Ballistic Advantage Builder Series: Torque A Barrel Nut

I just installed my BA barrel according to this procedure. If it won’t shoot groups, I’ll be sure to let y’all know!

You can do it that way if you want to, but I torqued mine down the same way I did during the years I was a Small Arms Repairman (not just an armorer) in the army. Except now I actually have a torque wrench and don't have to guess at it. I bought a tube of Mil-Spec molybdenum disulfide grease to put on all the threads of the barrel and upper, plus a light coat around the barrel extension where it mates with the upper. If your rifle gets hot enough oil can burn right off, but moly will still be there. It's a metallic compound in the grease. It makes a difference if you ever want to change the barrel. I actually broke an upper and had to throw it away because someone didn't grease it properly when they put the barrel on. I used a cheater bar on the barrel wrench and put hundreds of pounds of torque on it, and it didn't do anything except bend the teeth on the barrel nut before the upper broke.

And I triple torqued my barrels too. The first time grinds into the anodizing on the upper and to a lesser degree the Parkerizing on the barrel nut. That starts to make them fit together right. When you torque it down the second time it usually goes farther, even though you applied the same amount of torque. That's why you shouldn't do it just once. The third time you torque it down you know it's good and will stay that way. You don't have to worry about the torque lessening if vibrations cause the anodizing to smooth out over time. Once it's torqued to the minimum, you need to tighten the nut as much as you need to to get the gas tube in, no matter what it takes. You should never have less than the minimum amount of torque. And the proper way to use the alignment tool is to put it in the bolt carrier key and slide the bolt carrier into the upper. If you have everything lined up right it will slide in and out when you tip the barrelled upper up and down.

But what do I know? Maybe your way is better. I only worked on military weapons 6 days a week for 4-5 years, inspecting and/or working on literally thousands of M16A1s, and got 100% on my SQT (Skill Qualification Test). I don't know anyone else who got 100% on their SQT, no matter what their job was. I was so good at it, people from other units wanted me to transfer over and work on their weapons.

Have you tried grinding off the the log of the next notch on the nut ?

Yikes. You see that upper twist & bend?? Invest in the right tools, use a spline lock https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/rifle-tools/barrel-tools/ar-15-m16-barrel-extension-torque-tools-prod27452.aspx

Simple and to the point!

I know a general rule of thumb when torquing a bolt down is not to lubricate it because it changes the actual torque value. You end up getting more actual torque than is perceived on the wrench. How is this application different?

What size is the crow foot ?

I'm only getting 0.406" groups with my best out of 5 lodgings 175gr smk varget 5 shot hand loads after seating the barrel four times, leaning on the wrench until it wouldn't move any more then smacking it with a 3lb rubber hammer and eventually just grinding the m5e1 barrel nut tooth to clear the gas block…. How can I get a RMA?

Hey Clint! Thanks you. THANK YOU!!! I wrote a post recently about people incorrectly using torque wrenches. It came to my attention that numerous people were giving instructions on how to torque a barrel nut online and they were doing it wrong. Aero Precision even gives erroneous examples in their literature. When I explained the correct method people wanted to argue with me. Someone said "But this 'person' from this 'large company' who has been a gunsmith forever showed this method on Youtube. Are you telling me that guy was wrong?" I am not going to say who or what company. But, yes, that other person was wrong. If someone reads this at Ballistic Advantage could you tell Clint thanks. Here is a link to the post I made on reddit about this very subject. A lot of people weren't aware of this. Gunsmith's online have been really setting these people up with bad habits. It makes me pretty happy I purchased a barrel from you guys recently. It was called the Hanson for some reason?

https://www.reddit.com/r/ar15/comments/9bxe8j/tip_on_using_torque_wrenches_that_you_need_to_know/

Good tips and great barrels. If you work with the tools its a lot easier to go over a bit because you have that understand of what you can get away with the average person gets a bit scared and I can understand why. Thanks

Has upper been lapped? Good job!

Great video! Just picked up a BA 20" Bull barrel for my M5E1 build. I put it on last night and can't wait to take it out to the range for some break in

Still pretty new to the AR platform. Four small frame and one large assembled since 2014. Appreciate when companies take the time to do vid's that help not only customers, help other peeps too like myself. Thanks BA!

one thing I have done is remove a little bit of the grease on the threads, usually it is just enough to get you that little bit to line up

About to kick off my first upper receiver build. I was always a little intimidated by installing a barrel but this series has really made feel confident about it. Thanks for posting these videos!

Dude, you run the risk of breaking a receiver lug if you torque that thing without proper support of the flat top. You can see the receiver flexing from those two lug points – no bueno.

What brand torque wrench is that?

If you were using the torque wrench straight out, would you be under or over torquing? Just curious….

Just picked up a Ballistic Advantage barrel this past week. Nice high quality barrel!

good tip regarding the right angle/90° offset of the torque device, thanks