After receiving an RRA BCG in the mail recently that wasn't properly staked I decided to go ahead and get one of the MOACKS II (Mother of All Carrier Key Stakers) from M-Guns.com. I know this can be done with a hammer and chisel but I thought I would pick one up to see the job it does for myself.

After sending the payment online I emailed them the next day to make sure they had received it and to ask when it would most likely ship out. I received an email the same evening saying it had shipped out that day and I would receive it in a few days. The email was very friendly and professional.

After receiving it I read through the instructions and it seemed easy enough so I thought I would give it a try.

Tool in its "stowed" configuration and Allen wrenches. Different functions are- stakes carrier key, counter-staking the screws, carrier bore scraper, gas tube clamp and bolt tail scraper.

RRA BCG before staking carrier key, metal displacement barely touches screws

First time trying on the front screws, huge difference. It's very simple, the BCG slides in the tool and you line up the screw in the tool by inserting a Allen wrench through the top hole and lock it into place.
Then start tightening the side screws until the screw bottoms out, the screws are cut to length so you can't go to far into the Key.

Completed staking of carrier key, sides of carrier key may need to be filed slightly


The MOACKS II Tool does a great job, maybe some of these manufacturers need to get a couple and try them out. I would recommend this to someone who does a lot of staking jobs or anyone who has the extra money to burn and wants a great tool to have in your gun box. Thanks guys for reading this and thanks Ned for such a great tool.

Ned does a great job. He's also a member of the American Pistolsmith's Guild and makes some fancy 1911's. He use to shoot highpower at my local club and went to Camp Perry National Championships with us one year. Stand up guy who knows his machining.

Not to hijack, but I have an RRA coming and I've just now starting hearing/reading about the staking the BCG.  Can someone give a quick summary of what this is and why it needs to be done?

Am sure it's a super great tool. But unless someone was staking thousands of AR bolt carrier key Allen head bolts it's really unneeded as a few good hard wacks with  a sharp tool will get the job done for the average putter together builder.

I prefer the Pocket Moaks for price and ability to counter stake.  It is also cheaper and fits nicely in my AR tool/parts bins.  The only issue that I have had is a little over staking, but everyone says you can't really over stake.

Overkill in tools is good.  In rifles.  In fly reels.  In staking tools.  I like it.  Thanks for posting the pics.

I have the original MOACKS. Love it!

The carrier carbon scraper is also the best I've tried so far; I've had large flakes of carbon fall out after scraping the back of the carrier where the bolt tail goes.

'Staking' is a process where fore is used to deform a metal part - in other words, metal from one part is pushed out of its original shape, so that it pushes against another part.

AR parts that can be staked include the carrier key and the castle nut on a carbine buffer tube.

For the carrier key, staking is the only way to ensure that the screws will never come loose. Simply, you push metal from the key onto the screw heads, making a mechanical lock that won't be broken by normal shooting, but can still be broken with a wrench if needed.

If the carrier key is not staked, the screws (which are put under lots of heat and pressure) can work loose, causing gas leaks that will stop your AR from cycling.

Great info.  Thanks for the concise reply.

That original stake job would have worked just fine. It had displaced enough material to not allow the bolts to loosen. Some people think you have to get material over the bolt head, which is not the case..

However, better safe than sorry. Very nice pics. and write up.

Nice write up.  That thing looks like it does a great job, I just balk at the price.  For a guy with only a few ARs, there isn't much point in it.

However, if I were going to be doing armorer work on ARs, I wouldn't hesitate to pick one up.

Yeah the tool is a little on the expensive side but I had the extra money so I thought what the heck. I'm not disappointed at all with the purchase and I'm sure it will last me the rest of my life. With all the extra features it has, it was worth it. I'm sure a few people will come a long that needs a staking job and I won't hesitate to help them out. Thanks guys for reading my thread.

I just don't understand why the Mfg. have not made the change to the space age threading systems that lock tight without the deforming process of staking.  This space age system has been around for over 20 years it's not something brand new.

Excellent tool!  Hammer and chisel work great until you snap a screw head off...  

They're doing us a favor by not doing that.  What are we going to do if we can't sit around and gripe about gas key staking?  Parkerizing under the FSB doesn't seem like a subject that will give us as much time wasting glee.

But we always have MPI testing....

Seriously though, I used to work in a machine shop (5 yrs.) buiding tooling. All we did or needed to do was make a couple divits near the bolt with a center punch. They withstood
several thousand strokes every day with 10's of thousands pounds of pressure put on them.

It doesn't take a whole lot to achive a "locking" stake.

Actually it was a poor attempt at a staking job and from the looks of that piss poor job I'm sure it would have shot loose. I have seen other BCG staked a little more than that come loose. I know this from the couple of hundred or so that I have staked that were loose.

YMMV.....

You have bumped your head...

No actually I have not.....

Maybe you should then........Just to be a sport, I will take my 100% new RRA BCG that has lighter staking than that and run it throough the grinder..I will get pics up shortly, and then post after a few thousand.. Are you willing to bet money?

Why because a full time gun plumber disagrees with you.

Has nothing to do with disagreeing, only experience...I do not take the word of a self professed "gun plumber" worth a toss.

+1 for Pocket Moaks tool. If you use 1 turn instead of the 1&1/4 turn you will displace more than enough metal to secure the gas key. If all you are looking to do is stake your gas key, the Pocket Moacks tool does a great job at a much lower cost.



It's $85.00 shipped and worth every penny.

Hammer that I have = $0
Punch that I have = $0


Perfect stake job = $0

I know which I prefer.

Please post a pic of your perfection so we can compare.

Not self professed gun plumber. Actually I'm a full time armorer/chief firearms instructor for a very large LE agency which has patrol rifles. The gas key bolts on those rifles were poorly staked from the factory, some very similiar to the OP's picture. Most of them came loose during training, so there comes my experience.  So I have seen what it takes to keep these bolts from moving on a gas key not on a piece of machinery in a shop.

Quib has posted it in this thread already. See 2 posts above....

Good enough for you?

No, I was wrong...You posted it in another thread tonight. Only once here.......

I'm givin her all she's got captain......Oh crap, we hit the ground.......DO NOT GIVE ME THE CONTROLS..........

I got the pocket MOACKS and let me just say how simple it was to steak my 2 bolt keys..... this is sweet. worth the $85 and took all of 5 mins to do