Remove castle nut on newer Norenco M14 rifles

eaglesnester

eaglesnester

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will be putting my Norenco M14 on a Sage ALCS EBR stock. This will necessitate removing flash hider. In order to do this the castle nut must be loosened off. Is the castle nut on the new batch of Norenco M14 rifles spot welded on? I am aware that there is a set screw on the castle nut that has to be removed. Have got the nut soaking in Kroll as we speak. I know the flash hiders are spot welded. If so what is the best way to remove said castle nut? Have a set of castle nut pliers on order with a muzzle brake from Brownels.
 
The nut itself shouldn't be welded. Just loosen the nut off as far as it will go and proceed with whacking the living crap out of the flash hider to break the welds. When the flash hider starts to move, alternate loosening off the nut with whacking until it all loosens up enough to do by hand. You'll likely need to clean up the broken weld somewhat when you put it back on, unless it's a very clean break.
 
If you whack the flash hider don't use a steel mallet. You'll break it. Kind of suspect the Kroil isn't going to help much either.
 
When I get ready to do the job I will be putting the barrel in the freezer for a couple of hours. Plan on heating up the castle nut with a propane torch little before I make the attempt as the nut does not seem to be welded according to the response so far.
 
I just re-indexed an Alberta CGNutter's Shorty M14. To get at the splines on the barrel I needed to remove that factory flash hider....

So what I did was remove the castle nut set screw with 1/16" Allen key/wrench... then I backed off the castle nut by a few turns with my castle nut pliers, and then removed the front sight from the cast base (on the flash suppressor). :D

I used a cold chisel and a large ball peen hammer. It only took ONE whack and I was able to break the feeble welds that were likely done Friday afternoon at the high school shop class in Beizhing. More like a Friday of a long weekend at 1500 hrs and the students wanna head up to their cottages! :)

Once I could slide off that flash suppressor , I replaced it with one of my M1A units to discover that the out of index barrel just needed some additional tightening. Easy Peasy! :evil:

YMMV depending on the welding job done at that high school shop class for aspiring welders!

Cheers,
BArney
 
eaglesnester said:
Do not understand what U are saying here, could U clarify?
Click to expand...

He's suggesting you don't need the castle nut pliers, just use your fingers, but I don't agree.

Every time I've taken off a castle nut, there was no way I could have loosened it with fingers. I was very happy to spend the <$20 for my pliers from Tactical Teacher, but I'm a big fan of having the right tool for the job.
Most important thing to remember, remove that little set screw first! :)

Have fun tinkering!
 
I heated the castle nut just a bit to loosen it to start off with. Loosen it as far as it will go then use a piece of hardwood or a brass punch as a medium between the flash hider and a mallet to work the hider off the barrel. You will have to stop and loosen the castle nut as you move the hider towards the end of the barrel until it's off.

DO NOT BUGGER YOUR CASTLE NUT
Use the proper tool or make a tool out of vice grips.
As far as I'm aware norinco castle nuts are metric and not compatible with USGI castle nuts or SA.
I'm not aware of any norinco m305 parts kits either.

Best of luck
 
I couldn't get my castlenut off my m305 when I installed my Troy stock. I tried everything. Luckily the Troy
Front band is a two piece so I cut off the factory front band with a hack saw, pulled the gas tube plug, and just made enough space to install the new one.
 
I made a set of pliers out of C Clamp style vise grips, and they work great. Took about half hour of slow and steady work with the dremel, they work like a charm and are more solidly built than the castle nut pliers you buy. Otherwise follow the basic steps outlined above and you will be god to go. Remove set screw, back off castle nut, Cold Chisel and hammer. Give it a wack to break the weld, loosen up further, and further wack it if needed, or wiggle it off. Last one I took of was a real B!TCH, but came off after about a half a dozen good smacks!! :)
Good Luck!
 
Got the castle nut off. Used the deep freeze, a set of heavy duty castle nut pliers and my buddy's bfa, (big fuc##en arms) to hold er down, While I reefed on the castle nut.. Used a combination of Kano Krol and liquid wrench with a propane torch and a few tries. Actually it came loose kind of easier than expected. Castle nut is not damaged, will be able to reuse it. Now for getten the flash hider off. Stay tuned for the rest of the story.
 
I have a 2011 m305 here in NZ and coincidentally took my hider off last night.
Mine was spot welded on in two points on the underside of the flash suppressor.
I use the castle nut pliers for the nut and a technique very similar to this for the flash suppressor:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xf0M9uAjks
Came off pretty quickly, just take it easy.
 
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