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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - castle nut staking (Page 1 of 3)
Posted: 4/26/2020 6:16:44 AM EDT
| whats the best way to stake the castle nut on it and how much medal displaced do I need for it to be effective? |
| Never staked one on my builds and never had one come loose, YMMV. I've always thought of it as more of a preventive measure for the military as they cant afford that kind of failure on guns in the field. I'd just stake it so some material is riding over, it isn't a stress point so I cant imagine its going to come loose very easily. |
| Yeah if the military can’t afford failure a in the field I can’t afford failures with it when depending on it for mine and my family’s life God forbid something happens. I know staking isn’t necessary but I still would like to do it to keep the castle nut on no matter what. |
| Mine don't come lose regardless if they are staked or not. I have one of those automatic center punches that works pretty good depending on how hard the steel is. I also have a center punch that I strike with a small hammer. Both work. You only need a little bit of metal in the notch so it doesn't rotate under vibration or whatever. Hit it with Super Blue if you want it to look pretty. |
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Quoted: How would blue loctite prevent the buffer tube from moving? Blue loctite would just move the castle but with the buffer tube if it moved would it not? Staking and blue loctite both serve the same purpose, preventing the castle nut from unscrewing from the buffer tube. |
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Quoted: Torque and blue Loctite. Not coming loose. If you are set on staking, any center punch will work. Stake a burr in the slot/s to prevent the nut from spinning. I took apart a Colt that Albuquerque SWAT wanted parts updated/swapped. The receiver extension was staked and red loctited on  Had to go through all that work so they could have a sling attachment point on the receiver plate.
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Quoted: How would blue loctite prevent the buffer tube from moving? Blue loctite would just move the castle but with the buffer tube if it moved would it not? If castle nut is torqued properly, Loctite would work. It can only turn so much depending how the tight the groove for the end-plate is. I hate Loctite so I stake or just use grease and torque. |
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Quoted: I took apart a Colt that Albuquerque SWAT wanted parts updated/swapped. The receiver extension was staked and red loctited on Had to go through all that work so they could have a sling attachment point on the receiver plate.Quoted: Quoted: Torque and blue Loctite. Not coming loose. If you are set on staking, any center punch will work. Stake a burr in the slot/s to prevent the nut from spinning. I took apart a Colt that Albuquerque SWAT wanted parts updated/swapped. The receiver extension was staked and red loctited on Had to go through all that work so they could have a sling attachment point on the receiver plate.Damn. You worked your ass off on that task. |
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Quoted: Yeah if the military can’t afford failure a in the field I can’t afford failures with it when depending on it for mine and my family’s life God forbid something happens. I know staking isn’t necessary but I still would like to do it to keep the castle nut on no matter what. Thats fair, all depends on the purpose the rifle is going to serve. Mine have all been range toys or bench guns whereas I keep my USP45 for home defense, right next to my bed. |
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If you want to go in the deep end on fasteners and such: https://www.bookfinder.com/search/?author=&title=&lang=en&isbn=9780879384067&new_used=*&destination=us¤cy=USD&mode=basic&st=sr&ac=qr Any edition should be good -I have the later republication. A fastener fails on a racecar and you can be saying hello to a catch wall at 200+ mph ... they kinda have to know their stuff. If you want off the deep end on a castle nut and have the patience and time to do so, absolute overkill is safety wiring it. Hopefully useful for you :) |
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Quoted: How would blue loctite prevent the buffer tube from moving? Blue loctite would just move the castle but with the buffer tube if it moved would it not? This guy gets it. I have one pistol with an SBA3 I tried going the loctite method and the tube got loose in the receiver. I torqued it back up but I need to stake it. |
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Quoted: This guy gets it. I have one pistol with an SBA3 I tried going the loctite method and the tube got loose in the receiver. I torqued it back up but I need to stake it. Quoted: Quoted: How would blue loctite prevent the buffer tube from moving? Blue loctite would just move the castle but with the buffer tube if it moved would it not? This guy gets it. I have one pistol with an SBA3 I tried going the loctite method and the tube got loose in the receiver. I torqued it back up but I need to stake it. The tube, end plate, castle nut all work together. If the castle nut is properly torqued the buffer tube cannot move because the end plate(if it and the tube are made correctly) and the threads of the tube and receiver are 'locked' together by the castle nut applying tension as a lock nut. Loctite or staking are just a means of helping prevent the castle nut from loosening. |
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Quoted: This guy gets it. I have one pistol with an SBA3 I tried going the loctite method and the tube got loose in the receiver. I torqued it back up but I need to stake it. Did you prep the surfaces? Properly torque? Take apart a few RRA lowers and you will appreciate the powers of Loctite 242. |
