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Posted: 5/1/2004 9:11:27 AM EDT
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I want to free-float the barrel on my Bushy A3. It currently has the standard forend and gas block. Hogue describes their free-float forend as a "two-piece." I assume that means that it is split lengthwise so you don't have to remove the gas block, correct? So how does it attach to the upper? Do I have to remove the barrel and replace that nut thingy? I found instructions here for how to do that and I think I can handle it if that is what is required. I have been thinking about chopping the front site and getting one of those flip-ups that Bushy makes for the V-match. Anybody tried that? I think the V-match gas block is basically a chopped version of the normal gas block, correct? Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer. |
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You'll also have to contend with the muzzle device if you have one...that *could* be a PIA on a post ban gun....it's got to come off to the the barrel nut and the tube over the barrel. In a two piece tube, the barrel nut is separate, and screws onto the reciever, locking the barrel in place. You then tighten the tube down onto the barrel nut...it the case of the Hogue, you'd usually use a strap wrench to tighten it down. There are one piece units, which have the tube epoxied to the barrel nut. There's also the 3 piece kinds, that use a jam nut in addition to the barrel nut. The Hogue tube appears a little flimsy to me...the metal isn't as thick as some other tubes I've seen. I've just taken one off to replace it with the Clarks carbon fiber tube, fwiw. The potential difficulty in doing this yourself is the muzzle brake, if you have one, and the Bushy taper pins are reported to be a bitch too...I'm having an issue with a couple of OLY barrels that have the longer taper pins. And, if your unlucky enough to have an upper that has 100ft lbs of torque on the barrel nut, that could be a PIA as well. Other than these things, there's nothing to it.  My Model 1 kits were easy as pie...no muzzle brake, and they use nice steel straight pins to hold the FSB on...they knocked out with no fuss at all. Barrel nut broke loose easily as well...whole operation didnt' take more than 10 minutes. You might need a specific wrench to tighten the barrel nut...usually the 3 pronged ones work best on float tube barrel nuts. I got lucky; my DPMS wrench worked, with some ky jelly to get the 2 prongs seated in the holes on the barrel nut. someone here was having trouble with an Armalite tube...wrench didn't work. I called Armalite, as I was looking at that tube myself, and they said you HAD to have a 3 prong wrench. |
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