How is the gas tube removed from the gas block

[M1ASupermatch]

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am in the process of installing a free-float hand guard and am having trouble removing the gas tube retaining (roll) pin from the original gas block for installation into the new low-profile glas block. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help.

 

[ole-cowboy]

If I remember, I ground the tip off of a finishing nail and held it with a small pair of vise grips and knocked the pin out that way. I didn't have a small enough punch.

 

[427mach1]

They make a punch just for this purpose; it has a small dimple on the end to keep it centered in the pin and prevent it from walking off and marring the barrel. They also make an installation punch that surrounds the pin in order to hold it straight while getting it started in the hole. I would recommend purchasing both of these tools, the gas block pin punch (if you are going to use a pinned block), an armorers wrench, and a set of vise blocks.

 

[millisec]

Should be (if standard) a 1/16 roll pin punch. That's pretty small so buy a decent one. The gas tube pin can be tough in and out and the cheap punches will bend. A roll pin starter punch is nice to have, especially with small pins, but you can do w/o. Might want to have at least an extra pin because they can bend to especially if reusing an old one.

 

[M1ASupermatch]

Thanks for all the suggestions...I shall persevere on this AFTER dinner and the family has all gone back to their respective homes, or wherever they came from to drink my alcohol.

 

[ASH556]

Lots of little light taps is how you femove a roll pin without bending or breaking anything. The correct size is 5/64". Maybe a couple drops of a good penetrating oil to loosen the carbon if you've already shot it a bit. As the others have mentioned, they make punches with nipples for driving roll pins but they are for installation. Flat punches should be used to remove roll pins. As an armorer, I use Starrett brand punches and have never bent one.

 

[ole-cowboy]

tools... tools ... tools... and yet more special tools...

this isn't rocket science unless you are an armor, tasks like this are a one timer... just think it through and fab what you need...


... nevermind.. my bad your money not mine


happy thanksgiving one and all

 

[M1ASupermatch]

I was finally able to get the gas tube out, but for some reason S&W used a crapload lok-tite blue when they assembled the roll-pin through the gas tube and gas block.

 

[Woodman90]

Glad you got it out. Mine was the same. I ended up using a 5/64th bit to partially drill then eventually push the roll pin out. Lucky for me the tube didnt get damaged as it is a proprietary S&W part.

 

[unknwn]

The gas tube retaining pin is quite a bit smaller than the hole on either side if the gas block. First time I've ever come across this.
About an 1/8" or so deeper than the outside surface of the gas block is where you are going to find the level of where the pin is.

 

[Geronimo Jim]

W-D 40 will defeat loctite!!!!

 

[apiccola]

I broke a Craftsman pin punch trying to beat that little booger pin out.

If you have room in your freezer, stick the problem metal parts in the freezer for 30 minutes before working on them. Sometimes this helps by contracting the metal molecules. This works very well on aluminum ... certain grades of aluminum have almost 3x the expansion coefficient of certain grades of steel.