After installing a leaky aftermarket gas block, i decided to cut down my A2 sight base and reinstall it. Will a hack saw work for this, or is the metal too hard? And what kind of paint will adhere best to cover up the new metal? Thanks!!!!!!!!

The metal is not the hard.  Just chuck it up and use an end mill to mill the tower off, then re-Parkerizing the block to get it back to color.

Also, on the old gas block, you can use Blue loctite to seal off the leak, but keep in mind that all the blocks will leak a little.  

If you are thinking that the leak is causing short stroking, you may want to look the rifle over once more, because the block would need to have a major leak before it cause the rifle to short stroke.  Often the block leak is caused by misalignment of the ports, and since the gas has to go somewhere, the 50,000-psi will blow out the ends.

I cut mine off with a Dremel tool then rounded it over with a file. Then I use 400 grit sand paper to smooth it out. Clean it and re-blue'ed.
Looks great.

What kind of bit did you use for your dremel? Do they make a little saw blade?

My brand new gun won't cycle at all. It would jack the carrier back about 1/4 of the way, so it is not ejecting the shells. I looked it over as have others and all we can figure is the gas block is leaking. I took off the brand new A2 sight base and installed an M&A picatinny gas block. I even dicked with it but the F'n gun still would not cycle. So i want to put the A2 sight back on and try it. I figure if the gun won't cycle then, there is something else wrong.

dogcatcher223,

I'm in Aurora if you want me to take a look at the rifle over the week end.

Chances are that the gas block is fine, just that the rifle needs to checked out.

IM me if you want to get together.

Hopefully you did not do like I did the first time. I installed the gas tube up side down. the bolt didn't move at all.
As for the Dremmel I use the re-enforced cut-off wheels.
Then one of the stones to round it over.
I'll E-mail you a pic of it if you IM me your address.

I have done 5 or 6 of these in the past.  Easy to do.  Just use a hacksaw for the initial rough cut then grinder, beltsander, and files until you get the final size and shape you want.  Finish smoothing the gasblock with wet-or-dry paper or a Dremel polishing point.  Use cold blueing or satin finish paint.  I even had one bright nickel plated at the local chrome shop to go on a polished stainless barreled gun.  It looked pretty nice in contrast with the polished barrel.

How do you reparkerize and where do you find the stuff to do it?