Building Confidence

[Gatorade]

Originally Posted by Caleb

I punch my pins in with no problems but, squeezing them is a lot safer (and probably easier with the right tools).


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Nothing may happen 99 times out of 100 but that one time can be a real pain! Break an ear off a lower and you are stuck. The repair would probably be more expensive than a new lower and because it is serialized and requires an FFL transfer you can’t just swap it out.

My first few builds I would sandwich the stripped upper between a couple of wood blocks and torque the barrel nuts down. Then on one I was tightening and trying to get the tube aligned when I hear a “tink” I cracked the lower part of the upper at the thin spot where the ejector port is. Was probably just unsupported by just a bit and the whole stripped upper is scrap. $90 mistake at the time. I still have it to remind myself to go slow and not do any unnecessary banging or pressure if not needed.