The 'incorectly staked' logo from the highly erroneous 'm4 chart' is one more bad piece of info that became reality because one guy said so. The 'is my gas carrier key staked' is/was a real question, which came from some manufacturers doing a side stake that doesn't go deep enough to actually stake anything, so in contrast, the 'correct' stake would be deep enough to displace steel of the key to make solid contact with the gas key bolts to prevent any loosening.
What Stag Arms did was use a deep top stake, which does soundly displace metal between the carrier key and the carrier key bolts, rather than the traditional side stake method. The creator of 'the chart' has deemed this to be 'incorrect'.
Reality is, as the CEO from Stag told me when we discussed this matter:
-the top stake is considered normal for their aerospace work, and it works excellent
-they have had 0 reports of it not working (remember their lifetime warranty, they're not into sending out product that will be coming back) and gas keys coming loose.
-the top stake would also provide witness marks. If a bolt did move, it would be very visible.
Our experience with hundreds of rifles sold, and hundreds of more individual bolts sold in Canada mirrors Stag's US experience, they don't budge.
However, the 'chart' has lead to some people assuming that there is something wrong with their carrier key staking, and therefore they must have a problem, a problem some (the?) 'chart' promoting dealer(s) are happy to solve, by selling the misinformed reader a new bolt carrier assembly, as a preemptive 'cure' An interesting business practice, but 100% a waste of money for the customers. It is painful to me to read on the site in question, that someone has a new Stag Arms (CMT) rifle that is running excellent, but has now replaced the bolt and carrier with a Noveske unit (same CMT product, as per John Noveskie, but with a mark-up), because they read on 'the chart' that their gas key was incorrectly staked. Money spent 'correcting' a non-problem, that could have been better spent on training or ammunition!
I remember Ned Christiansen posting that when the 'chart' was under initial discussion that he liked Stag's top stake method, as he felt it was effective, provided for witness marks, and that he hadn't seen any evidence that it didn't work, and then being told by the site sponsor and dealer, that he had seen lots of the bolts come loose, and he had to re-stake them as a service to his customers. Christiansen replied with something to the effect of 'i'll have to take your word on that'. I called bunk then, and still do.
Regardless, Stags top stake machine went down, so current production has deep side stakes, 'correctly staked' as it were. So in 10 years when the 'chart' is updated, this question will hopefully, be moot.
We did do lots of side stakes with Ned's MOAKS, but not at all out of necessity, but rather to allay any customer fears based on bad info from 'the chart'.
To Ix, we have a very small quantity of ramped uppers. We also have full-auto and semi-auto bolt and carrier groups in stock, "correctly staked!", from the side.
Cheers,
DT
