Love my PA-10. Looking at the next round of upgrades and have my eye on a Faxon Gunner 18.
My question is, has anyone swapped a barrel? If so, any recommendations, tips, etc.?
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I have a Ballistic Advantage in mine. Just make sure you have the right gas block and gas tube length if they arnt the same. That also may require a different buffer too if you go making lots of changes.
Edit: make sure you have the correct tools for the barrel nut and muzzle device also.
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i my opinion you’re better off swapping out uppers than barrels, if you build the second upper you can just quick change depending when you’re wanting to shoot the other caliber / barrel.
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Well, the barrel and other parts are in. Time to assemble…
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Pretty easy to do with the right tools and parts. Vise block, barrel nut wrench, a torque wrench, and some aeroshell 33ms for the threads are the most obvious to me that weren’t already mentioned. I have an 18" Faxon Gunner mid length on one of my ARs with a VG6 Epsilon brake and it’s a nice shooter. Good luck!
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Working the gas black right now. The first screw popped free easily. The second one bent my allen wrench. lol
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Heat it up. Probably has some loctight on it.
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Wow! What a difference it makes. The PA-10 is balanced, maybe a little rear weighted.
The gunsmith was impressed with the PA-10 / Faxon combo.
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Doing final checks before heading to the range.
I can’t find anything on how the handguard screws should be verified. It looks okay visually, but want to make sure it is right. Anyone know the process for the five screws? I know that the main 3 are for attachment to the barrel nut, but what ft/in-lbs should they be?
I know that the second screw from the front is the locator screw.
The fourth screw seems to spread the clamp back out and I have no idea what to do with that one.
Pics would help. Also, i have in the past used a small paint pen or whiteout to mark alignment once i have them tightened. A range session will let you know if they are not tight enough.
Pics are here…
So, the second and fourth screws are my concern. need to make sure they are the right direction and that all screws are at the right tightening spec. The third pic is vertical with the front of barrel at the top. The second screw engages the barrel nut groove. The fourth screw seems to be a lock screw of some sort.
The 4th screw that seems to “spread it back out” should be the torque stop screw. They all look correct. This is what I would do:
Back ALL screws out.
Set the screw that interfaces with the barrel nut to make sure the rail is aligned.
Tighten down the other screws except the one that spreads it out. Hand torque is usually 25-25 in/lbs. I always hand tighten screws and personally do not use a torque wrench in case I need to get the rail off when I don’t have one handy.
Lastly tighten the torque stop screw, and this screw you shouldn’t have to move again. This way if you take the rail off you will have it torqued correctly when you put it back on and that as a measurement.
I personally (for the first range trip at least) mark the screw positions on the rail with white out or a paint pen and recheck following the range session to make sure they didn’t move under recoil or handling.
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