Pin & Weld and Finishing on AR-15

[DaFadda]

You would be correct Ron. The upper is not the firearm. The lower is, which is why you can buy uppers and have them delivered to your home. I didn't think about TIG welding, but I would think you are correct there too (as far as welding). That said, I BELIEVE (but certainly can be corrected) that there is a special hi temp silver solder that is approved to fill in the pin after it has been set. Doing it that way alleviates a whole bunch of sanding /smoothing. Hi strength glues are definitely NOT allowed.

Was I right in the rest of my estimations?

Da

[Daedalus]

Thanks, guys. I know my limitations when it comes to being a skilled gunsmith. In fact, my highest level of skill in that arena is to make a phone call and write a check Mr. S. Colt would be clawing his way out of the grave should he get word that I was attempting any sort of work on one of his namesake products. Nope, I am definitely not about to tackle this one on my own.

We have a couple of reportedly experienced 'smiths here in NJ that can do the job right, at least according to what I have read and heard. Neither are very close so I would need to ship the upper to them (I'm sure I can do that as it was mailed to me at home), ask them to do their magic and then return mail to me. Like anything else, it is comforting to know that the guy working on your (fill in the blank) is recommended or at least a member of a group like COTEP where trusted advice is offered. I figured that as long as I must ship it out I can ship it anywhere, not necessarily in NJ. It does not much matter to me so long as I end up with a quality job at a fair (not cheap) price. I did consider a return to Colt but backed off for two reasons: the lead time and my preference for a linear compensator ( a non-Colt piece they may not want to deal with).

I'll be calling one of the in-state 'smiths today to see what I can arrange.

Thanks again for the meaningful responses.

Jack

[Roverron]

You are correct, Padre. I used a local welder that does TIG welding, it cost me a 12 pack, and took him about 30 min. total. Much cheaper than taking to a GS who'll charge about 45-50 bucks for the same thing. If I had found this, a Battle Comp 2.0

which is a muzzle brake/compensator, and I think looks cool I'd have had it welded on instead. http://battlecomp.com
If you've already got a 16" then you could get the 1.0 and be just fine as a screw-on device. However, with the 14.5 I needed the 2.0 to make it in the caliber I needed (6.8 SPC).

[Daedalus]

Following your expert advice - I contacted a local 'smith who will do all the metal bending and then Cerakote the barrel for me.

Glad you all talked me down from the ledge!

[Roverron]

Oh I'm not an expert but we do have lots of those on the forum. Glad it worked out for you. I had a great instructor, my older bro.