Educate me on flash supressor installation...

[Tederrific]

Noticed that my Colt came from the factory with its A2 supressor crooked. :sigh: I really, really do not wish to send it back just to have it straightened. Can I just simply put it in a vise and tighten just another 1/16 of a turn to get it straight? Should I loosen and retighten? What part needs to be gripped by the vise (upper/barrel/front sight)? Obviously don't want to frig it up. Thanks in advance...

[RWBlue]

If it bothers you, I would suggest sending it send it back. No need scratching a pretty gun.

BTW, if you have a M4 clone with a 14.5 inch barrel, you will not be able to tighten/loosen without issue because there is a pin holding it in place.

[Tederrific]

Just got done looking at the Army's manual for the M16 on arfcom and found that as long as at least part of the center port is "top dead center" it is consdiered to be within spec... Have to check when I have the time. If that's the case then I'll probably leave it alone because screwing with stuff like this too often worsens the problem. Still irriates me though, it's a freakin Colt afterall, figured they would be able to get the supressor on straight! Ah...

Reference scratches that wouldn't be an issue, I think after each step in the assembly process they threw the gun in a pile with a bunch of others before continuing, even have one scratch on the mag well which got through to clean metal. Never would have guessed that Colt's finish would have been worse than the Armalite I bought a while back (which was perfect by the way). And yes, this was a new firearm from a good dealer which I know didn't scratch it up before selling it. Again, oh well, having a super clean finish doesn't seem to be a high priority for Colt...

[space_weazel]

This may get some peoples feathers ruffled but I just put my upper in a vise, flat top on one face and the two bottom rails on the other face with a thin towel to protect the finish and went to town with a 1/2" wrench. Was easy as pie. you probably can just tighten it.....

[FastJuice]

Impossible! Colt's quality control is impeccable.....

[Rebel_James]

Noticed that my Colt came from the factory with its A2 supressor crooked. :sigh: I really, really do not wish to send it back just to have it straightened. Can I just simply put it in a vise and tighten just another 1/16 of a turn to get it straight? Should I loosen and retighten? What part needs to be gripped by the vise (upper/barrel/front sight)? Obviously don't want to frig it up. Thanks in advance...

Are you saying it's 'crooked' because the third slot in the suppressor is a little off center, or does it look cross threaded?

If it's off center, just use a wrench to adjust it. If it looks cross threaded, take it back.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v32/Rebel_James/StagAimpoint003.jpg

[Tederrific]

Not cross threaded. Third slot is off center. It's within milspec requirements though, so i may just leave it alone. Especially because it needs to be torqued (apparently) to a specific value I would rather have a slightly off center flash supressor than an overtorqued one...

[sburr23]

They are put on with a crush washer, so don't loosen it, or you will have problems with it loosening up on you when you shoot it.

If it's within spec, just leave it alone. If it was grossly over tightened, then send it back to Colt. If it is under-tightened, then tighten yourself. Put it in a vise with a block of hard wood (Oak or some other hard wood) at the top of the receiver like in the attached pic.

[Tederrific]

Got irritated with everything and decided to put a Vortex on it. Put a wood plank through the carry handle (near the rear sight where it appears strongest) and cranked it off. Hope doing it this way wasn't too stupid of a move... should I be worried that I've bent something? Anyway, hoping to pick up the Vortex tomorrow!

[Grape Ape]

Get a bench vise.