Removing Stubborn A*s AR15 Brake/Flash Hider

[photog_shooter]

I tried to remove this pesky a*s brake from my AR but to no avail. Youtube advised me to clamp the barrel and just twist off the brake, yea ok, if only it were that easy. This thing is not pinned, I checked. It's like it's been welded into place (although I can see a faint gap between the barrel and brake) or it was screwed on by Hercules himself. I've tried putting a screwdriver through the large holes on the side and twisting, no luck. I've even tried an adjustable wrench on the large side holes (they have a flat edge so it was very easy to get a firm grip on both sides) but that didn't work at all. Here's a pic of the brake in question, hopefully someone has some ideas on this one.

 

[Kratos]

You could heat it, that would expand the brake metal and loosen the threads. It could also have loctite which heat would help with. Then there is brute force, which is a vise, a wrench, and a snipe. But that could ruin the firearm in the process.

One time in a non firearm situation I watched a coworker try and remove a threaded part for two hours, when he quit I went over and spun it off easily... It was a left hand thread lol. Sometimes you just need to try everything until something works.

 

[Trinimon]

As Krato pointed out, maybe someone secured it using Rockset or high-temp Loctite. Try applying some heat from a torch to the brake just in case whoever installed it used any kind of thread locker.

Worst case, a Dremel with a cut off blade and VERY carefully make a few cuts down the length of the threaded area without getting into the barrel threads. You want to weaken the metal on the brake so that it will fatigue and brake off when you try to unscrew it.

 

[G37]

Probably red loctite; propane torch till it starts to smoke (loctite burning) then try your screwdriver method

 

[ronnie01]

Warm it up well with a propane torch take a candle and quench it on the hot steel.Let the barrel cool off to the touch and the wax will have wicked into the threads and will aid you in getting it removed.Don't try to remove while it is still hot.

R