AR-15 Castle Nut Staking

[Frankingun]

Is it supposed to be staked? I took a look at this thread and he says it is so. My Olympic bargain build, that was lost in a horrible boating accident, didn't have the castle nut staked, or at least I didn't have too much trouble in removing it for a new stock.

[Kommander]

Yes it's supposed to be staked to prevent it from backing out. The cheaper companies tend to skip this step to save money, but it's not hard to do yourself.

[JustinR]

I also didn't stake mine so that I could remove the stock in the event I needed to replace something. Haven't had a problem yet.

[PawPaw]

We stake something when we absolutely don't want it to move. It makes sense to stake the bolts atop the bolt carrier, but the castle nut? I really don't see that being a problem, properly torqued in the first place.

[JAG2955]

Go ahead and stake. It's easy enough to remove if you want, and it's like a $5 part.

While I've never had a nut back off so far that I had a malfunction, I did have one loosen up enough to concern me, so now I stake.

[rightisright]

Am I the only one who uses blue Loctite then proper torque?

[Kommander]

The military specifications call for it to be staked and therefore it must be staked! I have never seen it myself but have heard stories from various firearm instructors about unstaked nuts coming loose and causing problems.

[Netpackrat]

Am I the only one who uses blue Loctite then proper torque?

Does the torque spec call for dry, lubed, or blue Loctite?

[rightisright]

Am I the only one who uses blue Loctite then proper torque?

Does the torque spec call for dry, lubed, or blue Loctite?

Torque spec is for 40# dry, I believe. The only place I use grease on a build is the barrel nut. I am sure there are others who put anti-seize on their castle nuts. But I don't think it's mil-spec. Maybe one of the .mil guys will know.

As to Loctite reducing the amount of torque needed, I've read everything from 0% to 25%.

[Kommander]

Torque spec is for 40# dry, I believe. The only place I use grease on a build is the barrel nut. I am sure there are others who put anti-seize on their castle nuts. But I don't think it's mil-spec. Maybe one of the .mil guys will know.

As to Loctite reducing the amount of torque needed, I've read everything from 0% to 25%.

I'm not .mil and was making a joke before, but from what I understand all military rifles have their castle nut nut staked and I have never head anything about using locktite. As fir torque I used a proper castle nut wrench and cranked the thing down as tight as I could by hand before staking it into place.