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Tarded.    Standard nuts are steel as well as most railed FF tubes. I know DD had an aluminum nut but I think they use steel now as well. There may be some aluminum nuts out there but I'm not aware of any. |
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i used uncle mikes gun tite on a barrel nut i installed a year ago (before i knew better) anyway, a week ago i had to take it off and put the delta ring assembly back on... guess what, it came off pretty easy, so when i put it back on i used gun tite again...uncle mikes gun tite has always done me right, it keeps things in place and keeps them from backing out because of ratteling or recoil AND its easy to get them unscrewed with regular tools, i have never stripped anything yet... im about to put together a vltor monolithic upper and have not yet decided to use or not to use the guntight... when i spoke to vltor on the phone they said use good lube...i asked if lubriplate would be good they said yes... I brough up uncle mikes gun tight and he said he is not firmilure with it but he said not to use thread locker if i ever wanted to be able to switch barrels...but again, gun tight is not like normal thread locker it comes off pretty easily... im just woried about the barrel nut coming loose over time, especually since there is nothing (like the gas tube) going through it to keep it from comming loose...i think i will instal exactly as vltor said though, after all its their product so they know whats best...i think after the barrel is installed ill put a small make on the barrel nut and the barrel lined up and check after a few hundred rounds to see if it loosened at all... vltor told me though they have not seen it happen as long as you use 40 lbs of torch putting it on (amount required for there special nuts)... he actually told me he like to go to 30, then loosen, do that 3 times, then go to 40-45lbs and stop... anyway, my point was i used mikes guntite and did not see any adverse effects... |
 I wish I had a magnet to test mine. I'm 99% sure it's aluminum. My 1% tardness has been shining brightly today though.
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If you torqued to a MINIMUM of 30 ft-lb... heck, I'll say 25 ft-lb would be enough, the nut is not coming off by itself. Not only that, there is the gas tube that would block it from rotating. I have seen barrels put on too loose to begin with, and the nut had to be tightened later on because the barrel wobbled. But the nut will not come off. |
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Like other posters have said, if the barrel is torqued properly it should never come loose. Definitely use a good lube on it though, so you can remove it later if needed. I have surfed this board for a long time, and I have read countless threads by people who are ripping their hair out because their rifle was assembled with thread locking compound and is not virtually impossible to disassemble! About the only place I would use it is on the bolt carrier key, in conjuction with proper staking. other than that, torque it to spec and stake if necessary. If you must use thread locker (such as perhaps on a buffer tube), find a type that allows disassembly later without undue hassle. But don't use thread locker on your barrel nut... |
Ugh, once again this idea pops up again! Show me the reg, TO, TM, armours course material, or any other manufacturers instruction that tells you to use any form of thread locking compound on the barrel nut. I want to see this! Bottom line is no, you do NOT use a thread locking compound but you use a lube sch as Moly-B, anti-sieze or similar lubricant that will prevent the barrel nut seizing onto the upper receiver like a spark plug in an alunimum head. If you are torquing down your barrel to spec (30-80 ft./lbs.) it's not just going to spin off by itself and even if it could, it would be stopped by the gas tube anyways.
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I think the AR assembly book that Fulton Armory sells says they use loctite. Hey, you asked
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That figures. There is usually once source of BS out there that goes against every other bit of conventional wisdom with the idea of being labled as "revolutionary and ground-breaking".... and generally wrong. 
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No, use ordinary moly grease... wheel bearing grease. Do not use antiseize compounds that contain metal particles, such as "Neverseize", "Coppercoat", etc. The idea is that the threads be lubricated with an antiseize GREASE so that the nut can be torqued up smoothly and evenly, and be able to advance to the next notch for gas tub alignment without galling the threads. Everything else is way down the list of requirements. OK, you would not put Neverseize in your crankcase or wheelbearings. You would not put Dextron in your U-joints. There are different requirements, or reasons for using a particular lubricant in a particular application. What I'm telling you is Neverseize is not the lube to use for this. It is gritty and will not allow you to smoothly advance the barrel nut without forcing when the needed torque to get alignment starts climbing. It causes the nut/wrench to chatter, instead of moving smoothly and evenly. If you read the TM, they specify a moly or antiseize GREASE. There is a difference between an antiseize grease and an antiseize compound (Neverseize, etc). |
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