's barrel.

I see the slots on the side of the compensator where a wrench fits, and I see a spacer, and even a tiny bit of the top of the threading, but I don't see where it was pinned into place.  Was it soldered, perhaps?  Has anyone attempted to remove these with any success?  Is there any method available?  If so, are there any special tools outside what the average "Tooltime" fan would have in their garage and toolboxes?

I've planned on sending my uppers out (one Bushmaster, the other a J&T 20") to have them "repaired" to have an A2 flash hider put on the 20" and a Phantom on the 16", but as I was looking at the Bushy, I started wondering if this might be something I could do myself.  I don't have a problem sending 'em out.  The J&T will more than likely HAVE to be sent out, but if the Bushy doesn't have to, that's some money I get to keep in my pocket.  :)

I don't have a machine shop, but I am mechanically inclined and I have lots of tools (thanks to my generous wife).

Before you jump down my throat, I've searched for the answers to this, and haven't found anything that  either specifically answers what I am looking for.  I've tried... perhaps I'm not a searching pro like some of you here, but I *did* try.

Thanks in advance, everyone.  I am thankful that we have a forum like this where we can help each other out.

I know one way to remove the Mini-Y and that is to shoot your Bushmaster...eventually it will launch itself down range!

yrac shot his off at Blackwater during a mag dump relay drill.  We never did find it but it tore the end of his barrel up pretty bad.  IIRC Bushmaster replaced the barrel for him at no charge.

So, run 35 yards and then dump 5-6 mags as fas as you can from 10 yards and somewhere around the 3rd mag the Mini-Y will work it's way loose and you'll end up with a new barrel

As usual I have nothing valuable to add to this thread so I thought I would provide a little humor

lol!

Well, I *could* try that... hehe... it'd be a lot more fun than doing it with wrenches... hehe

Bushmaster put one pin in the top and one in the bottom, IIRC about 1/4" away from the rear of the brake. If you look closely, you should be able to see some discoloration in the finish where they welded over the pins. It was a PITA to remove, but the best way I found was to use a dremel with a thin (1/8"?) grinding wheel perpendicular to the brake. Just grind down and the pins should fall out when you get close to the threads. One of the pins on mine was stubborn so I put some gun oil on it and twisted the brake back and forth slightly to loosen it.

Awesome info!

Is the threading below standard?  If so, I can get started on this an another 24 days or so... ;)

Yeah jsut a standard threaded barrel

Bushmaster 5.5" removal:

Die grinders are a blast.