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Quoted: This guy gets it. I have one pistol with an SBA3 I tried going the loctite method and the tube got loose in the receiver. I torqued it back up but I need to stake it. Quoted: Quoted: How would blue loctite prevent the buffer tube from moving? Blue loctite would just move the castle but with the buffer tube if it moved would it not? This guy gets it. I have one pistol with an SBA3 I tried going the loctite method and the tube got loose in the receiver. I torqued it back up but I need to stake it. Neither one of you get it. The lower receiver extension, is held in place / kept from rotating by the end plate. The tab on the end plate engages the groove on the extension. The end plate locks into the lower receiver. The castle nut holds the end plate in place. Making sure that the castle nut does not come loose, ensures none of the other parts move. If the castle nut does not move, the end plate can not move, and if it does not move, the extension can not rotate. Some extensions have a slot cut in them that goes over the buffer retaining pin. The pin indexes through the groove in the extension giving the extension something to hold on so it does not and can not rotate. |
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Quoted: Neither one of you get it. The lower receiver extension, is held in place / kept from rotating by the end plate. The tab on the end plate engages the groove on the extension. The end plate locks into the lower receiver. The castle nut holds the end plate in place. Making sure that the castle nut does not come loose, ensures none of the other parts move. If the castle nut does not move, the end plate can not move, and if it does not move, the extension can not rotate. Some extensions have a slot cut in them that goes over the buffer retaining pin. The pin indexes through the groove in the extension giving the extension something to hold on so it does not and can not rotate. Lancelot for the win... Seriously, if you want to stake it, grab a punch and stake it. If you want to loctite it, loctite it. Both will serve you well and ensure your castlenut doesn't come loose. I just lay mine on a wood bench, grab a flat head screw driver and a hammer. Two hits and I'm good to go. |
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All I know.. is back on 2004, a guy shooting next to me at a Pat Roger's carbine Class had his castle nut loosen and that allowed the plate to move, which prevented the charging handle from being pulled all the way back. Made me a believer and made me understand why the Military spec calls for it. I use a nail punch and it takes like 2 mins. cheap and easy piece of mind. |
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Quoted: Automatic center punch FTW. Can be as anal as you want about the size and shape of metal displacement but it doesn’t take much to be effective. This. I usually take a center punch and punch perpendicular to the end plate to put a hole to start with. Then I hold at about a 45 degree angle and just continue to center punch until it looks about right. Doesn't take much. I also reblue it with the Birchwood super blue so it looks professional. There's no reason not to stake, it's so damn easy and works way better than loctite. |
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I just assembled two lowers this last week... I used moly grease on the threads, torqued the castle nuts to the 38-42 foot pound torque spec and staked the end plates in two places as per mil-spec. The easiest and most fun part of the job was the staking... Just used a Starrett 5/32 center punch that's available at Brownells and the Geissele Reaction Block to support everything while doing the staking. I have some pretty good pictures of the staking and how I secure the lower in the vice to torque the castle nuts to spec (which also shows my RE alignment tool too), but I can't post the pictures... So if someone is willing to post the pictures I can send them in an email... Cough, cough @Tigwelder1971
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Quoted: I use this Pretty much the same thing I use. Hit it hard enough to displace some metal into the notch on the castle nut. |
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Quoted: All I know.. is back on 2004, a guy shooting next to me at a Pat Roger's carbine Class had his castle nut loosen and that allowed the plate to move, which prevented the charging handle from being pulled all the way back. Made me a believer and made me understand why the Military spec calls for it. I use a nail punch and it takes like 2 mins. cheap and easy piece of mind. The castle nut on my AR10 came loose a couple weeks ago. Not sure if I properly torqed it or it just vibrated loose. I will be staking all on my ARs. Used red loctite once and destroyed the threads on the reciever extension trying to remove it. Live and learn. |
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Go to home depot, get a spring-loaded center punch...and a couple taps later, you get the perfect castle nut staking. As quick and simple as it gets. As mentioned before, not a lot is needed. Attached File |
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Quoted: Torque and blue Loctite. Not coming loose. If you are set on staking, any center punch will work. Stake a burr in the slot/s to prevent the nut from spinning. Agree with this. Also, I like the PWS Ratchet Stuff. If you are going to stake the castle nut, the safest way that I have found is to use a sharp center punch first. Then if you feel it isn't staked enough, follow up with a regular center punch. Here is what I use when staking. Starrett Automatic Center Punch Also, I've got the best tool for the job when it comes to castle nuts. They should also be back in stock by the weekend.
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Quoted: If you use mil spec moly grease on the tube threads, will Blue Loctite fix properly to those greased threads? It’s supposed to be applied to a clean dry surface, is it not? Can't use grease and Loctite in the same place. Grease with proper torque forms some kind of hydraulic lock when used on threads. Maybe an engineer can explain. I've done it for years with scope ring threads and it works great. Castle nuts get staked. |
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I always use a center punch. Much more precise, instead of using a chisel point. Just punch inboard of the stake indention on the castle nut, on the buffer plate about 1/8". By doing this with a center punch, you will swag material into the stake indention and firm up the contact between the buffer plate and castle nut. Enjoy Also, I put lock-tite on the threads too. Use blue lock-tite. I have had castle nuts back off before (once). It is not a good feeling. You will feel like (Crap, what if that was a gunfight and it backed off). |
[ARCHIVED THREAD] - castle nut staking (Page 1 of 3)
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